Muallimhane-i Nüvvab: The Pioneering New Law School That Differed from the Madrasa Education in the Ottoman State
Hasan Sabri ÇeliktaşThe changes the Ottoman State experienced in different areas in the 19th century also showed their effects in the field of law. The many laws that had been enacted in different fields, the new legal needs that had arisen as a particular result of developing trade with Western states, and the regulations in the administrative structure brought about by the Tanzimat can be shown as examples of changes in the field of law. The changes that were experienced would also most certainly affect the education of lawyers in the next stage. In this context, the subject of this study is the institution for educating lawyers known as the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb, which was opened in 1855 as the first educational structure different from the madrasah education system in the six centuries of Ottoman legal education history. This study seeks answers to the following questions: What were the reasons for the emergence of the Muallimhane-i Nüvvab; what kind of curriculum did it have, how was it different from the madrasah education system in terms of educating lawyers; and what relevance does it have with new law schools. The study follows the document analysis method, a qualitative data collection method, in accordance with the qualitative research design to analyze the problem presented in the study. In this context, the study first discusses the reasons behind the emergence of the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb. The study then focuses on the development of the school’s curriculum before finishing by addressing its relevance to the new law schools that were opened in the Ottoman State, as well as its effects on the Ottoman geography.
Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb: Osmanlı Devleti’nde Medreseden Farklı Yeni Hukuk Eğitiminin Öncüsü
Hasan Sabri ÇeliktaşOsmanlı Devleti’nin XIX. yüzyılda farklı alanlarda yaşadığı değişim, etkisini hukuk alanında da göstermiştir. Hukuk alanındaki değişime, muhtelif sahalarda çıkarılan çok sayıda kanunlar, özellikle Batılı devletlerle gelişen ticaret neticesinde ortaya çıkan yeni hukuki ihtiyaçlar ve Tanzimat’ın beraberinde getirdiği idari yapıdaki düzenlemeler örnek gösterilebilir. Yaşanan değişimlerin, bir sonraki aşamada hukuk eğitimini de etkileyeceği muhakkaktır. Osmanlı Devleti’nde hukuk eğitimi, medrese eğitim sistemi içerisinde verilmekteydi. Medrese eğitim sisteminde nitelikli bir hukukçunun yetişmesi için uzun bir süre ve yoğun bir çaba gerekliydi. Bu çerçevede altı yüzyıllık Osmanlı hukuk eğitimi tarihinde ilk defa medrese eğitim sisteminden farklı bir yapılanma olarak 1855’te açılan Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb isimli, şer‘î hizmetlere eleman yetiştiren kurum çalışmamızın konusunu oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada; Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb’ın ortaya çıkış sebeplerinin ne olduğu, nasıl bir müfredata sahip olduğu, hukukçu yetiştirmek bakımından medrese eğitim sisteminden farkının ne olduğu ve yeni hukuk mektepleriyle ilgisinin ne olduğu gibi sorular çeşitli açılardan açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma desenine uygun bir şekilde nitel veri toplama yöntemlerinden doküman incelemesi yapılmıştır. Bu çerçevede öncelikle Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb’ı ortaya çıkaran sebepler ele alınmıştır. İkinci olarak okulun müfredatının gelişimi üzerinde durulmuştur. Son olarak Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb’ın Osmanlı Devleti’nde açılan yeni hukuk mektepleriyle olan ilgisine ve Osmanlı coğrafyasındaki etkisine değinilmiştir. Çalışmada ulaşılan sonuçların hukuk eğitim tarihine katkı sunması umulmaktadır.
The subject of this study is the institution for educating lawyers known as the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb, which was founded in 1855 as the first structure different from the madrasah education system in the history of Ottoman legal education.
This study seeks to answer the following questions: What were the reasons behind the emergence of the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb? What kind of curriculum did the school have? How was it different from the madrasah education system in terms of training lawyers? What effect did it have on the new law schools in the Ottoman State?
The changes the Ottoman State experienced in its political, military, social, and economic fields during the 19th century also affected the field of law. Laws enacted in different fields throughout that century, the new legal needs that arise as a particular result of close relations with Western states, and the regulations in the administrative and financial structure that had been introduced by the Tanzimat directly affected the field of law. Concerning these developments, muhassillik [income collection] assemblies were established to have a say in the how provinces, shires, sanjaks, and districts were managed. The jurisdiction of reasoning and negotiation in matters such as administration, tax, and punishment were given to these assemblies.
These developments paved the way for the nizâmiye [guardhouse] courts and prepared the groundwork for diversifying both the types of trials and courts. The diversification of courts in terms of form and procedure led to the segmentation of legal fields and their executors (i.e., judges and lawyers), and naturally to the diversification of legal education during this process. In this context, intense regulation activities were carried out in the 19th century regarding the status of the kadi who’d been carrying out the legal affairs of the state and of the naibs, who were the kadis’ representatives. In a sense, the state was attempting to ensure that lawyers as the executors of the changing new legal order also were adapting to this change.
The changes in the field of law necessitated a reconsideration of legal education in the next stage. Thus, the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb was established in 1855 as the first structure in the history of Ottoman legal education that was different than the madrasah education system. In the history of legal education, the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb was an important and pioneering institution in that it had the title of the first law school to be opened in the field of the judiciary due to having law lessons in its curriculum, as well as its practices related to court affairs.
When looking at the documents regarding the establishment of the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb, the prominent aspects of the new law school can be expressed as follows. First of all, the establishment of the school came to the agenda to meet the increasing need for judges and the proliferation of new legal fields, as the measures aimed at increasing the quality of the existing regents had not produced the desired result. Secondly, having the ability to make a judgment on an issue had been considered sufficient for being selected to attend the school. Thirdly, the school drew attention for the short time required for receiving an education there.
At the same time, the Muallimhane-i Nüvvab had largely taken over the madrasas’ task of educating lawyers, especially for those who’d never received or could not complete a madrasa education. In the second half of the 19th century, the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb had enough human resources to take control of the nizâmiye courts, which had been founded alongside the shari’a courts for a long time. While the framework regarding the education to be given in this school was drawn first, it focused on learning fiqh and fatwa books and gaining their practical aspects with regard to reasoning. In the understanding of the madrasa education, a student who would become a lawyer (i.e., enter the tarik-i kaza) was expected to have higher qualification levels. On the other hand, a picture had been drawn for this new school, one in which practical education was predominant while the schedule was concise. However, the addition of different areas of law, especially the new laws and regulations such as the Mecelle that emerged in the process, to the curriculum of Muallimhane-i Nüvvab as a course resulted in a rich schedule that was to be expected from a law school.
The Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb met the state’s need for jurists for about 69 years, alongside the Mekteb-i Hukuk-ı Şahane and the madrasas. In this regard, the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb came to the fore for the law schools that would later open for training the lawyers who would both serve in civil courts as well as learn the newly formed legal acquis. It came to the fore as a leading institution in the field of law due to the education curriculum that was applied at the school and its professional institutional character in the field of law.
The influence the Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb had reached not only within the Ottoman borders but also to the Ottoman geography in the Balkans. The Muallimhane-i Nüvvab made its name on the historical scene as a school modeled on raising the manpower Muslims in Bosnia and Bulgaria needed regarding sharia issues. The Muallimhâne-i Nüvvâb will undoubtedly receive the value it deserves in the history of legal education as a result of future monographic studies to be carried out on the school.
