Two Authorships of One Conflict: Perspectives on the “Long Turkish War” (1593-1606) between Ottoman and Habsburg Empires in English and Ottoman Historiographies through Richard Knolles’ The Generall Historie of the Turkes and Katib Çelebi’s Fezleke-i Tevarih.

This thesis explores the different perspectives of the Ottoman-Habsburg War of 1593-1606, the so-called “Long Turkish War” in Western Historiography. A series of clashes between the Ottoman and the Habsburg empires, as depicted in the historiographies of two distinct cultural contexts: English and Ottoman. The research focuses on The Generall Historie of the Turkes (two editions in 1603 and 1606) by English historian and schoolmaster Richard Knolles and Fezleke-i Tevarih (c. 1657) by Katib Çelebi (1609–1657), the seventeenth-century Ottoman polymath. It investigates how these scholars, situated in different temporal and spatial landscapes, influenced their narratives about this period of conflict. The study begins by illustrating the portrayal of Ottoman Turks in English historiography, followed by examining Knolles' life and his magnum opus, The Generall Historie. After that, it explores the trajectory of Ottoman historiography, particularly Çelebi's Fezleke, situating his works within the Ottoman intellectual setting. A concise chronology of the Long War sets the backdrop for the analysis, drawing parallels and divergences between Knolles and Çelebi's perspectives on the conflict. Knolles' narrative reflects an outsider's viewpoint. It attributes Ottoman victories to the disunity of the “Christian commonweale” while acknowledging certain admirable aspects of the Ottoman Empire, so-called “the Turks.” In contrast, Çelebi, an insider within the Ottoman bureaucracy, emphasizes state functioning and indicates a sense of superiority over Christian Europe. The research aims to clarify how these historians' distinct temporal and spatial contexts influenced their interpretations, shedding light on the construction of historical narratives and the reflections of viewing "the other" in the Early Modern Era.