Philosophical, Political and Theoretical Considerations in the Eight Paradises Chronicle

Abstract

Idris Husamuddin Bidlisi (d. 1520), an emigrant from the East, was a prominent figure at the court of Bayezid II, and later Selim I, as a political philosopher, advisor, and statesman whose influence on Ottoman self–perception is more pronounced than that of any other scholar of his generation. He is the author of dynastic chronicle Hasht Bihisht in Persian language, which will be discussed in this paper. This chronicle not only presents documentary and factual data about the past, but also represents a historical phenomenon for understanding the political thinking of the time, from descriptions of contemporary rulers and statesmen to interests in the Ottoman court to demonstrations of philosophical and theoretical positions. His perception of history and the way he wrote down historical memory with completely different tools has the consequence that Ottoman society has a different relationship to its own past. An analysis of Bidlisi’s tools in his work reveals his conception of governance, supported by creative and original discussions that emphasized the cosmic and sacred aspects of the sultanate, elaborated through Tasawwuf ontology.