EARLY OTTOMAN MINIATURE : TWO RECENTLY ACaUIRED MANUSCRIPTS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY

NORAH M. TITLEY

THE Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books has recently acquired two illustrated Ottoman manuscripts. Historically and stylistically important, they are welcome additions to the small but select collection of some sixty illustrated Turkish manuscripts in the British Library. It is only comparatively recently that Turkish miniatures, unlike Persian, have been seriously studied in their own right. This is partly due to the fact that the great collections in libraries in were inaccessible for study by outsiders until some fifteen years ago. It is increasingly recognized that, however much may have been owed initially to the influence of Persian artists and miniatures, Turkish artists developed their own distinctive style of painting. Ottoman miniatures appear to fall broadly into two main categories, those in which artists were influenced by the romantic Persian styles, and those which demonstrate the Ottoman preference for realism in both choice of subject and its interpretation. The Persianized style, usually to be seen in miniatures illustrating romantic tales and poems, survives throughout the sixteenth century, although by the end of the same period the Ottoman preference for illustrating chronicles and histories in a factual manner had become firmly established. Details of costume and uniforms were accurate, armies were drawn up in serried ranks, tents pitched in rows, and seniority and rank punctiliously observed in processional and court scenes. The production of finely illuminated and illustrated manuscripts in Iran and Turkey was primarily dependent upon patrons, who were usually the rulers or governors wealthy enough to afiFord the large staff and expensive materials this necessitated. In Iran, until the end of the sixteenth century, political power was divided between a number of regional centres, each with its own ruler who usually followed the tradition of patronage of book production. The situation in Turkey was different, because from 1453 the country was ruled by the Sultan from his capital. The stability thus provided meant that from the mid-fifteenth century Ottoman painting could develop virtually uninterrupted, whereas Iran was beset by political upheaval and constant threats of invasion. These problems which caused artists and craftsmen to move from one patron to another at various times in different parts of Iran did not arise in Turkey. The continuity of as the capital also ensured that the palace library was not sacked or looted and that the magnificent royal

124 illustrated chronicles commissioned by successive Sultans are, in the main, still there today. So are many very fine Persian manuscripts which must have been a constant inspiration to the Turkish artists, calligraphers, and illuminators working in the palace studios. Illustrated and illuminated manuscripts which found their way from Iran to Turkey as early as the late fifteenth century onwards, either as booty or, after the mid-sixteenth century, as diplomatic gifts, still remain a vital and integral part of the Topkapi Saraye Museum collections. In Turkey, as indeed in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Mughal India, where the Emperor was the leading patron, officials and other men of lesser rank than the Sultan himself sometimes commissioned illustrated works. The British Library's illustrated Ottoman manuscripts appear to fall into this category, for none of them is of the quality of the luxurious products of the royal studios. This is not to say that they are lacking either in artistic merit or in originality, for several are illustrated in a charming and individual, even idiosyncratic, manner. The collection covers the whole spectrum of Turkish illustrative art, for it includes romantic poems, encyclopaedic works, anthologies, albums of portraits and , epics, chronicles, histories, fables, maps, and paper cut-out (decoupe) work. Until the recent acquisition of the two manuscripts (Or. 13948 and Or.14010), which were bought in Sotheby's Kevorkian sales in 1980 and 1981, the earliest illustrated Ottoman manuscript in the collection was one dated 1527 (Add. MS. 24962). This is a poem entitled the Jamdspnama^ a version by Musa *AbdI of one of the stories from the Thousand and One Nights., with ten miniatures in an early Ottoman style. At least one (Or.14010) of the two recent acquisitions is even earlier, dating from the late fifteenth century, while the other (Or. 13948) was originally copied and illuminated in Iran at c. 1490, and has Ottoman miniatures which, judging by their style, were added in the 1520s. The earlier of the two (Or.14010), bought at Sotheby's on 27 April 1981 (lot 112), is a copy, containing four miniatures, of the romantic poem Khusraw va ShtrTn (Turkish: Husrev ve ^irin) by ShaykhT (§eyhi). ShaykhT was an Ottoman poet who wrote his version in imitation of the poem of the same title by the Persian poet NizamT (d. 1209) and in the same tnasnavT^ovxw of rhyming couplets. Whilst the quatrain (ruba'T) is considered the most ancient essentially Persian verse-form, the masnavi covcvts next, and it was Shaykhi who introduced it into Ottoman literature. ShaykhT began to write his version oi Khusraw va Shmn after the accession of Sultan Murad II who reigned between 1421 and 1451, but he died before completing it. An epilogue was added by another writer whose identity is in dispute, who stated that ShaykhT died leaving his work unfinished. Although the date of Shaykhfs death is not given, the fact that the author of the epilogue eulogizes Murad II as the reigning sovereign means that it must have occurred before 1451. The manuscript appears to be one of the earliest illustrated copies of Shaykhl's version oiKhusraw va Shmn^ probably dating from the period of Bayezid II, who reigned from 1481 to 1512 and who was a noted patron of illustrated books. Archival records in the Topkapi Saraye Museum list ten artists who were working for him. The importance and rarity of the manuscript lie chiefly in the four illustrations which are very early examples of the true Ottoman style and clearly demonstrate the difference between the work of

