Following a string of military defeats at the end of the eighteenth century, Ottoman leaders realized that their classical traditions and institutions could not compete with Russia and the European states' technological and economic superiority.One of a series of nineteenth-century reform initiatives was the creation of a European-style university called dar?lf?nun. From the Arabic words dar, meaning "house," and f?nun, meaning "sciences," the dar?lf?nun would incorporate the western sciences into deeply entrenched academic traditions and institutions in an effort to bridge the gap with Europe. The completely new institution, distinct from the existing pre-modern medreses, was modeled after the French educational system and created an infrastructure for national universities in Turkey and some of the Arab-speaking provinces. It also influenced the establishment of universities in Iran and Afghanistan.Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu's study sheds new light on an important and pioneering experiment in East-West relations, tracking the multifaceted transformation at work in Istanbul during the transition from classical to modern modes of scientific education. Out of this intellectual ferment, a new Ottoman Turkish scientific language developed, the terminology of which served as a convenient vehicle for expressing and teaching modern science throughout the Empire.

List of AbbreviationsNote on TranscriptionsAcknowledgementsPrefaceIntroductionPart I: Genesis, Development, and Closure of the Dar?lf?nun1. New Pursuits in Education, Orientation to the Occident2. The First Attempt: Enlightening the People3. The Second Attempt: Dar?lf?nun-I Osmani "Ottoman University"4. The third Attempt: Dar?lf?nun-I Sultani "Sultanic University"5. The Successful Commencement 19006. The War Years: 1914-1918 and the German Influence7. The Armistice Years and the Pre-Republican Period8. Dar?lf?nun after the Proclamation of the Republic9. Ottoman Dar?lf?nun's Downfall and the Birth of the Turkish UniversityPart II: Transforming of Ethos and Developing New Norms and Institutions1. From Traditional to Modern in Education2. Legal Identity and Autonomy3. Financing the Dar?lf?nun4. The Evolution of Modern Scholarly Literature and Terminology5. The Birth and Evolution of the Concept and Tradition of Academic ResearchPart III: The Legacy of Dar?lf?nun1. Spread of University Education in the Provinces2. Impact of the Dar?lf?nun Outside the Ottoman RealmEpilogueAppendix: Institutional Topography of the Dar?lf?nun (1900-1933)Tables And GraphsBibliographyIndex