[MUWAQQIT EFFENDY: TIMEKEEPING OF THE SPECIAL WATCH IN THE TOMB OF SULTAN MEHMET II] Historical manuscript document on the fee of a muwaqqit who was hired to set the special watch that Pertevniyal Kadin Efendi donated

MUSTAFA (Authorized person of the Waqf), (Early 19th century). 

[12]71 AH = AD 1854, Istanbul. 

[MUWAQQIT EFFENDY: TIMEKEEPING OF THE SPECIAL WATCH IN THE TOMB OF SULTAN MEHMET II] Historical manuscript document on the fee of a muwaqqit who was hired to set the special watch that Pertevniyal Kadin Efendi donated to the tomb of Fatih Sultan Mehmed Han.

Original historical autograph manuscript document sealed by the authorized person of the Pertevniyal Hanim Waqf on special paper. 32x18 cm. In Ottoman script. 6 lines with its annotated confirmation with red ink. 1 p. Historical manuscript document on about the muwaqqit who was hired to set the special watch that Pertevniyal Kadin Efendi donated to the tomb of Fatih Sultan Mehmed Han. Pertevniyal Sultan [i.e. "Descended from Radiance"], (1810-1884), was the thirteenth wife of Sultan Mahmud II, and Valide sultan to their son Sultan Abdulaziz of the Ottoman Empire. Pertevniyal exerted some influence over her son. When Abdulaziz took his trip to Europe, Pertevniyal was anxious about him the whole time he was away. On his way home he stopped at Ruse, Bulgaria, where Midhat was governor, with the intention of a month and acquainting himself with the Balkan country. But Pertevniyal, a possessive and short-sighted woman, wrote him to come home immediately. Sultan of Turkey though he was, he obeyed his mother's command. Pertevniyal contributed to the instability of her son's rule by meddling in affairs of state. Especially unwise was her alliance with Mahmud Nedim Pasha, the sycophantic grand vizier whose recklessness and incompetence led to further financial chaos. She founded the Pertevniyal High School as well as Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque in 1872. In the days when the Hejaz was part of the Empire, the Porte tried to improve the health situation there. Pertevniyal, built hospitals in the Harem-i Sherif, and young Turkish doctors went out from Istanbul to man them. Pertevniyal Sultan was a great philanthropist, and thanks to her influence, she had the opportunity to make her son do whatever he wanted. In order to provide income to the foundations that it intends to establish, lands called Fasil fields. She commissioned a fountain in front of the Kâtib Mosque in October 1862, and then it was removed from the square and moved to the entrance door of the mosque on the grounds that it narrowed the road. She also built three fountains, one in Suboyu (Bige) village and two on Karaköy road in Sebinkarahisar. In 1864, she built a shipbuilding pool (stone loom) in Tersane to cover her own income, the first Ottoman battleship came out of this loom. "In the history of Islam, a muwaqqit was an astronomer tasked with the timekeeping and the regulation of prayer times in an Islamic institution like a mosque or a madrasa. Unlike the muezzin (reciter of the call to prayer) who was usually selected for his piety and voice, a muwaqqit was selected for his knowledge and skill in astronomy. The main duty of the muwaqqit was timekeeping and the regulation of daily prayer times in mosques, madrasas, or other institutions using astronomy and other exact sciences. At its zenith in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, major mosques often employed prominent astronomers as muwaqqits. In addition to regulating prayer times, they wrote treatises on astronomy, especially on timekeeping and the use of related instruments such as quadrants and sundials. They were also responsible for other religious matters related to their astronomical expertise, such as the keeping of the Islamic calendar and the determination of the qibla (the direction to Mecca used for prayers). (Source: Wikipedia).

Historical documents The Ottoman Empire