Abstract
This study aims to analyze the professional, geographical, educational, and bureaucratic characteristics of individuals belonging to the “ilmiyyah” class in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. The primary source of the research is the 59th Registry of the Bâb-ı Fetva Sicill-i Ahval Department. In the study, which examines the registry summaries of 349 individuals, the processes of birth (tevellüd), education (tahsil), appointment (tayin), promotion (terfi), and retirement (tekaüd) of the members of the ilmiyyah class are addressed from a multidimensional approach. The registry data shows that Ottoman scholars were trained not only in central educational institutions but also in provincial madrassas, and that their areas of responsibility extended beyond Sharia courts to administrative, civil, and military institutions established during the Tanzimat period. Moreover, it is understood that madrasa education was shaped by the interaction between the center and the provinces, and that place of birth, language proficiency, and education level were decisive in bureaucratic careers and appointment processes. Based on data analysis using the prosopographic method, the study documents the functional transformation of the ilmiyyah class in the post-Tanzimat period and reveals how the classical scholar identity was integrated into the modern bureaucratic structure.
Keywords: Sicil Hulâsa Defteri, Terceme-i Hal, İlmiye Mensubu, Ulema, Naip, Prosopografi.
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