Fatma Aliye tarafından kaleme alınan Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı, Ahmet Cevdet Paşa'nın hayatının ilk safhaları ile dönemdeki bağlantılı kişi ve olaylar hakkında bilgi vermektedir. Eser, yazarın tarihe dair yazdığı iki eserden biridir. Fatma Aliye Hanım ilk kadın romancı olarak bilinmesine rağmen muhtemelen Osmanlı döneminde tarih yazarlığı yapan ilk kadındı. Meşhur tarihçi, devlet adamı ve hukukçu Ahmet Cevdet Paşa'nın kızı olan Fatma Aliye, 1862'de İstanbul'da doğdu. Muhtelif hocalardan aldığı özel derslerle iyi bir eğitim sürecinden geçti. Öğrendiği Fransızca ile Batı'da yazılan eserleri takip etti ve çeviriler yaptı. Kadın sorunlarına eğilerek roman yazdı, köşe yazarlığı yaptı. Tarihçi bir babanın kızı olması ve babasından aldığı dersler, tarihle uğraşmasında etkili oldu. Tarihe dair eserlerini yazarken babası sayesinde çok az insana nasip olabilecek belge, bilgi, tecrübe birikimine sahipti. Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı, yazarın babasından dinlediği bilgiler, onun eserleri ve bıraktığı muhtelif evrakın kaynaklığı ile vücuda gelmiştir. Eser, ağırlıklı olarak Cevdet Paşa'nın kaleme aldığı Tezâkir'den yararlanılmış olsa da Paşa'nın hayatına dair başka yerde bulunamayacak detaylar vermesi bakımından ilgi çekicidir. Çalışmada Fatma Aliye'nin hayatına dair detaylara yer verildikten sonra kaynak kullanımı, tarihi olayların ele alınış biçimi gibi eserin çeşitli özelliklerine değinilmiş, bu arada Tarih-i Osmanî'nin Bir Devre-i Mühimmesi Kosova Zaferi-Ankara Hezimeti adlı diğer eseriyle de kıyaslamalara gidilerek tarihçiliğine dair çıkarımlarda bulunulmuştur

The work entitled as Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı written by Fatma Aliye provides information about early stages of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha’s life and people and events related to that period. The work is one of two works written by the author on history. Although Fatma Aliye is renowned as first women novelist, she was possibly the first women who write history in Ottoman period. Fatma Aliye was born in 1862 as the daughter of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, renowned historian, statesman, and jurist. She had a quality education by taking private tutorials from various teachers. She learned French and followed works produced in the West and made translations. She wrote novels and columns in newspapers particularly focusing on problems of women. Having a historian father allowed her to take tutorials from her father which in turn led her to study history. Thanks to her father, when writing history she had privilege of accessing documents, knowledge and experience. Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı was built around resources that include stories her father told, works of her father and various documents left by her father. Although the work is, to large extent, based on Tezakir written by Ahmet Cevdet Paşa, it is an interesting piece of work because it includes many details that cannot be found anywhere else. In this study, firstly details about the life of Fatma Aliye is provided. Then her work is analysed in terms of her use of sources and the way she deals with historical events. Afterwards, some inferences are carried out about Fatma Aliye’s historiography by also making comparison with her second history work, Tarih-i Osmanî’nin Bir Devre-i Mühimmesi Kosova Zaferi-Ankara Hezimeti Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı written by Fatma Aliye, provides insight into the first phases of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha's life as well as the connected people and events of the era. This literary work is one of the works written by the author on history. Fatma Aliye Hanım is not only acknowledged as the first female novelist, but also presumed to be the first woman, who wrote on history in the Ottoman period. Fatma Aliye the daughter of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, who was a historian, statesman, and lawyer, was born in 1862 in Istanbul. She started her education at an early age by receiving tutorials from various teachers. Fatma Aliye did not only learn to read, but also read Quran from cover to cover. She also developed interest in foreign language courses, besides traditional courses. During that period, only few Muslim girls had the opportunity to learn a foreign language. In the later years, Fatma Aliye received lessons from İlyas Matar, who held both a law degree and a medicine degree, as well as French lessons from a young lady named Alfa.Thanks to the education she had received and her interest in foreign language, Fatma Aliye started translating novels from French and conducted meeting with foreign guests visiting the country. She did not only learn French but also took lessons on Arabic and Persian to improve her language skills. History was among the most significant subjects of the lessons she took. For she was the daughter of a historian, she had a fair share of a cultural knowledge background. Similarly, some of the lessons she took was indirectly linked to history, such as geography. Geography, which was one of the subjects she had been learning ever since the age of seven, provided knowledge on the names and geographical characteristics of places as well as their history. In other words, her geography teacher taught geography mixing it with history. Even though her father was a historian, she had not been able to benefit from her father's knowledge on history for long years, until she published a book. She was put in the limelight with her translation of a French book named Volante into Turkish as Meram. Following the publication of this novel, many people started paying more attention to her including her father Cevdet Pasha. After that they started having father-and-daughter conversations on evenings. During that time Pasha had plenty of time since he had quit working at the Courthouse Jail. Thus, he devoted himself to his daughter and science. He taught his daughter Fatma Aliye many subjects including History, in which they discussed current issues of the era. The fact that