History Studies

Abstract

Ziver Bey, who tells the story of Rhodes, one of the most strategic islands in the Aegean Sea, was a literary writer rather than a historian. Ziver Bey wrote his work while working as the director of education in Rhodes. Although he drew heavily on Western sources, he supplemented his quotations with personal observations. Ziver Bey, who said he wrote his work for the Rhodesians, was also an islander. In other words, he was familiar with the social structure in the Ottoman islands and was a product of that structure. Ziver Bey, who wrote his history during the Abdulhamid II Period, was fed an intellectual environment enriched by the Ottoman intellectuals who were forced to live in Rhodes under the force of the exile policy. He wrote the History of Rhodes while still an officer climbing the career ladder. On the other hand, he hoped that his intellectual production would benefit him in his career journey. This study examines his place in the 19th-century historiography tradition by focusing on the history written by an intellectual of the Tanzimat period, his intellectual heritage, and the intellectual environment. In this context, dealing with the motivation of late Ottoman historians to produce works through the story of a provincial official. Beyond these, the methodological contribution of an author, who stands out with his identity as a literary man rather than a historian, to Turkish historiography is investigated.