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Yücel Dağlı Anısına "geldi Yücel, gitti Yücel. bir nefes gibi ... "

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Recorn KeePİllG ann ATCHİVaL Pracrtces in THe MUSLİID TUrKİSH STaTeS OF THe MİDDLe AGes

İshak Keskin*

lntroduction

Other than archıval records, anot­

her type of source that is used to analyze and to illumınate the past is

certainly the works of contemporary authors. For thıs reason, studi­

es - even though limited -ahout the records management and archı -

val practices of the Muslim Turkish states of the Middle Ages, espe­

cıally those of the Ghaznavids (963 - 1186), the Qarakhanids (99z -ızıı), the Great Seljuk Empire (1038-1194), and the SeljukSultanate

of Rum (1077-1307) ought to be analyzed with care. In these studies,

issues concerning how records relating to state affairs were created,

distrihuted, filed, arranged, preserved and used, how archıval policies

were planned, and even ıssues as to how they were implemented have

been evaluated - although partially-from clifferent angles. Due to the

fact that in these existing studies political hıstory is the principal con­

cern, thıs aspect of the history of civilization has heen handled in arat­

her superficial way. However, a few authors provide iniormation aho­

ut records management and archıval practices in the relevant period.

The integration of the Turkish tradition of administration with the lslamic tradition of administration and record management

lslamic-lranian influence on the Turkish tradition

of administration

The Turks are one of the nations that adopted the Muslim Arah tradi­

tion. it is known that Turkish cities and Turkish communities existed

• Lechırer. lstanbul Unıversity,

Faculty of Letters. Department of lnformation and Records Management.

318-319

Yücel Dağlı Anısına •çdlal°dcd,pıtl'ıll:d. ttı.ffı.efupL .. -

nJRl(lJAZ YAYlNU>IU. iSTAHBUL 2'110

in the regions that were ruled by the Samanids (819 - 1005). who go­

verned one of the pro'1.nces of the Ahbasids, since their establishment.'

Turks who had been appointed to posts in the annies and in the adnti­

nistrative circles of these states since the time of the Ahbasid Calipha­

te ( 7 49-ız5 8), together with the diminishing power of the Ahbasid and.

the Samanid central authortties - and were led by Turkish commanders

who were working for them - started to gam power within the state and

to rule their territories semi- autonomously, and in time created ~in­

dependent state. it was at this period that the Ghaznavids and the Qa­

rakhanids emerged as political entities, taki.ng advantage of the factthat

the Samanid state was verging on collapse. 0 Moreover, in time they de·­

veloped a new administration format by integratıng with this new cultu­

re that they were exposed to. The Turks merged their own traditions of

administration with the new administration approach thatthey encoun­

tered, so creating the post- Islamic Turki.sh tradition of administration.

It cannot be presu.med that the Muslim Turkish states adopted ihe

Islamic tradition of administration completely. togetherwith their accep­

tance of the Islamic faith. However, there are indications that Islamic cul­

ture entered a processs of political integration with the political, legal. and

social customs and traditions of Turki.sh steppe culture. 3 The organizatio­

nal structure of the Qarakhanids features terms belonging to public ter­

minology, such as ulu hdcib, kapucubaşı, emir-t candar, silahdar, idişçi"l:ıa­şı, ilbaşı, yugruş (vezir, vizier), ağıçı (hazinedar, treasuıy keeper), tamgacı

(seal keeper) and ay bitiği (divan). which reflect both cultures at the same

time, but which also show that it is predominantly Turkish culture that is

being perpetuated.4 Tlıe GhaZnavid state organization, which is a conti­

nuation of the Islamic-Iranian tradition in all areas of state administrati­

on from the names of offices and pesi.ti.ons to governmental and army or­

ganization, was an example for the Great Sel juk Em pire and for all of the

Muslim Turkish political entities established after the Great Seljuk Em­

pire. When structuringtheir state organization, the Ghaznavids were i:nf-

'C. E. Boswortb , İslamDevleıleri Tarihi. İstanbul, 2980, p. 248.

• Reşat Genç. Karahanlı Devlet Teşkilatı, Ankara, 4004, p. 10-11; Bosworth, op.ctı .. p. 446.

3 İbrahim Kafesoğlu, Türk Mtlli Kültürü, 41st edition, İstanbul, 4001, PP· 356.358- 360.

