Abstract:

Üsküdar, with its educational institutions, became an important city where the Ottoman scholars and the bureucrats on the highest levels were trained by the end of the 16th century. In this regard, Atik Valide Complex plays a significant role in the intellectual and cultural life of Üsküdar. Madrasa, one of the most important components of the complex, was an institution in which highly qualified and experienced mudarrises lectured and the Ottoman Empire’s political elite is educated within the framework of a certain school. Furthermore, the rise of Üsküdar as a cultural center was strongly affected by the Atik Valide Madrasa and Murat III had a significant impact in this. The first open lectures were held for the first time by the Sultan’s command during this period. In these meetings, held under the name of Dersiam, and where the scientific discussions were made, the madrasa acquired the character of being an important assembly of the period. The treatises that emerged as a result of these meetings are the most important reflections of this madrasa in the Ottoman cultural life. Moreover, Nurbanu Sultan donated an extremely valuable collection of books to be used in the madrasa. This study, which examines the place of Atik Valide Madrasa in Ottoman cultural life and studies the biographies of its mudarrises, has demonstrated that the madrasa was one of the leading madrasas in Istanbul at the end of the 16th century. However, the madrasa gradually declined in importance, and since the second half of 17th century it lost its influence on Ottoman cultural life to a large extent.