English: Manuscript

Object no: T 413.12

Title: Fortifications along the Ottoman frontier with Safavid Iran, from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman

Calligrapher and production place: Qāsim al-Ḥusaynī al-`Arīdī al-Qazvīnī, Istanbul

Production date: 1579 (987H)

Dimensions: 384 mm x 265 mm (height x width)

Material: Paper (material) Pigment (material) Ink (material) Gold

Language: Persian (language)

Script type: Nasta'liq script

Collection: Turkish collection

Document type: Manuscript

Object name: Folio / Bi-Folio (Codex)

Description: Fortifications along the Ottoman frontier with Safavid Iran, from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman. This section discusses different measures for defending the frontiers of the Ottoman empire. To the east, the Ottoman border with Safavid Iran was carefully marked with the construction of fortresses. Here, a sheep is sacrificed to bless the construction of one fort, while further defensive architecture may be seen in the distance. The Ottoman court historian (sahnameci) Sayyid Luqman composed this versified account of Süleyman the Magnificent's last seven years of life, describing events in the capital Istanbul, the sultan's military campaigns in the Balkans, Austria, Hungary, on Malta, and on Chios, and concluding with the sultan's death and funeral in 1566. Luqman was continuing the Ottoman dynastic chronicles established by his two immediate predecessors: Eflatun and before him the renowned court historian `Arif. `Arif composed the multi-volume Shahnama-yi Al-i Osman (Book of Kings of the House of Osman): Luqman’s work (CBL T 413) carefully follows this work’s form in language and general layout. `Arif also worked on two other important accounts of the Ottoman sultan: Mujmal al-Tumar (imperial scroll, 1584) and Hüner-nama (begun 1577), which were completed by his two court successors. Detached folio, ink, pigments and gold on paper, Persian verses with full-page painting (on verso), from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman, account of the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent in the years 1559-1566, commissioned for Ottoman Sultan Murad III, Istanbul, Turkey, 1579.