+ Nesinı.i Yazıcı, İlk Türk-İslam Devletleri Tarihi, Ankara, 4005, pp. 144-145.

' luenced bythe Sa.ınanids, who were the representatives of the Islam-Iran traditlon before them, and thus, they were also influenced by the Abba­sids. wfuch themselves had illfluenced the organization of the Samanids.s On the other band, the Ghaznavids did not become separated from thetr own roots and they unıfied both of these ad.mınistrative traditions. 6 Du -nngthe Seljukpertod Turkish terms relattngto government, such as ata­

be;r. süba.şL, çavuş. tugra, ulag. and cufga. were stili bemgused.7 On the ot­her band overttme the influence ofthe Muslim traditı.on of admı.nistra-. .. tion on bureaucratic culture started to predominate after the Ghaznavids . • Therefore ıt can be said t!p.t Seljuk: state organization was influenced by the ad.nıin1strative traditions of the Samanids, Abbasids, Buwayhids ( 932 -ıo6z). Ghaznavids, Qarakhanıds, and to some extentthe Oghuz.8

Turkish records management and archival practices that developed under lslamic-lranian influence

The Arabs. who expanded the boundaries of their state in a very small time period acquiring lands over a wide geography from Spain to the doors ofthe CentralAsian steppe, could not intervene in the institu­tions that had been established in these regions due to their insuffi.ci -ency in the art of admı.nistration, and they had to trust in the emplo­

yees and the working tradittons of these institutions. And this meant that they adopted the tradition of written communication_and archi­ving9 that had been developed by the Byzantines in Egypt and Damas­

cus (330-1453) and by the Sassanids in Iran. Asa matter of fact, the translation to Arabic of Greek and Persian non-r eligious material in significant quantities during the great translation activity that began when the Abbasids formed a Baghdad-based government and lasted for two centuries, provides us with a general idea of the size of the pro­cess of interaction. '0 And the presence of the newly-established bure-

s Bosworth.op.cıt .. p. 14~.

6 Yazıcı, op.cit .. p. 189.

1 Kafesoğlu, op.ctı., pp. 357, 368.

8 Yazıcı, op.cıt., p. ~93.

't Mustafa Sabri Küçükaşçı. "Katip". DlA. volume ~s. ~oo~. p. 49; Ernst Pos­ner, "Ortaçağ İslam Dünyasında Arşivler". Ktı.taphanecıltk Dergisi. tr. Ahmet Oğuz İcı.msoy. no. 4. 1998. pp. ~~~~3. 10

Diin.lt:ri Gutas, Yunanca Dtı.şfince Arapça Kaltı.ır: &ığdat"ıa Yunanca.-Arap-

iSHAK KESKiN RECORD KEEPING AND ARCHIVAL PRACTISES INTHEMUSUM 1\JRKISH STATES OF THE MIDOLE AGES

320-321 lill

Yücel DağlıArusına ·ı;.14>r ... 1.,...r...ı...,Mfupk.. •

aucratic structure was supported hy an organized system of record ke­

eping. In fact, the works of the period, which provide literary eviden -

ce, inform us that the archiving of correspondence was not neglected. 11

The fact that the sahib-i di:van-ı risalets who hecame the head of the

di:van-ı risalet durtng the Ghaznavid period were of Iranian origin con.:

firms that the Persian influence, having integrated indirectly with the

Arahic influence, continued in the Muslim Turki.sh states. 12 Therefore,

the employment of this recruited hureaucratic class in the administrati­

ve mechanism, at the same time enahled their accumulated experience

and knowledge in record management and archival practices to he uti­

lized in the hureaucratic practices of the new state. Besides, theAhhasid

tradition·of recording correspondence in registers (de.fter)'3 made it ea­

sier for the puhlic records helongıng to the Turkish governments which

had adopted the same recording practices to he preserved in series. 14

Records management in the Muslim Turkish bureaucracy of the middle ages

The creation of records

According to the information we have today, the practice of corres­

pondence transactions in the Muslim Turki.sh states of the Middle

Ages is mainly based on two fundamental types of sources. One of the-

ça Çeııiri Hareketi ve ErkenAbbasi Toplumu. tr. Lütfü Şimşek, Istanhul, :.\003. pp. ııı-ıı~.

" Ernst PosDer. "Twelftlı CeDtury J oh DescriptioDs for the Registrar and tlıe Arcb.Mst of tlıe Fatim.id State Chancery in Egypt". Mitteilungen des l!sterreic­hischen Staatsarchivs. DO. :.\5. 197:.\. p. :.\7.

