From Divine Emanation to Government Organization: Tracing the Development of an Ottoman Political Theology

This dissertation, "From Divine Emanation to Government Organization: Tracing the Development of an Ottoman Political Theology", investigates the intellectual foundations of the early Ottoman state by examining the influence of Akbari Sufi philosophy on political theory. While traditional historiography often treats Ottoman governance as a pragmatic evolution of Central Asian and Islamic legal traditions, this study argues that the metaphysics of the "Unity of Being" (waḥdat al-wujūd) provided a cohesive "political theology" that underpinned the state’s legitimacy and administrative structure from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. The research focuses on the transition from high-level mystical theory to concrete bureaucratic practice through the works of three seminal scholars. The first, Dāvūd-i Ḳayṣerī (d. 1350), the inaugural director of the first Ottoman madrasa, established the ontological necessity of the Caliphate. By framing the ruler as a terrestrial manifestation of Divine Names, Ḳayṣerī provided the nascent Ottoman polity with a metaphysical justification for authority that transcended mere military might. The study then moves to the fifteenth-century polymath ‘Abdurrahman al-Bisṭāmī (d. 1454). Bisṭāmī transformed Akbari thought into a systematic "emanative epistemology," wherein the hierarchy of the state mirrored the hierarchy of existence. His work represents a crucial middle stage, where mystical concepts were used to categorize and organize the various "orders" of society—from the military to the scholars—under a unified spiritual and temporal administration. Finally, the dissertation examines the sixteenth-century work of the judge and litterateur Aşık Çelebī (d. 1572). In his Miʿrācü’l Eyāle, Çelebī integrated earlier metaphysical frameworks with the practical realities of a mature imperial bureaucracy. By examining his focus on the judiciary and provincial administration, the study demonstrates how the diffusion of the Sultan’s power was understood as a continuation of the Divine emanative process. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrates that the Ottoman ‘ilmiyye (scholarly class) did not view the state as a secular necessity, but as a sacred extension of the cosmos. By tracing this intellectual lineage, the research offers a new perspective on Ottoman "justice" and statecraft, showing how Akbari philosophy served as the essential scaffolding for the empire's political identity. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how the Ottomans synthesized diverse intellectual currents into a unique and durable model of Islamic sovereignty.