It is proper to start with the caveat that the extant sources on madrasas and scholars during the early Ottoman period (1300–1453) are very few. In addition, studies on this topic have not, in my view, exploited the available sources to their full capacity. Thus, for the time being, it is impossible to draw a satisfactory picture of madrasas, scholars, and the relationship of both with the Ottomans during this period. The results of my study on this topic are therefore mostly provisional and open to revision.

Madrasas in the Early Ottoman Period

The Ottomans’ expansion came mostly at the expense of their Christian neighbors. Beginning their enterprise in northwestern Anatolia during the early fourteenth century, the early sultans and their men usually advanced westward and captured territories belonging to the Byzantine Empire or to the Serbian and Bulgarian kingdoms. Although the Ottomans later captured some lands from Anatolian principalities, the annexed territories in which Islam had been established before their arrival were very few during the early Ottoman period. Thus, in most Ottoman territories, it was the Ottomans who first established madrasas.

The early Ottoman sultans, their men, and other benefactors who established madrasas all followed the traditional template that had existed at least since the eleventh century. In addition to constructing a building in which to train and accommodate students, they donated revenue-yielding property to cover the related expenses (vakf) and drew up endowment deeds (vakfiye) to stipulate, for example, how the building could be used and how much its staff would be paid. The continuous construction of madrasas and their ubiquity constitute indisputable evidence of the Ottoman interest in madrasas, scholars, and their services. Madrasas first spread in the Anatolian lands of the Ottomans; beginning in the early fifteenth century, they began to appear also in Rumeli.

Table 2.1 shows that the members of the Ottoman dynasty (sultans, princes, and women) founded fewer madrasas than those constructed and endowed by other people, including viziers, statesmen, and scholars (23 as opposed to 46). This difference is significant: it indicates the prevalence of interest in legal and religious education throughout the upper classes and reflects the dynasty's lack of a monopoly on madrasa construction. Further study is required to reveal whether and how the identity of a madrasa's founder affected the status of the scholars hired to teach there.