"Güler Nuhoğlu, Beyhakı Tarihi 'ne Göre Ga.znelilerde Devlet Teşkilatı, unpub­lished Ph.D. dissertatioD. Istanbul UDiversity, lnstitute of Social Sciences. 1995· p. :.\51.

' 3 İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşı11, Osm.anlı Devleti Teşkılcıtına Medhaı. Bü)'ilk Selçukiler. Anadolu Selçukileri, Anadolu Beylikleri. İıhciniler, Karakoyunlular ve Akkoyunlularla Menıliıklerdeki Devlet Teşkilatına Bır Bakış. 4tlı edn., Ankara. 1988, p. 9; Nejat Göyünç. "Defter". DİA. vol. 9, ı994. p. 89.

•+ M. Henri Masse, "Code de la Chancellerie", Bullettn de l'Institut Français d'Archeologte Orientale (BIFAO). Do. ıı. ı913. p. ıo8; Muhammet Hanefi Kut­luoğlu and İshak Keskin, "Ortaçağ İslam Dünyasında Arşivcilik: Fatınıı Dö­nemi Arşivciliğine ve Arşivcilik Uygulamalarına Dair Bir Değerlendirme", TürkKütilphaneciligi, ı9/4, ~005. p. 399.

se types of sources is chronicles, and the other one is inşa, manuals of

secretaries. In the Chronicles of Beyhaki, which is one of the chronic­

les of this peri od, some information is gi.ven about how puhlic depart­

ments created puhlic records in the Ghaznavid period. For instance,

the divan-ı risalet, which is one of the four large central divans of the

Ghaznavid state organization, is an office where the internal and the

external correspondence of the central bureaucracy used to be execu­

ted together. The essential function of this office was th~execution of

the correspondence of the central state.

It is evident that the Ghaznavids had an hierarchical institutional • bureaucracy and that they created records according to their funcnons.

When they needed to prepare a record for the central bureaucracy they

used to write a draft of that record and evaluate its conformity with cur­

rent laws and other regulations. Afterthat a fair copywould be made bythe

debırs -clerks- and presented to the sultan for his signature.15 From this

information it can be gathered that records used to be prepared by the dif­ferent offices of the divan according to their areas of specialization.

The entire body of records produced by the Ghaznavid divan-ı

risalet was written by the employees of this dıvan, namely the sıihib-i

divan-ı risalet, his assistant the nıiib, the debır, the divanban, the mu­

harrir, and the translators.16 The competencies of the clerks were tho­

se that would facilitate their preparation of records. For instance, in

addition to possessing the virtues of loyalty, integrtty, clear and le­

gal family origins. morality, and grace, a clerk should also have a good

knowledge ofliterature, poetry. and the calligraphic arts, alongwith all

the specific skills of the secretarial profession. 17

The Great Seljuks had various divans for the execution of state

activities.18 The institution knownas the tıLaüra orinşa divanı was respon­

sible for foreign and internal correspondence and prepare records such

as berat, nişan, menşür, and misıil. 19 In the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, as

well, letters to be sentto foreignsultans.fennans to be gi.ven to senior of-

ıs Nuhoğlu. op.ctt., pp. ~ss-~6ı.

•6 Nuhoğlu, Ibid, pp. ~64-~68.

17 Nuhoğlu, Jbid, pp. ~64-~65, ~67-~68.

' 8 Uzunçarşılı. op.ctt., p. 39.

•9 Uzunçarşılı, Jbtd. p. 43.

İSHAK KESKİN RECORD KEEPING ANO ARCHIVAL PRACTISES IN1HEMUSUM TURKISH STATES OF THE MIDDLE AGES

322-323~

Yücel Dağlı Arusına -fd.:!ı fıkt'l. r..::ı rlkd. ~N:/tJ p ... -

ficials, menşürs, berats: and tevkH hümayün (also known as tevki) were ali

generated by this central divan. ' 0 In the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum münşis

