(1543) by Matrakçı NasuhMatrakçı Nasuh, born in the Bosnian town of
Visoko, was a
Janissary who went through both the infantry and the
devşirme system. He was a swordsman and sharpshooter who spoke five languages and was recruited into the
Ottoman Navy. Although born to
Bosnian Muslim parentage, Nasuh was drafted into the
devşirme system, usually reserved for the Christian populace of the empire. Exceptionally, however, in Bosnia, the devşirme was also extended to local Muslim families. After a long period of studying mathematics and geometry, he wrote his works ''Cemâlü'l-Küttâb
and Kemalü'l- Hisâb
and submitted them to the Ottoman sultan Selim I. He wrote also the two books named Mecmaü't-Tevârih
and Süleymannâme
, on history from 1520 to 1543. He also wrote a historical piece on the Persian campaign of Suleiman I titled Fetihname-i Karabuğdan
. A recent study of his book Umdet-ul Hisab'' found that Matrakçı had invented some multiplication methods and that the
lattice method had been widely used in the
Enderun School nearly 50 years before
John Napier reintroduced it to Europe. (1543–44) by Matrakçı Nasuh|left Besides his works on mathematics and history, he painted
miniatures which focus on panoramic views of landscapes and cities painted with the greatest detail (his Istanbul landscape picture, shows almost every street and building of the city). In Ottoman miniature art, this was later known as the "Matrakçı style". One of his four volumes of miniatures deals with
Suleiman I's
Safavid war, upon which he had written his historical work
Fetihname-i Karabuğdan. Besides illustrating the march of the
Ottoman Army from
Istanbul to
Baghdad and then
Tabriz and its return via
Aleppo and
Eskişehir, Nasuh also includes all the cities met by the army along the way. The Library of
Istanbul University hosts the only copy of this work. Nasuh was also a soldier and a master
bladesmith. He worked as a weapons teacher at
Enderun School. He and his students demonstrated their skills in a show which was part of the
circumcision celebrations of
Suleiman I's sons including future sultan
Selim II. Because of his success in this demonstration, Nasuh received the honorary title of
Ustad ("master") and
Reis ("chief") from the sultan. He also wrote a book about usage of various weapons and techniques of
cavalry and
infantry fight, called
Tuhfet-ül Guzât. == Mathematics ==