Ibrahim Muteferrika


Ibrahim Müteferrika was a Hungarian-born Ottoman diplomat, publisher, economist, historian, Islamic theologian, sociologist, and the first Muslim to run a printing press with movable Arabic type.

Early life

Ibrahim Muteferrika was born in Kolozsvár. He was an ethnic Hungarian Unitarian who converted to Islam. His original Hungarian language name is however unknown.

Diplomatic Service

At a young age, Ibrahim Muteferrika entered the Ottoman diplomatic services. He took an active part in the negotiations with Austria and Russia. Ibrahim Muteferrika was an active figure in promoting the Ottoman-French alliance against Austria and Russia. Ibrahim Muteferrika was also acclaimed for his role in the Ottoman-Swedish action against Russia.
During his services as a diplomat he is known to have befriended many influential personalities including Osman Aga of Temesvar, a fellow diplomat of Transylvanian origins and former prisoner of war imprisoned in Austria.
It was during his years as a diplomat that he took a keen interest in collecting books that helped him understand the ongoing Renaissance, the emergence of Protestant movements in Europe, and the rise of powerful colonial empires in Europe.

Printing Press

His volumes, printed in Istanbul and using custom-made fonts, are occasionally referred to as "Turkish incunabula". Muteferrika, whose last name derived from his employment as a Müteferrika, head of the household, under Sultan Ahmed III and during the Tulip Era, was also a geographer, astronomer, and philosopher.
Following a 1726 report on the efficiency of the new system, which he drafted and presented simultaneously to Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, the Grand Mufti, and the clergy, and a later request submitted to Sultan Ahmed III, he received permission to publish non-religious books. Muteferrika's press published its first book in 1729, and, by 1743, issued 17 works in 23 volumes. The first book ever published by Muteferrika is "Vankulu Lügati", a 2-volume Arabic-Turkish dictionary. Printing religious books was prohibited.
Among the works published by Müteferrika were historical and generically scientific works, as well as Katip Çelebi's world atlas Cihannüma. In a digression that he added to his printing, Müteferrika discussed the heliocentrism of astronomy in detail, with references to relatively up-to-date scientific arguments for and against it. In this regard, he is considered one of the first people to properly introduce heliocentrism to the Ottoman readers.
After 1742, however, Ibrahim Muteferrika's printing activities were discontinued and an attempt by the British diplomat James Mario Matra, motivated by the exorbitant prices for manuscript books, to reestablish a press in Istanbul was aborted in 1779. In his account, Matra refers to the strong opposition of the scribes which Müteferrika's enterprise had to face earlier:

Legacy

Muteferrika died in Istanbul.
A statue of Muteferrika can be found in the Sahaflar Çarşısı adjacent to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

Books published by Muteferrika

A total of 17 titles have been published by Muteferrika at his own press during his lifetime :
  1. Kitab-ı Lügat-ı Vankulu , 2 volumes, 1729
  2. Tuhfet-ül Kibar fi Esfar el-Bihar, 1729
  3. Tarih-i Seyyah, 1729
  4. Tarih-i Hind-i Garbi, 1730
  5. Tarih-i Timur Gürgan, 1730
  6. Tarih-I Mısr-i Kadim ve Mısr-i Cedid, 1730
  7. Gülşen-i Hülefa, 1730
  8. Grammaire Turque, 1730
  9. Usul el-Hikem fi Nizam el-Ümem, 1732
  10. Fiyuzat-ı Mıknatısiye, 1732
  11. Cihan-nüma, 1732
  12. Takvim el-Tevarih, 1733
  13. Kitab-ı Tarih-i Naima, 2 volumes, 1734
  14. Tarih-i Raşid, 3 volumes, 1735
  15. Tarih-i Çelebizade, 1741
  16. Ahval-i Gazavat der Diyar-ı Bosna, 1741
  17. Kitab-ı Lisan el-Acem el Müsemma bi-Ferheng-i Şuuri, 2 volumes, 1742

    Own works