and translators would also participate in the proceedings of the divan-ı

ali (great divan) and the resolutions reached would be recorded by the­

se officers in the registers of proceedings called defatır-i divan-ı ali. The

cases arriving at this divan would first be transferred to the münşis, who

would also assess the resolutions reached by the divan. The misal and the

menşürs which were drawn up in accordance with the resolutions of the

divan the previous day would finally be presented to the vezir by an offi­

cer called thekabız-ıdivan; theywouldbe correctedbythe vezir, who wo­

uld stamp them and declare, "Let them be wrttten down" (the meaning

of tevki)' and then the divan would be dismissed. ,,

It is possihle here to give an example that explains what kind of ac­

tivities the office of the kadı would be engaged in and what kind of re­

cords it would be creating asa result of these activities in the Seljuk Sul­

tanate of Rum. According to the menşür about the appointment of Kut­

beddin Şirazi to the office of the kadı of Sivas - before the year 680 in the

Muslim calendar, the public should recogmze him as judge of religious

issues and Islamic provisions, and they should refer to him alone or to

his naib and to his clerks for the conduct of cases, for the drawing up of

certificates, sicils and wedding contracts, for the protection of goods be­

longmgto the treasuıy, orphans or lost people, for the activities of foun­

dations and charitable acts, and in the observance of religious duties. 00

So any correspondence relating to official procedure would first

be discussed in the relevant divan and the resolution reached would

be recorded in the divan registers, namely the registers of discussion,

and the procedure would be carried out accordingto the resolution re­

ached. If, in respect to this procedure, records needed to be sent to the

person concerned, then the content of these records would be prepa -

red, adhertngto a specific physical format. After that, the text would be

recorded in a register and the records would be sent to the person con -

cerned. It can be asserted that this practice partially accords with the

procedures of correspondence oftoday's management mechanisms.

20 Uzunçarşılı, Jbıd. p. 69.

" Uzunçarşılı. Jbid, pp. 88-90.

,, Osman Turan, Türkiye Selçuklulan Hakkında Resmi Vesikalar. Metin. Tercü.­me veAraştımıalar, Ankara, ı 988, p. 43.

The distribution of records within and outside the institution

As is the case with any departmenttoday, in the Muslım Turkish admi­

nistrattons of the Middle Ages the records would first be distributed

so that the required action could be carried out. Then the distributi­

on process would be completed by the preparation ofa response to the

document under discussion. For instance, if the records concerned a

com.mand of the sultan and was issued by the Ghaznavtd divô.n-ı rtsô.let,

which was responsible for the correspondence of the sultan wıth the o

caliph, with independent or semi-independent rulers and with high-

ranking statesmen, then a fair copy would be made by the sô.hib-i

divan-ı rtsıilet, presedted to the sultan for his signature, and then the

records would be transferred to the related department. And the res­

ponse to an incoming letter would be communicated to the heac}. of the

office after a draft had been prepared by lower-level clerks. Then the

head of the office would prepare a summary of it and present it to the

sultan. The divô.n-ı risalet, which used to forward the corresponden­

ce between the divan and the sultan, performed the distribution of re­

cords in both directions. Meanwhile the records might be dıstrihuted

to various offices with different areas of specialization for translations

of the records, for fair copies or for consultation. 03

Filing and arrangement of records

Filing is a means of preserving integrtty in terms of subject matter. The

fact after records had been created they were rolled up together with

a group of other records in the form of tomar (scroll) not only preser­

ved the records themselves but the integrtty of subject matter. And ef­

ficient preservation of the integrtty of subject matter for public infor­

mation was made possible by the development and implementation of

the registers system by the Ahbasids."+ In this way it became possible

for the systems of correspondence to gain integrity of subject matter.

Thıs system also allowed of the arrangement and preservation of records

in series. And the fact that the discussions of the divan gatherings - and

their resolutions- used to be recorded by officers in divan registers in

the form of minutes durtng the Ghaznavid period points to the fact that

these minutes were kept within the framework of functional integrtty.

•3 Nuhoğlu. op.cıı .. pp. ~s~-~53. ~55· ~66.

