KOCU BEY

born , Korca, Ottoman Empire died c. 1650, Constantinople in full Kuricali Kocu Mustafa Bey, Kuricali also spelled Griceli, Kocu also spelled Koci Turkish minister and reformer, a notable early observer of the Ottoman decline. Originally from Albania, Kocu Bey was sent to Constantinople, where he was educated in the Imperial Palace. He later entered the service of a number of Ottoman sultans, finding particular favour with Murad IV (162340) and Ibrahim I (164048), whose adviser he became. Kocu Bey is best known for his treatise Risale-i Kocu Bey (The Treatise of Kocu Bey), a brilliant study of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Written during a period when the empire was beginning to encounter serious problems at home as well as abroad, Kocu Bey's work sheds a great deal of light on the Ottomans' awareness of their plight. Unacclaimed at the time of their writing, this treatise and a similar later one are now regarded by scholars as some of the finest analyses of Ottoman decline.