Early Years and Background
According to contemporary biographer, Mustafa Sâi Çelebi, Sinan was born in 1489 (c. 1490 according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, 1491 according to the Dictionary of Islamic Architecture and sometime between 1494 and 1499, according to the Turkish professor and architect Reha Günay ) with the name Joseph. He was born either an Armenian, Albanian or a Greek in a small town called Ağırnas near the city of Kayseri in Anatolia (as stated in an order by Sultan Selim II). One argument that lends credence to his Armenian background is a decree by Selim II dated Ramadan 7 981 (ca. Dec. 30, 1573), which grants Sinan's request to forgive and spare his relatives from the general exile of Kayseri's Armenian community to the island of Cyprus.
Several scholars have cited Sinan's possible Albanian origin, while according to the British scholar Percy Brown and the Indians Mahajan, the Mughal Emperor Babur was very dissatisfied from the local Indian architecture and planning, thus he invited "certain pupils of the leading Ottoman architect Sinan, the Albanian genius, to carry out his architectural schemes." The scholars who support the thesis of his Greek background have identified his father as a stonemason and carpenter by the name of Christos (Greek "Χρήστος"), a common Greek name. It is certain that both his parents were of the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith, since the Ottoman archives of that epoch recorded only religion information about the population (the concept of ethnicity was irrelevant to the religion-based Ottoman Millet system).
Sinan (Joseph) grew up helping his father in his work, and by the time that he was conscripted would have had a good grounding in the practicalities of building work. There are three brief records in the library of the Topkapı Palace, dictated by Sinan to his friend Mustafa Sâi Çelebi. (Anonymous Text; Architectural Masterpieces; Book of Architecture). In these manuscripts, Sinan divulges some details of his youth and military career. His father is mentioned as "Abdülmennan."
Read more about this topic: Mimar Sinan
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