Fathers and Sons in Early Ottoman Architecture: ‘üstâd ibni üstâd’
Mustafa Çağhan KeskinIn the early modern period, architects, artists, and craftsman were trained though an experimentation process based on practice rather than a theorical education. Professional training was based on the traditional master-apprentice relationship within an experience-oriented hierarchy. Taking on the father’s profession was often a necessity rather than a choice. Male descendants, being seen as an auxiliary labor force, were raised by the father within the framework of the master-apprentice relationship, and professional knowledge was handed down from generation to generation. According to the existing inscriptions, the Syrian al-Mushaimish family was not affiliated with any private patron or institutional organization such as the Hassa Mimarlar Ocağı, and family members had been coming to Türkiye from Syria since the mid-14th century to provide architectural services for various patrons in different regions. By the end of the 15th century, father and son partnerships such as Murad Halife and his sons Hayreddin, Hızır Bâli, and İbrahim; Yâkub Shah and his son Hüdâverdi; and Alâuddin Ali [Acem Ali] and his son Hamza were seen among the architects employed under the institutional architecture organization affiliated with the realm. This study aims to reveal and discuss the father and son partnerships in early Ottoman architecture.
‘üstâd ibni üstâd’: Erken Osmanlı Mimarlığında Babalar ve Oğullar
Mustafa Çağhan KeskinModern dönem öncesinde, mimar ve sanatçılar teoriden ziyade pratik uygulamalara dayanan bir deneyimleme süreci ile yetişmekteydi; ‘baba mesleği’ tercihten ziyade çoğu zaman zorunluluktu. Yardımcı iş gücü olarak görülen erkek çocuklar, baba tarafından usta-çırak ilişkisi çerçevesine yetiştirilmekte, mesleki birikim nesilden nesile miras bırakılmaktaydı. Günümüze ulaşan kitabeler ışığında XIV. yüzyıldan itibaren en az üç nesil boyunca Anadolu’nun farklı kentlerinde çeşitli yapıların inşasını üstlenen Suriye kökenli Müşeymeş ailesi fertleri Ali, yeğeni Ebu Bekir ile oğlu Ahmed’in Hassa Mimarlar Ocağı gibi kurumsal bir yapıya bağlı olmaksızın Osmanlı bâniler hizmetinde bulundukları izlenir. XV. yüzyıl sonunda, devlete bağlı kurumsal mimarlık örgütlenmesi altında istihdam edilen mimarlar arasında da Murad Halife ile oğulları Hayreddin, Hızır Bâlî ve İbrahim, Yâkub Şah ile oğlu Hüdâverdi ve Alâüddin Ali [Acem Ali] ile oğlu Hamza gibi baba-oğullar yer alır. II. Bayezid döneminde, devlet eliyle sürdürülen mimarlık faaliyetlerinin Murad Halife ve oğulları ile Yâkub Şah, oğlu ve mesleğinin ilk yıllarında onun ekibinde yer aldığı anlaşılan Alâüddin Ali’den müteşekkil iki temel ekip arasında paylaşıldığı anlaşılır. Bu çalışma, Sinan öncesi Osmanlı mimarlığında, mimarlık pratiğine yön veren babalar ve oğullar, diğer bir deyişle mimar ailelere yönelik bir bakıştır.
Many well-known actors from the modern architectural environment inherited the profession from a parent and/or had handed it down to their children and even grandchildren. Unlike modern architects who continued their parents’ profession through an academic-based education, pre-modern architects learned the architectural profession, which was based on the masterapprentice relationship, directly from their fathers. In other words, they had inherited it from their fathers. Sometimes, the situation of learning a trade from the father continued for generations, and families that had continued the same profession for centuries would dominate the market.
In the early modern period, architects, artists, and craftsman were trained though an experimentation process based on practice rather than a theorical education. Professional training was based on the traditional master-apprentice relationship within an experienceoriented hierarchy. In institutional schools such as the Ecole des Beaux Arts and Bauhaus, which provided the first modern education in the field of art and architecture, the master-apprentice relationship was one of the basic inputs of the professional maturation process. Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi was founded in 1882, and the system and curriculum it used as the first Ottoman school to provide education in art and architecture in a modern sense was created by taking the Ecole des Beaux Arts method as an example.
However, the traditional method became abandoned over time. Today, master-apprentice relationships are quite limited, so much so that even modern architects who chose to follow in their father’s profession did not acquire the professional skills from their parents through the master-apprentice relationship. On the contrary, they went through an academic process in which theory had become at least as important as practice.
In pre-modern society, 'taking up a father’s profession was often a necessity rather than a choice. Male descendants, being seen as an auxiliary labor force, were raised by their father within the framework of the master-apprentice relationship, and professional knowledge was handed down from generation to generation. The earliest significant examples of the transfer of professional experience and knowledge over generations in Anatolian Turkish architecture and art can be seen in the Ahlat tomb stones.
The Armenian Baylan family, a kind of architectural dynasty, form the most striking example in which the profession of architecture had been passed down from generation to generation. In fact, the history of families dealing with architecture in the Ottoman world dates back to the founding of Ottoman architecture in the 15th century.
According to surviving inscriptions, Ebu Bekir bin Muhammed al-Mushaimish, the architect of the Bayezid Pasha Imaret in Amasya and the Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Madrasa in Merzifon in 1414, was nephew to the Syrian Ali ibn Mushaimish, who had built a mosque in Selçuk (Ayasuluk) on behalf of İsa Bey, the ruler of the Aydınoğlu Emirate in 1375. Ebu Bekir’s son, Ahmed, who referred to himself as an üstâd ibni üstâd [master and son of the master] alongside his father in one of his own inscriptions was also the architect of the Karacabey Imaret in Ankara in 1427. The Mushaimish family from Damascus were not affiliated with any private patron or institutional organization such as the Hassa Mimarlar Ocağı, and members of the family are understood to have come to Türkiye from Syria starting in the mid-14th century to provide architectural services for various patrons in different regions. By the end of the 15th century, father and son teams such as Murad Halife and his sons Hayreddin, Hızır Bâli, and İbrahim; Yâkub Shah and his son Hüdâverdi; and Alâuddin Ali [Acem Ali] and his son Hamza were seen among the architects employed under the institutional architecture organization affiliated with the realm. During the rule of Bayezid II, the architectural activities carried out by the realm were seen to have been shared between Murad Halife and his sons, Yâkub Shah and Alâuddin Ali. The sons had been brought up under the master-apprentice relationship with their fathers and appear to have found a place for themselves among the staff the Hassa Mimarlar Ocağı during its founding, albeit with the influence of their fathers.
Since the chief architect Sinan, who was appointed to replace Alâuddin Ali, recruits were employed in the construction processes, causing the chief architect and the members of the Hassa Mimarlar Ocağı to be mostly devshirme origin architects, and father-sons lost their influence except for individual examples. This study aims to reveal and discuss the father-sons of early Ottoman architecture.
Mimar Sinan, the grand architect who had been appointed to replace Alâuddin Ali, mostly took on recruits who were employed in construction, thus resulting in the chief architect and members of the Ottoman Guild of Architects to be mostly Devshirme [forced labor] architects. Apart from individual examples, this also caused the father-son teams to lose their influence. This study aims to reveal and discuss the father and son teams in early Ottoman architecture.
