The Cosmorama

Mehmed Neşri Cihannüma (“The Cosmorama”) was, as the title suggests, designed to be a universal history. The sixth part, the longest section of which is devoted to a history of the Ottoman dynasty, was presented to Sultan Bayezid II and is the only part extant. Neşri relied heavily on the work of an earlier Ottoman historian, Aşıkpaşazâde’s Tevârih-i Âl-i Osman (“The Chronicles of the House of Osman”), as a source. He also used the royal calendars, a type of almanac prepared to provide the court with astrological information and containing lists of historical events. Neşri is considered a true historian in that he appears to have examined his sources carefully and to have tried to establish the correct facts and chronology objectively.