Fatma Aliye was educated by her father on various subjects besides history such as social sciences, which are closely related to history, enabled her to develop a wide perspective while evaluating events. Moreover, Ahmet Midhat Efendi, a famous author of that period, significantly helped her develop her writing skills. Even though Fatma Aliye received lessons from various teachers, Ahmet Mithat Efendi had a special place in her life. He and her father were two of the most important teachers in her life. Fatma Aliye would send her writings to Ahmet Midhat, who would review and edit the writings and eventually give her advice on her work. Ahmet Midhat Efendi did not only contribute to Fatma Aliye's development as an author by reviewing and editing her work, but also attempted to limit the subjects of her writings. Fatma Aliye wrote her novel Hayal ve Hakikat with Ahmet Midhat Efendi. Furthermore, she also inked Nisvan-ı Islam, in order to provide foreigners with accurate knowledge on the family life of Muslim people. Her writings were published on newspapers before she reached the age of thirty. Muhadarat, Udî, Levayih-i Hayat, Taaddüd-i Zevcat, Teracim-i Ahvâl-i Felasife, Tedkik-i Ecsam, and Enin ve İstila-yı İslam are some of her other works (Aşa, 1995:261). Some of these works are novels and research papers, whereas; some of them are related to philosophy. Ahmet Midhat Efendi did not only contribute to Fatma Aliye's development as an author by reviewing and editing her work, but also attempted to limit the subjects of her writings. For instance, due to the fact that Fatma Aliye was a woman, he found her interest in poetry and philosophy odd. In one of the letters he wrote to her, he opposes her interest in history as well by saying it does not sit well with a lady. Despite his opposition, Fatma Aliye does not abstain from writing two books on history. There were some reasons why she wrote two history books in spite of the opposition of her master, who substantially helped her improvement. The most significant reason was her father's admonitions to her, which in a way constituted his will, and the encouragement she received from those around her. As a matter of fact, in the introduction of her book, Fatma Aliye states that those, who knew she learned a lot from her father and shared many of her secrets with him, asked her to write a detailed biography of him and a book describing his time and that she received many requests on this matter. Another reason is the reaction she displayed towards the views formed against her father in the Second Constitutional Era, which is also the period in which that book was written. The fact that with the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Era in 1908, the legacy of Midhat Pasha was held at the highest regard, whereas; her father Cevdet Pasha took a backseat and had to face criticism, was another reason why she wrote that book. Another factor was that her name was pushed into the background just like her father, which made her save herself and her father from being forgotten. The literary work in question fundamentally tells the life story of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha. The books firstly discusses origins, birthplace, and education of the Pasha; then the state offices he held as well as the high level statesmen, to whom he was connected. In order to properly explain the identity and actions of Cevdet Pasha, the education system, state structure, and political status of the era as well as the factors affecting the character and growth of prominent statesmen and the way they conduct state business, in various manners and forms are also discussed in the book. As far as findings go, the main source of the book named Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı is Cevdet Pasha himself and his writings. It is observed that Fatma Aliye used many sources from various historians both from the West and Islamic World including her father in her book Tarih-i Osmanî’nin Bir Devre-i Mühimmesi Kosova Zaferi-Ankara Hezimeti, whereas; her sources in Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı is much more limited. It is also visible that Fatma Aliye ignored the information, which could result in criticism against her father, while writing the details about his life story. However, who is more praised than her father Cevdet Pasha in the book happens to be Mustafa Reşit Pasha. Fatma Aliye, who embraced the views of her father on the necessity of writing history in an understandable language, uses a more plain language especially while summarizing the related parts of Tezakir. According to her, it is an obligation to write the truth as it is. Whether a writer complies with it or not displays the character, personality, and cultural values of the writer. Fatma Aliye improved her skills thanks to the conveniences provided by her father and became one of the rare women of the era, who had the ability to think, write, and thereby have an impact on her era. Even though she is mostly recognized with her literary identity, she is an author, who went as far as developing an interest in history with the impact of her father and creating works on history. The fact that she had access to sources while writing history works and she was educated by a significant historian gave her a major advantage over many historians and many of the women of her era. This advantage is especially visible in her work, in which she compares Kosova War with Ankara War in an effective manner. The variety of sources in the book Ahmet Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı is much more limited compared to the sources of her other work. Regardless, due to the fact that the book reflects the personal experiences of Fatma Aliye and the stories she heard from her father, it has an important place in terms of understanding the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century and the life story of Cevdet Pasha. Also, the book is of significance in that it demonstrates the reflections of Fatma Aliye's educational and intellectual background as well as her experience as a historian.