was a high post in Ottoman bureaucracy. The Turkish word literally means "court calligrapher" or "sealer", as the original duty of the was to seal royal precepts.

History

Although the post of the court calligrapher was established during the reign of

Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...

(1324–1361), the name came into use during the reign of

Murat II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

(1421–1451). According to the law of

Mehmet II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

(1451–1481), the was a member of the

divan A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...

(Ottoman government). Beginning in the mid-18th century, the post lost its former importance, and in 1836, it was abolished.

Duties of the nişancı

The was responsible for sealing the

precept A precept (from the , to teach) is a wikt:commandment, commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authority, authoritative rule of action. Religious law In religion, precepts are usually commands respecting morality, moral conduct. Chris ...

s of the

sultan 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 the

grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

. The was also responsible in supervising the divan's archives and keeping the records of the

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...

system (lands granted and taxation authority by the Ottoman sultans to bureaucrats and

sipahi The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding ('' timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the arm ...

soldiers in return for their services). Up until the 17th century, the post of was also the equivalent of foreign minister. However, during the reign of Mehmet IV (1648–1687), reisülküttap (literally "the chief of clerks"), a post previously subordinate to that of the , replaced as 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 ...

's foreign ministry.Gabor Agoston-Bruce Masters: ''Encyclopaedia of the Ottoman Empire'', , pp.50–51

Grand viziers of Nisancı origin

* Karamanlı Mehmet Pasha (1477–1481) * Ayaşlı İsmail Pasha (1688–1688) * Elmas Mehmet Pasha (1695–1697) * Nişancı Süleyman Pasha (1709-1712) * Nişancı Ahmet Pasha (1740–1742)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nisanci Government of the Ottoman Empire Ottoman titles Turkish words and phrases