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 Ottoman Bosnian statesman of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

, swordmaster,

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

, and miniaturist. He was brought to Istanbul after being recruited by Ottoman scouts in

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

. He was then educated, served several Ottoman

sultans Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

, and became a teacher at

Enderun School The Enderun School () was a palace school and boarding school within Topkapi Palace. It was mostly for princes of the court and the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire. Students here were primarily recruited via ''devşirme'', a system of the Islam ...

Life

French fleet with Barbarossa at the Siege of Nice 1543

Matrakçı Nasuh, born in the Bosnian town of

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 livi ...

, was a

Janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

who went through both the infantry and the

devşirme Devshirme (, usually translated as "child levy" or "blood tax", , .) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman practice of Conscription, forcibly recruiting soldiers and bureaucrats from among the children of their Balkan Christian subjects and raising th ...

system. He was a swordsman and sharpshooter who spoke five languages and was recruited into the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

. Although born to

Bosnian Muslim Islam is the most widespread religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was introduced to the local population in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Muslims make the largest religious co ...

parentage, Nasuh was drafted into the

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 Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

. He wrote also the two books named ''Mecmaü't-Tevârih'' and ''Süleymannâme'', on history from 1520 to 1543. 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

nearly 50 years before

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston ( ; Latinisation of names, Latinized as Ioannes Neper; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8 ...

reintroduced it to Europe. Barbarossa fleet wintering in Toulon 1543

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 The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and then

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

and its return via

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

, Nasuh also includes all the cities met by the army along the way. The Library of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

hosts the only copy of this work. Nasuh was also a soldier and a master bladesmith. He worked as a weapons teacher at

. He and his students demonstrated their skills in a show which was part of the

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

celebrations of Suleiman I's sons including future sultan Selim II. Because of his success in this demonstration, Nasuh received the honorary title of ''

Ustad Ustad, ustadh, ustaz or ustadz (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ''ustād'') is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages, incl ...

'' ("master") and ''Reis'' ("chief") from the sultan. He also wrote a book about usage of various weapons and techniques of

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

and

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

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. Matraki2

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 Suleiman (; or dictionary.reference.comsuleiman/ref>) is the Arabic name of the Jewish and Quranic king and Islam, Islamic prophet Solomon (name), Solomon. Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566) was the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman E ...

) * ''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

Khan) *"TÂRÎH-İ ÂL-İ OSMÂN( Rüstem Pasha History) * ''Tuhfet-ul Guzat'' (Gift of Warriors) *"Târih-i Sultan Bâyezid

Gallery

File:خارطة بغداد.jpg, Map of Baghdad File:Matrakçı Nasuh Map (18).JPG, Miniaturised Map File:Matrakçı Nasuh Map (20).JPG, Miniaturised Map File:Matrakçı Nasuh Soltaniyeh Map (1).JPG, 16th century map of Soltaniyeh city by Matrakçı Nasuh File:Matrakçı Nasuh Soltaniyeh Map (2).JPG, 16th century map of Soltaniyeh city by Matrakçı Nasuh File:İstanbul in the Menazilname by Matrakçı Nasuh (detail of the peninsula).jpg, Map of Istanbul File:Matrakçı Nasuh - İstanbul.jpg, Map of Istanbul File:Matrakçı Nasuh Map (5).JPG File:Matrakçı Nasuh Map (21).JPG File:Matrakçı Nasuh Map (11).JPG

Honors and legacy

In his hometown of Visoko, in Bosnia Matrakčija is regarded as a Bosnian

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

. 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. Fatih Al portrayed Matrakçı Nasuh Pasha in 2011's Magnificent Century.

References

External links