Contextualizing an 18th century Ottoman elite: Şerif Halil Paşa of Şumnu and his patronage

Abstract

The fundamental aim of this thesis is to present the career of Şerif Halil Paşa of Şumnu who has only been mentioned in scholarly research due to the socio-religious complex that he commissioned in his hometown. Furthermore, it is aimed to portray Şerif Halil within a larger circle of elites and their common interests in the first half of the 18th century. For the study, various chronicles, archival records and biographical dictionaries have been used as primary sources. The vakıfnâme of the socio-religious complex of Şerif Halil proved to be a rare example which included some valuable biographical facts about the patron. Apart from the official posts that Şerif Halil Paşa occupied in the Defterhâne and the Divânhâne, this study attempts to render his patronage of architecture as well as his intellectual interests such as calligraphy and literature. In other words, his legacy is put under close scrutiny. The intended goal in researching about an unknown 18th century elite like Şerif Halil Paşa is to give substance to a ghost hidden in the stage of history who indeed served as the sadâret kethüdâsı twice and took active part in the translation committee organized by Damad İbrahim Paşa.