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The Privileǵe Granted by Meḥmed II to His Physician

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Bernard Lewis
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In a recent article on Ya'qūb Pasha, the Jewish physician of Sultan Meḥmed II, Professor F. Babinger cites two passages from the brief account of the career of Ya'qūb given by A. Galanté in his Médecins Juifs au service de la Turquie. The first tells of the arrival of Ya'ūb in Edirne during the reign of Murād II, of his service with Murād and Meḥmed II, and gives the text of an alleged ferman exempting Ya'qūb and his descendants from all taxation in perpetuity, granted by Meḥmed II at Boghaz-kesen in Rabī' II 856/Apr.-May 1452. The second alleges that in 1571 the descendants of Ya'qūb applied to the Rabbinate in Constantinople for exemption from Jewish communal taxes on the basis of this ferman. As Babinger points out, Galanté refers the first statement simply to ‘un auteur hébraïque’, without further specification, while for the second statement he cites no authority at all.

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , October 1952 , pp. 550 - 563
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Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1952

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References

page 550 note 1 ‘Ja'qūb Pascha, ein Leibarzt Mehmed's II’. R.S.O., xxvi, 1951, pp. 82–113.Google Scholar

page 550 note 2 Istanbul, 1938.

page 550 note 3 Galanté, , pp. 6–8Google Scholar; Babinger, , p. 90.Google Scholar

page 550 note 4 Galanté, , p. 8Google Scholar; Babinger, , p. 108.Google Scholar

page 550 note 5 E.g. Documents Officiels Turcs concernant les Juifs de Turquie, Istanbul, 1931, p. 195Google Scholar, where the reference to Rozanes as source is given.

page 550 note 6 Diḇẖrê Yĕmê Yisrā'ēl bĕ-Ṯẖōgarmā, i (1st edition, Husyatin-Sofia, , 1905), 2nd edition, Tel Aviv, 1930, pp. 16–17, 19–20, 22–3.Google Scholar

page 550 note 7 On Rabbi Samual de Medina see Emmanuel, I. S., Histoire des Israélites de Salonigue, Paris, 1936, pp. 167–175Google Scholar, and Conforte, David, Qōrē had-Dōrōṯẖ, ed. Cassel, D., Berlin, 1846, fol. 38a.Google Scholar Rabbi Samuel's Responsa, were edited and published from his posthumous papers by his son, Moses de Medina, in Saloniea, 1595, under the title Two volumes of selected Responsa were published during Babbi Samuel's lifetime, in 1580–82, under the title of Decisions . Moses de Medina describes this edition in his preface as defective and full of errors (cf. Emmanuel, , op. cit., pp. 238–9Google Scholar). The 1595 edition was reprinted several times at later dates. On the Lemberg reprint of 1862 see below p. 551, n. 2.

page 551 note 1 Responsa. Salonica, 1595Google Scholar, Ḥō ẖen Mi paṭ, fols. 259 b if. The same text is given in the Decisions, iiGoogle Scholar, Salonica, 1582, fols, l a ff.

page 551 note 2 The more important historical passages from the question were quoted and briefly commented by Brüll, N., ‘Hekim Jakob, Leibarzt des Sultans Mohammed II’. Jahrbücher für Jüdische Geschichte und Literatur, Frankfurt, vii, 1885, pp. 49–51.Google Scholar Unfortunately, Brüll appears to have used the unreliable reprint of the Responsa published in Lemberg in 1862, and his text consequently contains a number of corruptions.

page 551 note 3 A common term in medieval Hebrew literature for the Muslim lands. In the Lemberg edition —land of Ishmael—is shortened to , (the usual abbreviation for —land of Israel) which Brüll has wrongly expanded into —Edirne.

page 551 note 4 The Lemberg edition omits the word —in the time of—thus changing the meaning.

page 551 note 5 Cf. Gen. xxxix, 3.Google Scholar

page 551 note 6 I.e. he accompanied Meḥmed to Manisa when Murād II again took control, in August 1446. Cf. Babinger, F., ‘Von Amurath zu Amurath,’ Oriens, iii, 1950, p. 261.Google Scholar

page 551 note 7 The date of Murād's death is well attested by the Ottoman sources as 1st Muḥarrem 855 (= 3rd February, 1451). See the inscription on his tomb in Bursa (published by Aḥmed Tevḥīd, in T.O.E.AI., iii, p. 1056Google Scholar) and the contemporary historian ẖükrüllah (ed. Seif, T., in M.O.G., ii, 1922, p. 118).Google Scholar

page 551 note 8 The numerical values of the Hebrew letters forming this word total 5211 ().