•.ı Uzunçarşılı. op.ctı .. p. 9; Göyünç. op.ctı .. p. 89.

iSHAK KESKİN RECORD KEEPING AND AACHIVAL PRACTISES IN lHE MUSUM TURKISH STATES OF THE MIOOLE AGES

324-325~

Yücel Dağlı Anısına . ...,. r....ı.,... r...ı.wA<faı*-. •

Similarlyit means that the same purpose was served when registers pre­

pared for the purpose of tax collection were implemented by the Gre­

at Selju.ks and the Selju.k Sultanate of Rum. Also, it should not be over­

looked that the registers issued by different departments for their own

functions may have been created fora si.milar purpose. According to the example previously given, the menşur issued for

the appointment of Kutbeddin Şirazi to the office of the kadı of Sivas

points to the diversity of the content of records. This diversity neces­

sitates that each record should be recorded in registers in the approp­

riate way and in a specific order. Under the Great Selju.ks the head of

the divan- ı risalet had to take meticulous care that each record created

in the offfce was free of error and was recorded in chronological order

(ona daily, monthly, and yearly hasis). And the müstevft, who was the

head of the tax department, was obliged to preserve ali the records that

came under his responsibilitfS. This situatioiı points to the fact that

an understanding of chronological arrangement according to content

prevailed in the arrangement of records bythe Great Selju.ks. One may

come across similar practices amongthe Ghaznavids as well26. The in­

formation given above suggests that the employees of offices across

the country may have needed to prepare a separate register for each

subject arranged chronologically. While accepting the fact that it wo­

uld be impossible to assert that this system required for a menşur wo ­

uld be bindingfor the en tire country, the fact thatthe menşür was dist­

rihuted by the centtal authortty and that a public departm.ents in the

provinces was being ordered to abide bythis, strengthens out assump­

tion that this practice was followed ona nationwide hasis.

Access An example pointing to the fact that public information was later used

by the Ghaznavids was the exploitation of military registers duri.ng

preparations fora military campaign. 2 < It is ele ar from the fact that the

25 Heribert Horst. Die Staatsverwaltung der Grossselgüqen und Harazrnscihs (1038- 1~31), Wiesbaden, 1964, pp. 103, 106.

26 Erdoğan Merçil, "'GaıneWer Devri Divan Teşkilatına Kısa Bir Balaş ve Görevliler Llstesitt, Prof Dr. Ramazan ŞeşenArmaganı, eds. Emine Uyumaz and Süleyman Kıııltoprak. Istanbul, ~005. pp. 77. 79-81.

2 < Nuhoğlu. op.cit., p. ~78.

vezir used to check these registers when the need arose, that they were

also used for the purpose of auditing official accounts. 08 In the case of

the aforementioned menşur the command that the registers should be

drawn up according to the required format suggests that ease of access

was a desired ohjective.

Returning to the exa.mple of Kutbeddin Şirazi, it can be conc­

luded that the command that the records in the document should be

arranged chronologıcally and with integrity of subject m0atter9 focu­

sed on access. Also, the fact that one of the debirs always remained in

the Ghaznavid divan-ı rısalet as a duty officer in case of out- of-hours •

emergency situations30 points to the fact that access was an extremely

important indirect aspect of public ad.ministration.

Preservation

The practice of using official information is related as much to the sto­

rtng of this information as to access. Preservation begins first in the

medium where the records are created. From this perspective it can

be said that records are a means of preserving official information. It

may be assumed that measures to preserve records were taken in ot­

her Muslim Turkish states, as well as the Ghaznavids. It is observed

that the state administrations of the pertod - just like the Ghaznavids­

used to take measures to ensure that the records created in their own

institutions were preserved in a way that not only ensured access, but

alsa the confidentialıty of these records, by preventing them from be­

ing read by everybody. What is more, paper and other materials used

for writing - pens, ink, ete.- allowed for the preservation of records

for long periods of time. In addition it is possible that records created

in the institutions were protected by placing them in bags and the re­

gıstry books in chests. The Abbasid practice of placing records in bo­

xes called edabır during the process of transferrtngthese records to the

archives may have been applicable to the Muslim Turkish states of the MiddleAges as well. 31

'8 Nuhoğlu. Ibıd. p. 2.79·

•9 Horst, op.cıt .. p. ıo3.

30 Nuhoglu. op.clt .. p. 2.66.

3' Nuhoğlu, Jbıd. pp. 2.52.-2.53, 2.55· 2.66.

