Exploring Ottoman Sovereignty: Tradition, Image and Practice in the Ottoman Imperial Household, 1400-1800

369 Pages·2008·8.41 MB·English

by  Rhoads Murphey

EXPLORING OTTOMAN SOVEREIGNTY
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Exploring Ottoman
Sovereignty
Tradition, Image and Practice in the
Ottoman Imperial Household,
1400–1800
Rhoads Murphey
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Copyright © Rhoads Murphey 2008
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from the publishers.
First published 2008
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 84725 220 3
Typeset by Pindar NZ, Auckland, New Zealand
Printed and bound by MPG Books Ltd, Cornwall, Great Britain
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Illustrations
Text Illustrations
1 Photograph showing Abdülhamid II attending the Friday
Salutation at the Yıldız Palace; cf.Osman Özdeş and Ertol
Makzume (eds), Ottoman Court Painter Fausto Zonaro
(Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Yayınları, 2003), p. 40. 12
2 Photograph showing Abdülhamid II attending the Friday
Salutation at the Yıldız Palace. Taken from Photographs of
Istanbul From the Archives of Sultan Abdülhamid II (Istanbul,
2007), a joint publication of the Municipality of Istanbul
and the Research Center for Islamic History Art and Culture.
Photograph on p. 41. 13
Illustrations 3, 4, 5 and 6: Buildings Identifi ed Over the Main
Entrance Portal by the sultanic cipher (tughra) and the date of
construction.
3 The entrance to the barracks of the imperial artillery regiments
(topçu kışlası) in Taksim built by Sultan Mahmud II between
1803 and 1806 and later renovated by Sultan Abdülaziz
(1861–76). Photograph No. 329 (Archive No. 90475/25) in
the Abdülhamid Collection; see Photographs of Istanbul From the
Archives of Sultan Abdülhamid II (Istanbul, 2007), p. 391. For
information concerning the dates of construction and
renovation, see Mustafa Cezar, XIX. Yüzyıl Beyoğlusu (Istanbul:
Akbank Yayınları, 1991), p. 61. 14
4 Portal to the Sublime Porte (Bab-i Ali), the seat of Ottoman
government after the mid-nineteenth century, bearing the
tughra of Abdülmecid Han (r. 1839–61) and the date of
construction, ah 1259/ad 1843.* 15
5 Second entrance to the Antiquities (Sarcophagus) Museum,
whose initial phase of construction and inauguration was
completed in 1891.* 16
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viii EXPLORING OTTOMAN SOVEREIGNTY
6 Detail of the second entrance showing the sultan’s tughra
and the date of the completion of the secondary
construction in ah 1323/ad 1905.* 17
*Photos 4, 5 and 6 taken by Mr Ata Akel; graphic artist,
Istanbul.
7 Miniature painting depicting reception in 1596 of two
Hungarian envoys by Sultan Mehmed III (1595–1603),
who is shown seated at the entrance to his royal tent; cf.
Şehname-i Sultan Mehmed III, Topkapi Palace Collections,
Ms. Hazine 1609, folios 26b–7a. 68
8 Early nineteenth-century engraving based on original by
Anton Melling showing the second courtyard of the palace
with the kitchen smokestacks lined up along the right side;
original located in Stapleton Collection (London); cf.
Bridgeman Art Gallery
(http://private.bridgemaneducation.com/), illustration
no. 87581. 143
9, 10, 11 and 12 – Various views (photos) showing the
smokestacks of the palace kitchens. 145–148
All photos taken by Mr Ata Akel; graphic artist, Istanbul.
13 Illustration of sultanic largesse in the form of a scattering of
coins (saçma).** 193
14 Illustration of sultanic largesse in the form of the scrambling
for the food dishes (çanak yağması).** 198
**Nos 13 and 14 above are both taken from Nurhan Atasoy
(ed.), The 1582 Surname-yi Hümayun: An Imperial Celebration
(Istanbul: Koçbank, 1997) as follows: No. 13: 1582 Surname,
folios 46b–47a and No. 14: 1582 Surname, folios 30b–31a.
15 Close-up of Royal Cipher (tughra) of Sultan Süleyman I taken
from a document in the Topkapi Palace Archives (Istanbul),
E. 7816; cf.Esin Atıl, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the
Magnifi cent (Washington, DC, 1987), p. 40. 231
Maps and Genealogical Table
Genealogical Table of the Ottoman Dynasty, seventeenth–eighteenth
centuries. xi
Map 1: Frontier Zones in eastern Anatolia in the sixteenth century, also
showing expansion zones to the north after 1540. xii
Map 2: Ottoman expansion eastwards into Anatolia, 1460s to 1520s. xiii
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Genealogical Chart
Genealogical Chart of Ottoman Dynasty in the period of direct father-to-son
succession lasting 1300–1600 (reigns of the fi rst 13 Ottoman sultans).
1. Osman I (d. 1324)
2. Orhan I (1324–62)
3. Murad I (1362–89)
4. Bayezid I (1389–1402)
Interregnum period (1402–13) following Timurid invasion of 1402:
Period of divided sovereignty and contested rule over a fragmented Ottoman
polity.
5. Mehmed I (1402–13) succeeded to rule over a portion of the divided
Ottoman polity and then (1413–21) established his sole authority over the
nominally reunited but still only partially reintegrated realm.
6. Murad II, two reigns: the fi rst reign lasting from 1421 to 1444 ended with
his voluntary abdication, the second reign lasted 1446–51.
7. Mehmed II, two reigns: the fi rst reign, lasting between 1444 and 1446, ended
with his forced deposition in favour of his father, Murad II; the second reign
(1451–81) commenced after his father’s death.
8. Bayezid II (1481–1512)
9. Selim I (1512–20)
10. Süleyman I (1520–66)
11. Selim II (1566–74)
12. Murad III (1574–95)
13. Mehmed III (1595–1603)
Period of Collateral Succession after 1600*:
A partial list accounting for the reigns of the fourteenth to thirtieth sultans to
accede to the Ottoman throne (see also the genealogical table on page xi showing
collateral lines of descent).
Mehmed III (d. 1603) was succeeded on the throne by two of his sons Ahmed
(no. 14) and Mustafa (no. 15).
14. Ahmed I (1603–17)
15. Mustafa I (two reigns: 1617–18 and 1622–3)
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