125 Fig. /. Farhad greeting Shlrln. 95 x 67 mm. Or.14010, fol. 122 recto Fig. 2. Battle scene 98 X 63 mm. Or.14010, fol. 28 verso ^g^. J. Khusraw and the (iaysar of Rum. no x 65 mm. Or.14010, fol. 95 verso Persian and Turkish artists. Characteristics of Persian painting included a subtle use of colour, complicated rock patterns, romanticized landscapes, and the haphazard groupmg of people and tents. In this manuscript these features have already given way to the restricted palette of hard colours used in Ottoman painting, simple landscapes and rock forms (fig. i), and tents, soldiers, and palace officials lined up in rows and ranks (figs. 2 and 3). Other uniquely Ottoman characteristics are the pine-trees (fig. 4), which never appear in Persian miniatures but are familiar on the shores of the Bosphorus, and the care with which even the smallest ships, boats, and galleys (fig. 2) are drawn. Another distinctive detail peculiar to Turkish artists is the way the back of the human head merges with the neck in a long straight line, particularly noticeable in two paintings featuring Shirin (figs, i and 4). There is also an unusual and uniquely Ottoman method of depicting mountains in which single rocks, each slightly resembling a peacock feather (fig. i), are built up in tiers. These rocks occur in both these manuscripts (figs, i and 5), as well as in X\\Q Jamdspndma of 1527 (Add. MS. 24962). The latter date is about the latest that they occur in Ottoman miniatures, before giving way to simply drawn semicircular ridges introduced to convey the effect of mountains and foothills (fig. 6). The poem of Khusraw va Shirin^ originally completed by the Persian poet NizamT (d. 1209) in the late twelfth century, is closely followed by Shaykhi in his Ottoman Persian version. It concerns primarily the story of the courtship by the Persian King Khusraw Parviz (the Sassanian Chosroe II) of the Armenian princess Shirm, but it also includes stories incidental to the main narrative. The first miniature (fol. 28 verso, fig. 2) is a scene of the battle between the famous Persian general Bahram Chubin and the Tartar rebel Saya Khan, who had joined in a revolt against Hurmuz, father of Khusraw Parviz. The Ottoman artist appears to have sited the battle in an area which would have been familiar to him, as the landscape is very similar to that above the Bosphorus where the fortress, Rumeli Hisar, overlooks the water. In this spirited scene even the grey horse in the foreground is joining in the fray by biting an opponent's neck. The various vessels on the water are careful studies of Turkish craft even on this minute scale, while the rows of gilt helmets and of standards and tents are some of the earliest examples of the rigidity in depicting military details. Khusraw Parviz sought help from the C^ysar (i.e. Caesar) of Rum to overcome Bahram Chubin who had ambitious designs on the throne of Iran. Rum is the name in Persian and Turkish given to the Byzantine empire, whose emperor at this time was Maurice ((r.539-602), who was instrumental in restoring Khusraw (Chosroe II) to the throne in 591. A slightly damaged miniature (fol. 95 verso, fig. 3) of Khusraw and the Emperor together has unusual features, such as the Turkish dome over the pavilion and the position of the young page in the foreground, who has been placed by the artist outside the composition. Before his departure from Iran, Khusraw had a castle built for Shirin among the mountains. The castle was too far from the flocks in the pastures for her to obtain milk, but a young man, Farhad, dug a canal through the mountains. The shepherds milked their animals into the canal and the milk fiowed to the castle, providing a constant supply.

