Rare contemporary Arabic account of the Ottoman victory over Russia

Sahin Efendi. Arabic Chronicle of the Prut Campaign (1711).

€ 3.500,00

A rare, strictly contemporary Arabic account of the Ottoman victory over Russia in the Prut Campaign of 1711 CE, during the Russo-Ottoman War of 1710/11 (the "Pruth River Campaign", part of the Great Northern War). Completed within weeks of the peace treaty, this manuscript offers a contemporary record of the clash between Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736 CE) and Tsar Peter I (1672-1725), which culminated in one of the most significant treaties of the early 18th century.

The narrative covers the preparations of the Sultan and his viziers, the march of the Ottoman forces, the encirclement of the Russian army on the Prut River (Moldavia), and the desperate negotiations that followed. It concludes with the Treaty of Prut, by which Russia on 21 July 1711 surrendered Azov, pledging to demolish its southern fortresses and end interference in Ottoman and Polish affairs. Throughout, the account stresses both the power of the Sultan’s victory and the mercy shown by him in the peace terms. Curiously, the Tsar is referred to as "King Mosko" on the first page, and then as "the damned one" in the remainder of the text.

The survival of this chronicle is remarkable: while most 'sefernames' were composed in Ottoman chancery script and circulated from Istanbul, this example is in Maghribi script, suggesting production in a provincial milieu such as North Africa or Egypt only weeks or a few months after the battle. It thus illustrates the rapid transmission of imperial narratives to the Arabic-speaking provinces, where they were adapted into the local written tradition. As such it represents not only a key witness to the campaign itself, but also to the cultural reach of the Ottoman chancery.

The colophon gives the date and names the scribe as Ali ibn Mohamed ibn Ali ibn Mohamed ibn Abd Allatif Kamouneh Alfir. The text attributes the account to a copy from a summary by Sahin Efendi, otherwise unidentified.