7 - The Ascendance of Dignitary Scholar-Bureaucrats (Mevali)

Summary

During the period of consolidation, some tendencies of the formative period gained new momentum and resulted in a remarkable increase of power for the dignitary scholar-bureaucrats, known as mevali. The vision of a self-reproducing hierarchy that would admit only those who were affiliated with the dignitaries (by virtue of the grant of status of novice/mülazemet) was almost completely realized. The topmost of the dignitaries – namely, the chief jurist and the two chief judges – came to hold great sway over the hierarchy by dominating the decisions regarding the appointments and promotions of scholar-bureaucrats.

The Bifurcation in the Scholarly Hierarchy

The idea of distinguishing between two groups of scholar-bureaucrats (mevali/dignitaries and kasabat kadıs/town judges) can be traced back to the second half of the fifteenth century. The extant copies of Mehmed II's law code refer to those who had the status of dignitary: “the professors of the Sahn madrasas have the status of dignitary,” and “the professors of the madrasas at the levels of dahil and haric have the status of dignitary.” The law code also mentions the chief jurist (şeyhülislam), the tutor of the sultan, the chief judges, the judges of throne cities (taht kadısı: Istanbul, Edirne, and Bursa), and the tutors of the princes among those who held the status of dignitary.

In addition, the text reflects the higher income accorded to those who served as town judges early in their careers: “a professor with 20 aspers [in a madrasa] in the interior (içil: Istanbul, Edirne, Bursa, and their environs) becomes a judge with 45 aspers.” As mentioned during the discussion of its authenticity in Chapter 4, the extant copies of Mehmed II's law code include many additions and updates made after its composition. It is impossible to substantiate (or reject) the idea that a group of dignitary scholar-bureaucrats, with certain characteristics and privileges, existed in Mehmed II's time. However, regardless of the authenticity of the relevant clauses of the law code, the reference found in a document dated early in Bayezid II's reign to the dignitaries (mevali-i izam) as people who had the right and responsibility to train the scholars who would be employed in the judgeships suggests that the dignitaries constituted a separate group before the end of the fifteenth century.