The present paper attempts to focus on the first work of biographical dictionary, al-
Shaqâ’iq al- Numâniyya, which was completed in 1558 by the famous Ottoman scholar
Ahmad b. Mustafâ Tasköprüzâde. After making a brief evaluation on the development of the
biography genre in Ottoman historiography, the importance of Shaqâ’iq, which left its mark
on the 16th century, and its related problems were discussed. The work, which contains
valuable information about the biographies of important scholars, has not been evaluated as a
simple collection of “life narrative”. The main problem of the study is to consider how to
approach or how one should read this monumental book including biographies of
ulema/jurists and sufi masters. As a result of the analysing and discussion held in the light of
secondary sources, the biography data shows that they are fond of recording the life stories of

the Ottoman world, as well as giving information about the type of biography of the period.
Shaqâ’iq, containing biographies of sheiks and ulema, should be consulted for understanding
the Ottoman cultural and scientific world rather than as a data collection purpose. It has been
concluded that we can catch clues about the socio-economic and political networks of the
Empire when we approach the work in question, which we will obtain more than factual
information.