| From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, p. 625 |
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Khalīfazāde Ismāʿīl:
Khalīfazāde Çınarī
Ismāʿīl
Efendi ibn Muṣṭafā
Meltem Akbas
Died (Turkey), probably
1790
Khalīfazāde
Ismāʿīl was an
Ottoman astronomer, astrologer, timekeeper (muwaqqit), and astronomical
instrument maker. He lived and worked in Istanbul, but we have no information
about the date and place of his birth. The title Çınarī in
some of his manuscripts implies that he lived in the Çınar district,
also known as Sancaktar Hayrettin. The name Khalīfazāde derived
from the profession of his father Muṣṭafā Efendi, who was a khalīfa (experienced
apprentice) of mukābele‐i piyāde and worked in the
barracks at Sumnu (in Bulgaria). Mukābele‐i piyāde
was an office under the Treasury that enlisted infantry and handled the paper
work for their salaries. This was also Khalīfazāde Ismāʿīl's first
position, and it required mathematical skills; he worked in the same office
as a şākird (apprentice) in 1755, and then was promoted başhalife.
Probably
the earliest work of Khalīfazāde is a sundial that he most likely
completed as an apprentice. This vertical sundial still exists and is located
at the southwest wall of the Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha Mosque in the neighborhood
of Çınar where Khalīfazāde lived. The inscription on the sundial
notes that it was engraved in 1761 by Khalīfazāde Ismāʿīl.
In
1767, Khalīfazāde was appointed as muwaqqit to the Laleli
Mosque (also called the Sultan Muṣṭafa
III Mosque) and remained there until 1789. During this period he compiled
or translated a number of works on astronomy, astrology, and mathematics.
In 1767, Khalīfazāde constructed a horizontal sundial engraved on
marble that is no longer extant, but which partially existed until the end
of the 19th century. However, located at the base of the west minaret of the
Laleli Mosque are two other vertical sundials made by him. The larger of the
two was completed in 1779. Although the lines of the sundials are not sharp,
the inscription is still legible and states that it was “engraved by muwaqqit
Ismāʿīl.”
The
Ottoman Sultan Muṣṭafā
III (reigned: 1757–1774), who was particularly fond of astrology, asked Khalīfazāde
to translate two studies on astronomy from French to Turkish; this indicates
that he had some knowledge of French, but we have no information on how he
acquired this knowledge. The first translation, Rasad‐i qamar
or Terceme‐i Zīc‐i Clairaut, was related to the movements
of the Moon and was probably based on Alexis
Clairaut's (1713–1765) astronomical
work entitled Théorie de la lune. Two copies exist: The first is Istanbul,
Kandilli Observatory Library MS 244 (which is the author's copy), completed
in 1767 and dedicated to Muṣṭafā III; a second
copy is Kandilli Observatory Library MS 190, completed in 1767.
Khalīfazāde's second translation, also at the request of
Muṣṭafā
III, was of Jacques
Cassini's (1677–1756) Tables astronomiques du soleil, de la lune,
des planètes, des étoiles fixes et des satellites de Jupiter et de Saturne
(Paris, 1740). Completed in 1772, it
was named Tuhfe‐i Behīc‐i Rasīnī Terceme‐i
Zīc‐i Cassinī. (Copies include Istanbul, Topkapı
Palace Museum Library, Hazine MS 451, copied by F. Karatay in 1772 and dedicated
to Muṣṭafā III; and Kandilli
Observatory Library MS 228.) This work, known as Cassini's Zīj,
was significant for two main reasons. First, it introduced logarithms to the
Ottomans; furthermore, Khalīfazāde added tables to the translation
giving the logarithms for sines and tangents of arcs from 0° to 45° to the
level of minutes, and he also provided logarithmic tables for integers from
1 to 10,000. Second, this zīj influenced Ottoman timekeeping.
Ulugh Beg's zīj was abandoned during
Sultan Selim III's reign (1789–1807) due to its errors (as much as 1 hour)
and replaced with calendars and astronomical calculations based on Cassini's
zīj beginning in 1800. This zīj was then used for
almost 30 years.
Khalīfazāde
Ismāʿīl Efendi
wrote other works in the fields of astronomy, astrology, and mathematics that
can be found listed in Osmanli Astronomi Literatürü Tarihi and Osmanli
Matematik Literatürü Tarihi.
Selected References
Çam, Nusret (1990). Osmanlı'da Günes Saatleri. Ankara.
İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin (1992). “Introduction of Western
Science to the Ottoman World: A Case Study of Modern Astronomy (1660–1860).”
In Transfer of Modern Science and Technology to the Muslim World, edited
by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, pp. 67–120, esp. 96–97. Istanbul: IRCICA.
İhsanoğlu, Ekmeleddin et al. (1997). Osmanlı
Astronomi Literatürü Tarihi (OALT) (History of astronomy literature
during the Ottoman period). Vol. 2, pp. 530–536. Istanbul: IRCICA.
——— (1999). Osmanlı
Matematik Literatürü Tarihi (OMLT) (History of mathematical literature
during the Ottoman period). Vol. 1, pp. 250–251. Istanbul: IRCICA.
İzgi, Cevat (1997). Osmanlı Medreselerinde İlim.
Vol. 1, p. 252. Istanbul.
Kütükoğlu, Mübahat (1999). “Osmanlı Maliyesi.” In
Osmanlı Devleti Tarihi, edited by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu.
Vol. 2, p. 516. Istanbul.
Meyer, Wolfgang (1985).
İstanbul'daki Günes Saatleri. Istanbul, pp. 50–51, 56–57.
Özdemir, Kemal (1993). Osmanlıdan Günümüze Saatler.
Istanbul, pp. 54–55.
Salih Zeki Kamus‐i Riyaziyat. Vol. 1, pp. 315–318.
Istanbul 1315 (1897). Takvim‐i Vakayi, no. 46, 6 Receb 1248 (29
November 1832), p. 3. (Newspaper published in Istanbul.)
Uzunçarsılı, İsmail Hakkı (1983). Osmanlı
Tarihi. Vol. 4, pt. 2, p. 537. Ankara.