One of the most prominent incidents Mustafa Âlî of Gallipoli recounts in his work, which features his experiences as an imperial clerk throughout the Persian expedition, is the construction of the Castle of Kars in the 16th century by the Ottoman Empire. His work, titled Nusret-name,1 which means “the book that recounts victories,” contains letters he has inscribed to educate pupils and clerks on the intricacies of historiography and the art of clerkship, along with construction methods. Created based on the descriptions in these letters, this miniature is of vital importance in the sense that it defines the era’s professional experts, craftspeople, and lines of work, in addition to being the representation of a ”textbook” and one of the early examples of the writings on architecture in the region.