page 551 note 9 Boẖaz-kesen was ths name given at that time to the castle later known as Rumeli Hisar. It was also known as Yeni Hisar (New Castle). The point at present known as Aknt Burnu is a short distance to the south-west of Rumeli Hisar, on the European shore of the Bosphorus. The inscription on one of the towers of the castle tells us it was completed in the month of Rajab 856 ( = July–August, 1452). The Sultan left Edirne in March 1452 for the Bosphorus to superintend the construction of Boẖaz-kesen and returned in September. See Gabriel, A., Chateaux Turcs du Bosphore, Paris, 1943, pp. 59 ff.Google Scholar, and Ḵẖalīl Edhem, 'Istanbulda Eñ Eski ‘Omānl Kitābesi,’ T.O.E.M., ii, 1327, pp. 484Google Scholar ff, and especially p. 487 where references to the chief Turkish sources are given.

page 552 note 1 In Hebrew —Bĕrīṯẖ—perhaps a punning allusion to Turkish Berāt.

page 552 note 2 Cf. 1 Samuel, xvii, 25. The method by which taxes were collected from the Jewish community gives some reality to this Biblical allusion.

page 552 note 3 Cf. Ezraiv, 13.

page 552 note 4 In the reply given by Rabbi Samuel, the fact that the grant of the ferman was not solicited by the physician constitutes a point in favour of his descendants.

page 553 note 1 ‘town’ obviously stands for Turkish qal'e, meaning ‘town’ as well as ‘fortress’.

page 553 note 2 Cf. Esther, , vi, 6.Google Scholar

page 553 note 3 The capture actually took place on Tues. 20 Jum. II.

page 553 note 4 The settlement of Jews from other cities in Constantinople after its conquest is attested by other Jewish sources. See Eliyahu Kapsali, Liqqūṭīm, ed. Lattes, M., Padua, 1869, pp. 7–8Google Scholar; Rozanes, S., op. cit., pp. 21–2Google Scholar; Galanté, A., Histoire des Juifs d'Istanbul, i, Istanbul, 1941, pp. 3–5.Google Scholar

page 553 note 5 Cf. Esther, i, 22, iii, 12, viii, 9.Google Scholar

page 553 note 6 The text here uses the Talmudic term —Kĕrāgā (cf. Jastrow, M., A Dictionary of the Targumim, etc., New York, Berlin, London, 1926, s.v.Google Scholar). For ‘poll-tax’ the text has the Aramaic phrase .

page 554 note 1 The Lemberg edition, followed by Brüll, has the meaningless corruption . The Rāv Aqẖhesi—Rabbi's asper—is frequently mentioned in the Jewish sources. This is identical with the Rāv-i Yahūdīyān, which appears, in the Ṭāpū registers, among the headings of revenues from all places in the Empire with a Jewish population. See Lewis, B., Notes and Documents from the Turkish Archives, Jerusalem, 1952, p. 43.Google Scholar For two references to the Rāv Aqẖesi in Turkish texts see Refiq, Ahmed, Onunju 'Aṣr-i Hijrīde Istanbul Ḥayāt , Istanbul, 1333, p. 79Google Scholar, and Mordtmann, J. H., ‘Die jüdischen Kira im Serai der Sultane,’ M.S.O.S., xxxii, 2, 1929, p. 35.Google Scholar

page 554 note 2 Our author is here referring to the quarrel between the Byzantine and Spanish Jews, which, after the death in 1526 of Eliyahu Mizrahi, the second Chief Rabbi under Turkish rule, prevented the appointment of a new Chief Rabbi recognized by all the Jews and confirmed by the Turkish authorities. See Galanté, , Histoire, p. 117Google Scholar; Baron, S. W., The Jewish Community, Philadelphia, 1945, i, pp. 195–8, iii, pp. 46–7.Google Scholar

page 554 note 3 Cf. Lamentations, iii, 50.Google Scholar

page 555 note 1 Cf. Samuel, i, 18, 27.Google Scholar

page 555 note 2 On the death of each Sultan it was necessary to obtain from the new Sultan an order confirming the grant of a privilege. A good example of such a confirmation is the document published by Mordtmann, loc. cit. For others, see below, p. 558, notes 1 and 3.

page 556 note 1 This dates the Responsum in 1571 or shortly after, assuming that the author reckons in Jewish solar years.

page 557 note 1 Cf. Baron, , op. cit., ii, 13–15.Google Scholar

page 557 note 2 Cf. Baron, , op. cit., ii, 277.Google Scholar

page 557 note 3 Op. cit., p. 90.

