Forgotten Experts

A. Tunc Sen is Assistant Professor of History at Columbia University.

Illustrations Note on Transliteration Acknowledgments Introduction: Empire of Experts, Experts of Empire 1. Munajjims' Expertise 2. Persianate Foundations 3. Heavenly Patronage 4. Fortunes Turned 5. Occult Rivalries Conclusion: Istanbul Observatory and the Aftermath Notes Bibliography Index

"Forgotten Experts offers a brilliant examination of the work of Ottoman courtly scientific experts. A. Tunc Sen sets a new standard for historians of science in Islamic societies to carefully consider the local contexts of 'expertise' and how it was employed by rulers." -Nahyan Fancy, University of Exeter "Written in a clear, accessible style, with meticulous archival research, Forgotten Experts is a major contribution to the burgeoning field of Ottoman science studies. A. Tunc Sen neither devalues nor valorizes the subjects of his study, but gives us a sober and enlightening view of court astrologers." -F. Jamil Ragep, McGill University "As a third-generation scholar of Ottoman science, A. Tunc Sen draws from extensive scientific literature and research since the 1980s to provide a nuanced analysis of Munajjims, or astral experts. In this pioneering study, Sen explores the complex relationship between the Ottoman Empire's scientific functionaries and courtly decision-makers, showcasing the significant role these experts played in shaping historical decisions. A groundbreaking work." -Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Honorary President, Turkish Society for History of Science "Forgotten Experts reminds us that the pre-modern world was lively and not static, the debates around astrology suggest contention, experiment and that anything could come under question. The book is a much needed delve into a forgotten history that is key to understanding and unlocking the past." -Usman Butt, Middle East Monitor "A. Tunc Sen's Forgotten Experts: Astrologers, Science and Authority in the Ottoman Empire, 1450-1600 draws on rich archival evidence to account for the declining status of Ottoman court munajjims (roughly translated as astronomers/astrologers) over the long sixteenth century. In so doing, it addresses several important gaps in existing scholarship, including a paucity of history of Ottoman science.... It's not often that a book points towards such exciting new lines of investigation, even as it participates in debates as formidable as the ones surrounding Ottoman political history." -Alexa Herlands, H-Sci-Med-Tech "Forgotten Expertspresents an erudite and exemplary intellectual history of Ottoman-period astrologers in their social and political contexts." -Kenan Tekin, American Historical Review "Tunc Sen paints a detailed picture of the institutionalization and subsequently undulating cultural and political position of the astrological unit between 1450 and 1600, while simultaneously advancing an argument about the nature of scientific expertise." -Michelle Pfeffer, The British Journal for the History of Science "[A] lucid and compelling narrative that balances close reading of complex sources with broader historiographical reflection. Sen consistently resists settling on a catch-all term or a simplistic binary explanatory framework. Instead, he convincingly calls for a nuanced understanding of a plural epistemic landscape in which astrology operated side by side with other traditions. In doing so, he fills a major gap in Ottoman and global histories of science and sets a new standard for the study of astrology as a social practice." -Kristof D'hulster, Diyar "Forgotten Experts offers a compelling framework for rethinking expertise as a historically contingent and politically negotiated category rather than a stable marker of technical competence. By foregrounding the institutional, affective, and material conditions under which astral knowledge was produced, authorized, and contested, Sen's study speaks beyond the Ottoman case to broader debates in the history of science and early modern knowledge cultures." -Ido Ben-Ami, Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society "Forgotten Experts is a major contribution to the study of Ottoman scientific and intellectual life. By centering expertise as a historically contingent category and grounding its analysis in an exceptionally rich archival record, the book offers a model for how to write the history of knowledge practices without anachronism or teleology." -Maryam Patton, Turkish Historical Review "Forgotten Experts is an impressive, detailed study that offers a sobering view of the realities munajjims faced in the Ottoman Empire during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.... It pushes the boundaries of what we think it took to run an empire and demonstrates what difference shifting the geographical focus away from European archives can make." -Jakub Ochocinski, Cyber Review for Modern Historiography