On the Origin of the “Köprülü” Epithet

Topçu S. M.

Archivum Ottomanicum, sa.37, ss.87-97, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Dergi Adı: Archivum Ottomanicum
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: IBZ Online, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.87-97
  • Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

For the Ottoman Empire, the 17th century is known as a period when many political, social and economic problems were encountered. In this period many grand viziers were appointed and most of these were either dismissed or executed after these crisis. This situation led to the diminution of the state authority especially in the provinces rural. Another fact or worsening the situation was the power struggle at the Seraglio. Especially the bureaucrats of the period who had succeeded to the grand vizier’s office tried to get strong supporters at the palace for their permenance. In such a period, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, obtaining the grand viziership, the highest rank in the Ottoman bureaucracy, tried to re-establish the operation of state mechanism by taking radical precautions despite his advanced age.

This study is about the epithet “Köprülü”, used by Köprülü Mehmed Pasha who was the founder of the Köprülü Family, and the origin of this family name has been discussed in the light of historical sources. Thus with this study, we aim to clarify the ongoing debates about this subject by offering a new point of view.