İSHAK KESKİN RECOAO KEEPING ANO AACHIVAL PRACTISES INlHEMUSUM llJRKl5H STATES Of lHE MIDOLE AGES

326-327Em

Yücel Dağlı Anısına -~ IMrl.pıa )6td._6.,Mfsaf.b&. .. •

Archival practices in the Muslim Turkish states of the middle ages

The archivist and his qualifications

in order to answer the question of whether archivists were employed in the bureaucracies of the Muslim Turkish states or not, first the practices

of the prevıous representatives of the ad.m.ınistrative tradition need to

he considered. The source of this practice is, without doubt, theAbbasid

ad.m.ınistration. The qualifications of the officer known as haziın (archi -

vist), who held a permanent position in the state, were specified. Ihnüs­

süyrafi stated that the archivist ought to be "a person of faith, wlıo was

honest, sensible, relıable, one who never neglects supervising his juni­

ors, and one whose loyalty is free from any kiııd of suspicion. "30 Moreo­

ver the person in question must he literate without any sertous disabi.li­

ties that is. not being deaf, mute, blind or crippled.

in the fırst stage of their working life, officers who had been

appointed to the divan of the state from the lowest position used to

work together with their superiors and, to the extent that their ta­

lents and intelltgence allowed, came across opportunities for pro­

motion that arose from professional specıalızatıon within the office.

Ebu'l-Fazl Beyha.kl (995/996-1077) entered the dtvcin-ı riscilet when

he was very young, performed important dutıes at various levels in

this divan, and- probably having worked in lower positions such as

debir, divanban. and muharrir-was later appointed head of the divan

because of his reliability. intelligence and skills.33 This example gi­

ves an idea of the promotiori process for clerks. Similarly, an archi­

vist would also work at the lower levels of various offices as an emp­

loyee of the divan, and later the experience that he gained and the

current conditions would enable him to become specialized in a dif­

ferent area wıthin the same office. Although it is not clear whether

under the Ghaznavids an official known as hazin- as it was called in

the Ahbasid perıod-was employed or not, the official who was called

the divanbıi.n was responsible for keeping the records in the hizdne-i

hüccet-the archive. 3•

3' Posner. -rwelfth Centwy Job Descriptions ... ". p. 3o.

33 Nuhoğlu. op.cıt., p. 2,so.

3+ Nuhoğlu, Ibıd. p. 2.67.

Re.cord transferral to the archive

Looki.ng at Ahbasid practice, one can get an idea about the transfer of

records of institutions to the archive. This practice indicates that the

ortginals of incomıng letters and the copies of outgoing letters wo­

uld be subject to a final classification every three years. Then their in -

ventorıes would be prepared and the records would be sent to the eL­

hazanetiL 'l -uzma - the great archive.35 This informatıon also provides

a basic time scale for record transferral to the archive.

We do not have very clear information aboutwhetherthe above ac­

count applied to the Mus1ım Turkish states of the Mıddle Ages. On the

other hand, according to the statement of Beyhalô. the letters coming to

the divan-ı risalet, the outgoing correspondence, and the other records

that were created would be preserved in a place called the hizane-i hüc­

cet-the archive.36 However, this infonnation does not provide .:n_y clu­

es about the transfer of records to the Ghaznavid archive. On the other

hand. it is possible that the arrangement by date and subject matter that

the record was subject to rtght from the creation phase helped solve the

problem of transfer and arrangement in the archives.

Arrangement in the archive

With respect to Ahbasid practice, the information that rules were app­

lied to ensure organized record transferral strengthens the presump­

tion that archival records were arranged in a systematic way. It may

also be possible that such a system was used in the Muslim Turkish

states of the period. For instance. the fact that the names of the clerks

employed in the divan, the positıons to which they were appointed,

and the salartes that they received were recorded in a regısters called

the ceride, and that this book -like the other regısters- was preserved

in the hizane-i hüccet in the dıvan37 suggests that the records transfer­

red to the archive were arranged in series. It may be assumed that of­

ficial records were transferred to the archive in series and preserved

there according to a systematic arrangement, since the records in re­

gısters were already arranged according to place and date so as to pre­

serve the integrity of subject matter.

35 Uzunçarşılı , op.cıt. , p. 9, Göyünç. op.c"·· p. 89.

36 Nuhoglu, op.cit., p. ~47·

3' Nuhoglu. Ibıd. p. ~47·

iSHAK KESKİN AECOAD KEEPtNG AND AACHIVAL PRACTISES INTHEMUSUM 1\JAKJSH STA'ICS OF THE MlOOU: AGES

328-329111'1

Yücel Dağlı Anısına ·ıe!t;tW\'C.paTwri.kı'M{apt.._ .

