both he and Bediuzzaman gave speeches. The occasion was marked by further celebrations and a banquet. [^238]
[^238]:Nuh Polatoğlu, in Son Şahitler, i, 90.
During his researches in the Ottoman archives of the Prime Minister's Office in Istanbul, Necmeddin Şahiner has unearthed twenty or so documents related to this matter, most of which bear the seal and signature of Tahsin Bey, the governor of Van, and are addressed to the Palace and Sultan Reşad. Şahiner writes that Sultan Reşad was well-informed of the progress of the project. In the letter he quotes, dated 4 Haziran 1329 (17 June 1913), the governor writes to the Grand Vizier's Office that all the 'ulema, notables, and tribal chiefs of the area were requesting the speedy payment of sufficient money "from the Imperial pocket" —only a small amount had been paid up to that time due to the financial straits of the government — to begin the construction of an Islamic university for eighty students in Van, the plans and preliminaries of which had already been completed. It was hoped the running costs would be met by the imperial estates. He writes it would be an important point of support for the continued existence of Islam and the Ottomans [in the region] in the face of daily increasing Shi'i propaganda and the ignorance of the Kurdish people. It would strengthen feeling for Islam and remove every sort of misunderstanding, and would be most beneficial and effective. [^239]
[^239]:Şahiner, Said Nursi (8 th edn.), 161-2.
While in Van, Bediuzzaman spent much of his time teaching his students in his medrese, the Horhor, which took its onomatopoeic name from the spring that rose at its side. A young visitor to the medrese described it as follows: "There was a green-covered table in Bediuzzaman's medrese in Horhor on which he had written out in thumb-tacks the Hadith: "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave." He himself taught the students when they had finished studying. His students were all selected, He taught about twenty-five of them. He was very fond of me and never called me by my name; he used to call me "nephew". Before the War he used to stay in Nurşin and Hüsrev Pasha Mosques." [^240]
[^240]:Abdülbaki Arvasi, in Son Şahitler, i, 99-100.
It was also during this visit to the East that what was known as the Bitlis Incident occurred, when, in July 1913, rebelling against the irreligious behaviour of some of the military commanders of the government, Shaykh Selim of Hizan occupied the town for a week. [^241] The shaykh had first
[^241]:Şerif Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey, The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, New York, 1989, 88.