Ottoman - its power and glory

'Palace of Gold And Light: Treasures From The Topkapi, Istanbul', an exhibition of imperial jewels and treasures, with shows in three cities of the United States, not only unveiled the extraordinary artistic achievements that occurred during the 700 years of the Ottoman Empire, but also explored the powerful roles of the sultan in society, says S. RANGARAJAN.

THE Topkapi Palace in Istanbul represented the pomp, the marvel and mystery of 400 years of the Ottoman Empire. It was witness to the rise and fall of a powerful dynasty whose writ extended over Greece and the Balkans, much of the Caucasus and the Crimea, most of West Asia, and the populated areas of North Africa. Athens, Budapest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Bucharest, Sofia, Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Mecca, Cairo, Alexandria and Tunis came under its realm.

Such control was mastered by Turkish chieftain Osman, who, in 1229, established power over a small principality in north east Asia Minor, that was then on the frontier between the Islamic lands and the waning Byzantine Empire. Osman was known in Italian as Ottomano, from which is derived the English word "Ottoman".

Within a decade after suffering a crushing defeat in 1402 in the Battle of Ankara at the hands of the Tatar ruler Timur (also known as Tamerlane) the Ottomans miraculously reestablished themselves. The dynastic rule of the Ottomans expanded widely under Mehmed II (1451-1480), one of the most successful military leaders. He was only 19 years old when he captured the capital city of Constantinople in 1453 from its last Greek Orthodox emperor and renamed the city Istanbul. Sultan Mehmed II, with his administrative reforms, changed the character of his dynasty's rule, redefining the empire with a new model of centralised power concentrated in the hands of the sultan and his top officials.

Choosing the ancient Byzantine acropolis high above the confluence of three vital bodies of water - the Bosporous (separating Europe from Asia), the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara - the young conqueror founded the Topkapi Palace on a symbolic site at the tip of the peninsular city, overlooking both Europe and Asia. It became the centre of royal magnificence and the palace from which the ruthless and iron-handed Ottoman spell possessed a multinational empire.

"Palace of Gold And Light: Treasures From The Topkapi, Istanbul", a recent exhibition of imperial jewels and treasures, with shows in three cities of the United States - Washington D.C. (at The Corcoran Gallery of Art), the San Diego Musuem of Art and the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale - not only unveiled the extraordinary artistic achievements that occurred during the 700 years of the Ottoman Empire, but also explored the powerful roles of the sultan in society - as absolute monarch, supreme religious reader, military commander and royal patron of art and education.

Divided into five sections - "Sultan Mehmed II The Conqueror", "Mysteries of Kingship", "State Functions", the "Hidden Palace or the harem" and "Ottoman artists", "Palace of Gold and Light" brought to modern vision a bygone age. Crushed by its own burden of corruption and overtaken by other countries with modern scientific ideas, the empire collapsed after Turkey's defeat in the First World War. The Republic of Turkey came into effect under the leadership of Kemal Ata Turk.

The priceless works of art in the exhibition, over 200 from the Topkapi Palace, are a timeless tribute to the artists and craftsmen, who were collectively known as the Ehl-I-Hiref or "People of Talent": Designers and calligraphers, illuminators and book binders, swordsmiths and armourers, goldsmiths, jewellers, ivory carvers, silk weavers and carpet weavers ... the palace artists, served long apprenticeships and spent years as journeymen before ascending to the rank of master.

The curved battle sword used by the Sultan Mehmed II, complete with the scratches and nicks received during his many military campaigns was featured in the exhibition.

An example of quality workmanship is the Topkapi dagger that features three unusually large emeralds in its handle, with an eight-sided emerald cover at its top concealing a small watch. Along both sides of the handle are rows of diamonds. The back is covered in mother-of-pearl and enamel. Crafted before 1747 as a gift from the Ottoman Sultan to Iran's Nadir Shah, the dagger never reached its intended recipient, who was assassinated in an uprising. The dagger which was returned to the Topkapi treasury, has remained there since.

In 1964, the gifted and imaginative French film director, Jules Dassin, focussed on the Topkapi dagger, in a film starring Melina Mercuri, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley and Peter Ustinov. The story dealt with a light-hearted (and ultimately unsuccessful) plot to steal the dagger from the palace treasury.

Needless to say the dagger drew maximum attention in the exhibition. Also on view was one of the palace's great treasures, a 16th Century ebony and ivory throne, inlaid with mother-of- pearl thought to have been used by Sultan Suleyman (1520-1566) on his many travels to Asia and Europe. Other highlights included rich Ottoman textiles and silk royal robes jewel-encrusted objects, intricately designed wool and silk carpets from imperial looms, armour and weaponry, Chinese porcelain, musical instruments, illuminated religious and literacy manuscripts and bejewelled domestic objects.

A 17th Century carved rock-crystal matara or water canteen in the shape of a goatskin water-bag recalled the nomadic origins of the Ottoman dynasty imitating in precious materials the water bags that were carried by every nomadic Turkic warrior, while a golden incense burner, with the name of Hatice Sultan, daughter of Mustafa II, from the middle of the 18th Century reflected the olfactory Turkish household etiquette of greeting guests with lemon-flower cologne.

While the Corcoran Gallery of Art, founded in 1869 is Washington's first gallery of art, its College of Art and Design is the city's only four-year college of art and design with 3,000 participants each year.

As Corcoran played host to "Palace of Gold And Light", with the treasures sent by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, the nearby Textile Museum celebrated its 75th anniversary by organising "Flower of Silk and Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery". Floral imagery such as tulips, carnations, hyacinths and pomegranates on these textiles, highlighted the lushness of Ottoman's gardens. The 50 embroidered textiles examined the urban embroidery tradition in daily life from the 17th to the early 20th Centuries.

Based on the Shahnama (The Persian Book of King), the exhibition of 38 works of art "draws on two of the museum's richest collections: the metalwork of the Sasanian period (225-650) and Persian arts of the book", according to Massumeh Farhad associate curator of Islamic Art at the Sackler and the Freer of Art. (The Heroic Past: The Persian Book of Kings was on show at the Sackler Gallery.)

Completed around 1010 by Firdawsi, some 50,000 rhymed couplets retold Iran's glorious past. The narrative cycles were centred on the reigns of 50 kings commencing with that of the mythical King Gayuma at the beginning of time, and ending with the historical rule of Yazdigird (632-651), the last Sasanian king. These 50 "chronicles" served as the framework of other stories, recounting the lives and deeds of princes, heroes, and warriors, who often played a pivotal role in the narrative and linked one story to another. Within these cycles, epic themes such as honour, justice, and the inevitability of fate are repeatedly explored through heroic wars, feats of bravery and valour as well as feasting and courtly romance.

The text focussed on two important subjects: legitimacy (the right to rule) and possession of the divine glory of kings.

In retelling Iran's glorious past, among Firsrdawsi's sources was the Avesta, the sacred texts of the Zoroastrian religion. Firdawsis' Shahnama gave renewed pride to the Persian language and Persian culture. Persian was established as the language of the court and of poetry, displacing Arabic.

The 38 works of art at the Sackler Gallery included lavishly illustrated manuscripts of the epic as well as tiles, glazed ceramic vessels, coins and other objects in gold and silver.

Reproduced images must credit Hadiye Cangokce, photographer, and the Topkapi Palace Museum courtesy of the Palace Arts Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, Republic of Turkey.

(Pictures are courtesy Hadiye Cangokce, photographer, and the Topkapi Palace Museum, the Palace Arts Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, Republic of Turkey.)

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