Access to records

An evaluation of tbıs subject for the world of Islam of the pertod would

be fairly difficult. On the other hand, access to public records was pos­

si.ble, especially in terms of official use. This fact is sufficiently clear not

to require any fıı.rther evidence. The fact that records were created arid

preserved in the archıves, and ahove all the fact that these records were

created in an organized way, presumablyto ensure access, and transfer­

red to the archives in tbıs organized way is proof that they were inten­

ded to be used for specifıc purposes the purpose of use was almost di­

rected to a definite aim. The fact that under the Abbasids records would

be placed in boxes called edabtrwhen tbey were being transferred to tlıe

archive every three years, and the fact that summartes indicating which

records were inside would be wrttten on these boxes demonstrates tlıat

the object was to speed up archival access when required.38 There is n o

reason not to tbink that tbıs was the case also for the Qarakhanıds, tlıe

Ghaznavids, the Great Seljuks and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, becau­

se the fact that both the Ghaznavids and the Great Seljuks and the Seljuk

Sultanate of Rum used to classify their regıst:ry books according to sub­

ject and arrange them geographically and chronologıcally in a way that

resembled the practices of the Abbasids and the Fatimids (909 -1171)

suggests that their prtmary aim was to facilitate access.

The repositories (preservation)

It ıs possihle that measures tak.en to protect the archive reposıtori­es from threats such as fire and larceny included the appointınent of

personnel. The practlce in the Ghaznavids of stationing dtvanbcin in

the repositories for the preservation of records should he evaluated

as an action aimed at protection, because the preservatıon of records

against fire and larceny also makes it possible to preserve the pub­

lic benefits provided by these records for long pertods of time. It is

also possihle that the archival equipment (boxes, shelves, ete.) where

documents were kept in repositories helped to preserve the records.

Again, the material on which the records were wrttten was important

in tbıs respect. Therefore it is likely that the records were written on

durahle materials (medium) with archival quality.

··································· ·· ····· ........ ... .......... . 38 MehmetAykaç.AbbasıDevlett 'nınİ/k Dörıemı idari. Yapısında. Divanlar (ı 3~ -~3~/750-8f7). Ankara, 19n. p. 44.

Conclusion

Although archival documents have not survived, the fact that these do­

cuments were recorded in conformity with the originals by contempo­

rary authors provides us with some informatlon about the records ma­

nagement and archival practices of the Musli.m Turkish states of the

Middle Ages. Currently avatlable infonnation shows that the medıaeval

Musli.m Turkish states, whose bureaucratic structures were influenced

bythose oftheArabs and Sassanids, abided by Arab and Sassanid prac­

tices in terms of the records management and archival practices that •

formed one aspect of their public administration system.

The study shows that the Muslim Turkısh states of the Middle

Ages were well organized in many areas ranging from record c;eation

to dıstribution, and from filing and arrangement to access and preser­

vation. The fact that the records were created rather in the form of re­

gistıy books and that the registıy books were organised so as to preser­

ve integrity of subject matter and arranged ingeographical and chrono­

logical order proves that institutional benefit was a crtterion observed

in the fi.ling, access, and preservation of records. The fact that the or­

ganızation and arrangement of records were strictly supervised means

that records were kept in such a way as to be always available for institu­

tional access. This was valid forthe Great Seljuks and forthe SeljukSul­

tanate of Rum, as much as it was for the Ghaznavids.

in terms of archival practices, the Qarakhanids, the Ghazna­

vids, the Great Seljuks and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum used the arc­

hival practices of the Abbasids - and therefore of the Sassanids - by

whom they had been influenced with respect to administrative cultu­

re. We do not have clear evidence about whether there was a partıcular

clerk responsible for archival arrangement at this period. However, the

clerk called divanban -archivist-was responsible for the preservation

of records that had been kept in the divan and the htzdne-ı hüccet. And

the archivist needs to be regarded_ as belonging to the class of clerks

who were employed in the divan-~ ıisalet rtght from the lowest level, just

as they were in other mediaeval states. A person who started to work at

the divan. offi.ce would become responsible for archiving, too, asa na­

tura! result of the promotlon process. Also the office personnel used to

access records for official purposes. On the other hand, there is no evi­

dence suggesting that public access ex:isted.

iSHAK KESKİN RECORD KEEPING AND ARCHIVAL PRACTISES INTHEMUSUM TURKISH STATES OF THE MIDDLE AGES

330-331 1111

Yücel Dağlı Anısına ·r"'r....ı..,..r...ı.wo<fo-1"'--"