page 557 note 4 T.O.E.M., v, p. 250.Google Scholar

page 558 note 1 As, for example, the record copies of Waqf certificates given in Barkan, Ömer Lutfi, ‘Osmanli Imparatorluğunda… Vakiflar ve temlikler’, Vakiflar Dergisi, ii, 1942, pp. 20 ff.Google Scholar, and the waqfīye of Murād I published by Öz, Tahsin in Tarih Vesikalari, i, 4, Istanbul, 1941, pp. 243–4Google Scholar. For two specimens of orders of exemption of a different kind see Anhegger, R., ‘Martoloslar Hakkinda’, Türkiyat Mecmuasi, vii–viii, 1942, pp. 313–4Google Scholar (German translation in the same author's Beitraege zur Geschichte des Bergbaus im Osmanischen Reich, ii, Istanbul, 1944, pp. 300–1, and 302–3).Google Scholar

page 558 note 2 Die Jüdischen Kira, etc., loc. cit.

page 558 note 3 As late as the 19th century the Jewish family called Alaman enjoyed partial exemption from taxation in Turkey on the basis of privileges granted by former Sultans. A confirmation order dated 1280/1863 was published by Danon, Abraham in the review Yosef Da'ath (available in Jews' College library, London), Edirne, 1888, pp. 99–101Google Scholar (Hebrew translation, pp. 115–18, commentary, pp. 6–8, 18–21, 34–7). A summary of Danon's article is given by Franco, M., Histoire des Israélites de l'Empire Ottoman, Paris, 1897, pp. 49–51Google Scholar. An earlier confirmation-order, dated 1255/1839, was published and examined by Mordtmann, J. H. (without consultation of Danon's article, by that date already unobtainable) in Zur Kapitulation von Buda im Jahr 1526, Budapest-Constantinople, 1918Google Scholar (Mitteilungen des Ungarischen Wissenschaftlichen Instituts in Konstantinopel, 1918, Heft 3). A third order, dated 1281/1865, was published and translated by Galanté, A.: text in Türkler ve Yahudiler (1st edition, Istanbul, 1928), 2nd edition, 1947, pp. 36–8Google Scholar, translation in Turcs et Juifs, Istanbul, 1932, pp. 29–31Google Scholar. This translation is reprinted in Galanté, 's Recueil de nouveaux documents inédits concernant l'Histoire des Juifs de Turquie, Istanbul, 1949, pp. 80–1Google Scholar, where a photograph is given of yet another text, dated 1262/1846, without a reading or a translation. All four texts refer back to a privilege granted by Meḥmed III to one Israel ben Joseph Alamanoẖlu, and connect this grant with services rendered by the latter's ancestor Joseph ben Solomon to Sultan Suleimān during the Turkish siege of Buda. The circumstances of the grant and its subsequent extensions and renewals need further investigation.

page 558 note 4 See, for example, the group of fermans of Meḥmed II published by Refiq, Aḥmed in Edebiyāt Fakültesi Mejmū'as , iii, 1923, pp. 103 ff.Google Scholar; cf. Fekete, L., Einführung in die Osmanisch-Türkische Diplomatik, Budapest, 1926, p. xlvi.Google Scholar

page 558 note 5 See, for example, the formula of address to the Ḥekīm-baẖ (Chief Physician): ‘A'lam al-ḥukamā al-ḥāḏẖiqīn, aḥḏẖaq al-aṭibbā ar-rāsiḵẖin, Jālīnūs az-zamān, Buqrāṭ al-āwān…’ (Izzet, , Hekim-Basi odasi, Ilk eczane, Baş-Lala kulesi, Istanbul, 1933, p. 6, n. 3).Google Scholar

page 558 note 6 E.g. Mordtmann, , Kira, para. 3Google Scholar of text—'oẖullarẖnẖñ ‘avretleri ile oẖlu oẖluna ve qz qzna…’, and Danon, 1. 7,— ‘oẖul oẖla ve qz qza ḏẖukūr ve anāṯẖī…’, cf. Öz, Tahsin, loc. cit., p. 243Google Scholar; Barkan, Ömer Lutfi, ‘Osm. Imp. Vak.’, pp. 334, 343, 345, 363, etc.Google Scholar

page 559 note 1 Op. cit., pp. 20 ff. For a more recent discussion of the vineyard and garden taxes see Cağatay, Neşet, ‘Reayadan Alman Vergi ve Resimler’, Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi, Ankara, v, 1947, pp. 488–490Google Scholar. Danon's Hebrew commentary on the list of taxes in the document for Joseph b. Solomon (loc. cit.) forms the basis of later discussions by Franco, Rozanes, and Galanté.

