Historian (b. 1937, Karaağaç village / Şavşat /
Artvin – d. 24 October 1992). He attended elementary school in Şavşat and high
school in Artvin. After studying in Çapa
Teacher Training
School for a time, he then graduated from İstanbul University,
Faculty of Literature, Department of History (1961). He did his PhD thesis on “Halife
Mutasım Devrinde Abbasi İmparatorluğu” (The Abbacy Empire in the Era of
Caliph Mustapha) in 1966. After his return from military service, obtaining a
scholarship from the French government he stayed in Aix-en-Provence
for research purposes, and then he came back to Turkey (1970). With his thesis “Samerra
Devrinin Sonuna Kadar İslâm Devleti’nde Türkler” (Turks in the Islamic
State to the End of the Samerra Era) he became an associate professor in 1972
then he became a professor in 1979. He was appointed as the Dean of Marmara
University, Faculty of Literature; in addition, he was a trustee of the
Research Institute of Turkish Culture, the Turkish Historical Society Executive
Council, the Turk-Arab Research Foundation and he was also a member and Vice
President of the Turkish Culture Service Foundation Trustee Committee.
He wrote many articles for Meydan Larousse, the Islamic Encyclopedia,
the Small-Turkish Islamic Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of the Anatolian
Civilizations. He wrote chapters in books on subjects such as the Abbasid,
Fatimid, Seljuk dynasties and the History of the Republic. His articles were
published in reviews such as, Kaynaklar, Türk Kültürü, in the review
of İstanbul University, Faculty of Letters, History Department, Diyanet and in annuals.
WORKS:
İstiklal
Harbinin Fikri Manevi Temelleri
(The Moral and Intellectual Reasons of the Independence War, 1973), Talas Savaşı Hakkında Bazı Düşünceler
(Some Thoughts about the War of Talas, 1973), Tarihte Araplar (The Arabs in History, by Bernard Lewis, 1975) Moğol İstilasına Kadar Türkistan
(Turkistan up to the Mongol Invasion, translated from V. V. Bartold, 1981), Hazarlar Arasında Müslümanlığın Yayılması
(The Spread of Islam Among the Khazars, 1981).
