Lesson plan
Acem Bekir Efendi
Abu Bakr ibn Rustam al-Shirvani ( ; 1640s – 12 June 1723), known in Ottoman Turkish sources as Acem Bekir Efendi ("Bekir the Persian") or Şirvanlı Kara Ebubekir Efendi, was an Ottoman bureaucrat and manuscript collector. Born a subject of Safavid Iran, probably in Baku, he left Iran on pilgrimage as a youth, studied in Cairo, and entered Ottoman service in Constantinople under the patronage of the Köprülü family. He served five times as Reis ül-Küttab (chief of scribes) and held senior posts in the financial administration. He was one of the largest private collectors of Arabic manuscripts of his time; more than a thousand manuscripts bearing his ownership notes have been identified in libraries around the world.
Article summary
Abu Bakr ibn Rustam al-Shirvani ( ; 1640s – 12 June 1723), known in Ottoman Turkish sources as Acem Bekir Efendi ("Bekir the Persian") or Şirvanlı Kara Ebubekir Efendi, was an Ottoman bureaucrat and manuscript collector. Born a subject of Safavid Iran, probably in Baku, he left Iran on pilgrimage as a youth, studied in Cairo, and entered Ottoman service in Constantinople under the patronage of the Köprülü family. He served five times as Reis ül-Küttab (chief of scribes) and held senior posts in the financial administration. He was one of the largest private collectors of Arabic manuscripts of his time; more than a thousand manuscripts bearing his ownership notes have been identified in libraries around the world.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.