page 559 note 2 On the Jizye in the Ottoman Empire see Nedkoff, B. C., Die Ğizya (Kopfsteuer) im Osmanischen Reich, Leipzig, 1942Google Scholar. Turkish translation in Bell. viii, 1944, pp. 599–652.Google Scholar

page 559 note 3 Also called in Hebrew sources. Cf. Emmanuel, , op. cit., p. 123.Google Scholar

page 559 note 4 Ḥō ẖen Mishpaṭ, Question 370.

page 559 note 5 Barkan, Ömer Lutfi, XV ve XVIinci Asirlarda Osmanli Imparatorluğunda Ziraî Ekonominin Hukukî ve Malî Esaslari. I. Kanunlar, Istanbul, 1943, pp. 250, 303, 306, 316, 319, 320.Google Scholar

page 559 note 6 On Azab and Kürekji see Mordtmann, , pp. 26 ff.Google Scholar; Barkan, , Kanunlar, 247Google Scholar. On all these see Vefīq, 'Abdürraḥmān, Tekālīf Qavā'idi, i, Istanbul, 1328, pp. 97–9Google Scholar, where they are listed among the emergency war taxes.

page 560 note 1 Öz, Tahsin, loc. cit., p. 243.Google Scholar

page 560 note 2 Mordtmann, , para. 8 of text (pp. 5 and 8)Google Scholar: ‘veyāḵẖūd etmek dilerse fa'alaihi la ‘natu’llāhi wa'l-malā'ikati wa'n-nāsi ajmaāīn.’ Danon's text is fuller (11. 16–18): ‘veher kim ḵẖilafi eder ise ve etmek diler ise ‘inda’llāhi'l-maliki'l-mu’īni a'dād-i mujrimīn ve zumre-i āṯẖimīnden ola fa‘alaihi la‘natu’llāhi’ etc.

page 560 note 3 Geschichte der Juden, vii, Leipzig, 1875, note 7, pp. 427–8Google Scholar. Graetz wrongly reads Molina for Medina. His own brief account of Ya'qūb is based on the Turkish evidence as given by Hammer, (G.O.R., ii, 247)Google Scholar. Cf. G.J., p. 202Google Scholar, where Graetz admits the possibility that Ya'qūb may be the person mentioned in the Responsum.

page 560 note 4 Yosef Da'ath, pp. 51–2, 66, 71, 82–3, 85–6.Google Scholar

page 561 note 1 See Danon, , pp. 86 ff.Google Scholar, for a discussion of the identity of the authors of this letter.

page 561 note 2 See Jewish Encyclopaedia, article Hamon.

page 562 note 1 Translated with additional notes by Rabinowioz, S. P. and Harkavy, A. A., Warsaw, 5650–60, vi, p. 432 and note 2.Google Scholar

page 562 note 2 Op. cit., pp. 16–17.

page 562 note 3 Cf. Babinger, , p. 108.Google Scholar

page 562 note 4 Médecins Juifs, p. 8.Google Scholar

page 562 note 5 Gökbilgin, M. Tayyib, XV–XVI Asirlarda Edirne ve Paya Livasi, Istanbul, 1952, p. 305Google Scholar. The same work provides an interesting gloss on a sentence in some versions of 'Āẖiqpāẖāzāde. In his ironical paragraph on the ‘works’ of Ya'qūb Pasha, 'Āẖiqpāẖāzāde remarks that it was in his tima that Jews were first employed in public office under the Sultans, and concludes: ‘Until he came, financial administrators ('āmil) were not hanged.’ (Istanbul edition, 1332, p. 192. In the Leipzig edition, p. 198, this last sentence is missing. The two versions are quoted in Babingar, , p. 108Google Scholar.) A document quoted by Gökbilgin, (p. 148)Google Scholar shows that when 'Āẖiqpāẖāzāde added this sentence he was referring to a spacific incident—the hanging of a Jewish 'Āmil called Ya'qūb ibn Isrā'īl in 877/1472, for dishonesty in his administration of a Muqāṭa'a of the zi'āmet of Seres.

page 562 note 6 The recipient of the privilege is specifically described as ‘the Hebrew’, and is exempted from the poll-tax, which was not imposed on Muslims. Many examples could be found in both Christendom and Islam of Jewish families, one branch of which has remained Jewish while another has adopted the dominant faith.

page 563 note 1 See also Noiret, H., Documents Inédits pour servir à l'Histoire de la Domination Vénitienne en Crète de 1380 à 1485, Paris, 1892, p. 456Google Scholar, summarizing a Venetian document of 6th September, 1457: ‘crédit affecté à l'achat de vêtements, pour un cadeau à Jacques, médecin du Grand Turc., qui s'est toujours montré favorable aux Vénitiens.’

page 563 note 2 Cf. Babinger, , p. 95.Google Scholar

page 563 note 3 My sincerest thanks are due to Professor Wittek for much assistance and advice in the writing of this article.