İbrahim Peçevi

İbrahim Peçevi
Born	1572 Pécs, Ungurüs Serdarlik, Ottoman Empire (Modern Hungary)
Died	1650 (aged 77–78)
Nationality	Turkish (Ottoman), Hungarian, Bosniak
Occupation	Historian

İbrahim Peçevi or Peçuyli İbrahim Efendi (1572–1650) (Ottoman Turkish: پچوى إبراهىم افندى ) (In Bosnia known as "Ibrahim Alajbegović Pečevija") was an Ottoman Bosnian historian (chronicler) of the Ottoman Empire.

Life

He was born in Pécs, Ottoman Empire (today Hungary), hence his name, Peçevi ("from Pécs"). His mother was from the Sokolović Bosnian family. The name of his father is unknown. His paternal great-grandfather was a Turkish sipahi called Kara Davut Agha who was at the service of Mehmed II.

He was a provincial official in many places and became a historian after his retirement in 1641. He spoke Turkish and Bosnian very well. The year of his death is not known. According to Katip Çelebi, he died in the Islamic year of 1061 (1650 AD). But some historians think he died before 1649.

Works

Peçevi Efendi is famous for his two-volume book Tarih-i Peçevi ("Pecevi's History") of the history of the Ottoman Empire, the main reference for the period 1520–1640. The information about older events Peçevi took from previous works and narrations of veterans. His times are described firsthand and from tales of witnesses. Peçevi carefully references all quotations. Peçevi also was one of the first Ottoman historians who used European written sources; he makes references, e.g., to Hungarian historians.

References

• Franz Babinger, "Historians of the Osmans (i.e., Ottomans) and their Works":
  • "Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke" (Leipzig, 1927) (German)
  • "Osmanlı tarih yazarları ve eserleri," Ankara: Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları, (1992). (Turkish)