Matrakçı Nasuh

Nasuh bin Karagöz bin Abdullah el-Visokavi el-Bosnavî, commonly known as Matrakçı Nasuh (; ) for his competence in the combat sport of '' Matrak'' which was invented by himself, (also known as ''Nasuh el-Silâhî'', ''Nasuh the Swordsman'', because of his talent with weapons; 1480 – 1564) was a 16th-century Turk-Bosniak statesman of the Ottoman Empire, polymath, mathematician, teacher, historian, geographer, cartographer, swordmaster, navigator, inventor, painter, farmer, and miniaturist.

He was brought to Istanbul after being recruited by Ottoman scouts in Rumelia. He was then educated, served several Ottoman sultans, and became a teacher at Enderun School.

Life

Matrakçı Nasuh, born in the Bosnian town of Visoko, was a Janissary who went through both the infantry and the devşirme system. He was a swordsman and sharpshooter who spoke five languages and was recruited into the Ottoman Navy.

Although born to Bosnian Muslim parentage, Nasuh was drafted into the devşirme system, usually reserved for the Christian populace of the empire. Exceptionally, however, in Bosnia, the devşirme was also extended to local Muslim families.

After a long period of studying mathematics and geometry, he wrote his works ''Cemâlü'l-Küttâb'' and ''Kemalü'l- Hisâb'' and submitted them to the Ottoman sultan Selim I. He wrote also the two books named ''Mecmaü't-Tevârih'' and ''Süleymannâme'', on history from 1520–43. He also wrote a historical piece on the Persian campaign of Suleiman I titled ''Fetihname-i Karabuğdan''. A recent study of his book ''Umdet-ul Hisab'' found that Matrakçı had invented some multiplication methods and that the lattice method had been widely used in the Enderun School nearly 50 years before John Napier reintroduced it to Europe.

Besides his works on mathematics and history, he painted miniatures which focus on panoramic views of landscapes and cities painted with the greatest detail (his Istanbul landscape picture, shows almost every street and building of the city). In Ottoman miniature art, this was later known as the "Matrakçı style". One of his four volumes of miniatures deals with Suleiman I's Safavid war, upon which he had written his historical work ''Fetihname-i Karabuğdan''. Besides illustrating the march of the Ottoman army from Istanbul to Baghdad and then Tabriz and its return via Halab and Eskişehir, Nasuh also includes all the cities met by the army along the way. The Library of Istanbul University hosts the only copy of this work.

Nasuh was also a soldier and a master bladesmith. He worked as a weapons teacher at Enderun School. He and his students demonstrated their skills in a show which was part of the circumcision celebrations of Suleiman I's sons. Because of his success in this demonstration, Nasuh received the honorary title of ''Ustad'' ("master") and ''Reis'' ("chief") from the sultan. He also wrote a book about usage of various weapons and techniques of cavalry and infantry fight, called ''Tuhfet-ül Guzât''.

Mathematics

Nasuh, who made a name for himself in mathematics, was especially interested in arithmetic and Algebra. He was the first to introduce the Lattice multiplication system.


Multiplication begins by multiplying two numbers in the same column from the far right of the row. Since the 4x5 product (20) is a two-digit number, the number in the theirs digit (2) is written above the mesh, and the number (0) in the ones digit is written below the mesh.

Works

Mathematics

* ''Cemâlü'l-Küttâb''
* ''Kemalü'l- Hisâb''
* ''Umdetü'l-Hisâb''

History

* ''Mecmaü't-Tevârih'' (Sum of History)
* ''Süleymannâme'' (Book of Suleiman)
* ''Fetihname-i Karabuğdan'' (Book of )
* ''Beyan-ı Menazil-i Sefer-i Irakeyn-i Sultan Süleyman Han'' (Chronicle of Stages of Campaign of Iraq and Persia of Sultan Suleiman Khan)

Martial Arts

* ''Tuhfet-ul Guzat'' (Gift of Warriors)

Gallery

خارطة بغداد.jpg, Map of Baghdad
Matrakçı_Nasuh_Map_(18).JPG, Miniaturised Map
Matrakçı_Nasuh_Map_(20).JPG, Miniaturised Map
Matrakçı Nasuh Soltaniyeh Map (1).JPG, 16th century map of Soltaniyeh city by Matrakçı Nasuh
Matrakçı Nasuh Soltaniyeh Map (2).JPG, 16th century map of Soltaniyeh city by Matrakçı Nasuh
İstanbul_in_the_Menazilname_by_Matrakçı_Nasuh_(detail_of_the_peninsula).jpg, Map of Istanbul
Matrakçı_Nasuh_-_İstanbul.jpg, Map of Istanbul
Matrakçı_Nasuh_Map_(5).JPG,
Matraki1.jpg, Matraki's square lattice multiplication
Matraki2.jpg, Matraki's triangular lattice multiplication

Honors and legacy

In his hometown of Visoko, in Bosnia Matrakčija is regarded as a Bosnian Leonardo da Vinci. A street near the ''Hometown Heritage Museum Visoko'' ''(Zavičajni Muzej Visoko)'' is named after him: Matrakčijina (English: Matrakci's Street).

A documentary film about Matrakçı was produced by Turkish Radio-television in 1978.

References

External links

A gallery of his miniatures at Bilkent University

REPUBLIC OF TURKEY MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

Game of Matrak – Turkish website

Fortresses of Matrakci – planCity of Diyarbakir – illumination
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasuh, Matrakçı
1480 births
Year of death unknown
Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims
People from the Ottoman Empire of Bosnian descent
Mathematicians from the Ottoman Empire
Miniaturists from the Ottoman Empire
Architects from the Ottoman Empire
Geographers from the Ottoman Empire
People from Visoko
16th-century mathematicians
16th-century historians from the Ottoman Empire
Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire
16th-century artists from the Ottoman Empire
Historians of the Ottoman Empire
Scholars of the Ottoman Empire
Muslim historians of Islam