PLATE VI.
THE- ’CHIÊF OF t H E ULEMAS ,
OR' PROFESSORS of t h e law.
A ll, who mate the law a profession in Turkey, a re distinguished,
at least when they have any office, by th e largeness of their turbans:
There are regular gradations, b y w b i ^ h e y must risé j and n o one
eart'KbM a place o f f e y impOrtanfce, unless h e Rds first filled,an tofe-i
rior office. 'T h e y must first h are' beenVeht-a# or Studë&fs; then
Muderris, of c b ite f.^ a 'c o lle g e ; after this th e y ' bécoirie ïfeibs,' pf
c l e r k s ^ s o m e Cadi of-judge ; then ffiadisf Mollohs^or superior
judges, is the next step. Of these there are y ario u f r a h ïsT ü fth ë jt
may b ecome'judge'-of Mecca. 'T h ey then h a re a ''rig h t• 'ï o 'be
Istambol Effendissi, o r chief officer o f the police in Constantinople,
and last of all arrive at the grand dignity of Kadiaskar, or superior
judge of Europe and Asia. It is not however to be imagined, but
tha t these different degrees are frequently passed over by those, who
possess either rank, power, or interest. And, indeed, there are
some particular families, who almost assume aJ right, by a kind of
inheritance, or patrimony, to some of these high dignities. The
Sultan can appoint them directly; but even then the forms are so
far complied with, that the person receives the commissions for all
the inferior offices at the same time, that he does for the superior.
Thts, however, sometimes cause great murmurs among the Ulemas
or profess ors bf the law.