129 Fig. 4. Khusraw visiting Shirln. 95 x 67 mm. Or.14010, fol. 154 recto Fig, 5. Alexander the Great and the Chinese ruler. 158 x 100 mm. Or.13948, fol. 186 recto Unfortunately, Farhad fell deeply in love with Shlrln, and the jealous Khusraw, when he heard of this, challenged Farhad to a seemingly impossible task. This was to cut a road through the great mountain BTsitun, for which Farhad's reward would be the hand of Shirln. Farhad agreed to the terms, but before he began work he carved figures of Shirln and Khusraw high up on the rock face. When Khusraw learned that Farhad had almost completed his monumental task, he sent an old woman with false news of Shirln's death, whereupon Farhad hurled himself off the mountain to his death. Various episodes in this story are usually illustrated both in manuscripts of the Persian original by Nizam! and in Shaykhfs version. One of the incidents most often illustrated is that ot ShTrin's visit to Mount Bisitun to encourage Farhad. Persian miniatures of this scene, even in the fifteenth century when subjects tended to be treated with more originality than in later versions, usually show Farhad standing or kneeling before Shirln who has arrived on her black horse, ShabdTz. However, the artist of the miniatures in the Shaykhi manuscript has painted (fol. 122 recto, fig. i) a delightfully original illustration in which an ecstatic Farhad is running, arms outstretched, to greet his beloved Shirm. The stream of milk is flowing in the foreground and Farhad's sculpture can be seen high on the mountainside, while his pick lies where he dropped it when he saw Shirin approaching. The fourth miniature in this manuscript (fol. 154 recto, fig. 4), like the second (fol. 95 verso, fig. 3), has suffered deliberate damage. Once more it is an unusual interpretation of a subject, for Khusraw, when visiting Shlrln's castle, is usually approaching on horseback (fig. 7). However, Persian artists too, particularly in the late fifteenth century, did occasionally draw Khusraw seated on a stool near the castle while Shlrln and her companions looked down from a balcony. In this Ottoman miniature Shlrin's coy expression is in sharp contrast to the undisguised curiosity shown by the other women and by the gatekeeper, who has slightly opened the door to find out who is outside. In this painting, as in the battle scene (fig. 2), the Ottoman artist has taken a castle similar to Rumeli Hisar as his model and has also included one of the Bosphorus pine-trees. This rare, but almost insignificant-looking manuscript is a notable acquisition by the British Library. Its miniatures will undoubtedly prove to be a key factor in the study of Ottoman painting, for they must be some of the earliest examples of the true Ottoman style in existence, dating from a period when the predominant influence on Turkish miniature painting was Persian. The other recently acquired manuscript (Or. 13948) was bought at Sotheby's Kevorkian sale on 21 April 1980 (lot 181) and, in spite of its long and doubtless hazardous journeys in the early sixteenth century, is in remarkably good condition. Written in Persian, it was originally copied and illuminated c.i4go at Herat, then in Iran but now in Afghanistan, and consists of three of the five poems (Khamsa) by Nizami. These are the Haft Paykar (Seven Portraits) (fols. i verso to 60 verso), Khusraw va Shmn (fols. 61 verso to 124 recto), and the Iskandarndma (Book of Alexander) (fols. 124 verso to 206 recto). It contains six miniatures in the Ottoman Turkish style connected with the early period of the reign of Sultan Suleyman I (the Magnificent), a reign which lasted from 1520 to 1566

132 Fig. 6. Bahram Gur defeating the lions. 140X loo mm. Or.13948, fol. 17 recto Fig. J. Khusraw visiting Shirin. 157 x 100 mm. Or.13948, fol. ioi verso and was noted for the patronage of artists and others concerned in the production of fine manuscripts. The change of ruling dynasty in north-east Iran caused artists to flee from Herat to work under the patronage of Shah Isma'il I at in the north-west, taking manuscripts from the Herat library with them. In 1514 the Ottoman Sultan, (d. 1520), defeated the Iranians under Isma'Tl I at Chaldiran and levied a contribution of craftsmen, amongst whom were many skilled in various facets of book production. Included in their number were calligraphers, artists, illuminators, and bookbinders and it is recorded that in 1516-17 over a hundred craftsmen and their families were taken from Iran to Istanbul. Undoubtedly it was also at this time that many of the illustrated Persian manuscripts now in the Topkapi Saraye Museum library were taken there. It is significant too that Badi* al-Zaman Mirza, a son of the famous Herat ruler and patron Sultan Husayn, went f.1515 from Tabriz to the court of Selim I, as he probably took manuscripts with him. It is likely that the Nizami (Or. 13948), having been taken earlier from Herat to Tabriz, now found its way to Istanbul. The manuscript was not completed at Herat after it was copied, as the blank spaces left for the illustrations were filled by Ottoman artists whose style contrasts strangely with the fine calligraphy and superb illumination (fig. 8) associated with late fifteenth-century Herat work. There are three illuminated headings {'unvans)^ one at the beginning of each poem. The first (fol. i verso) has suffered some damage but the other two (fols. 61 verso and 25 verso) are in excellent condition. The first poem, the Haft Paykar^ or Seven Portraits, is concerned with Bahram Gur, i.e. the Sassanian King Varanes V, who succeeded to the throne in A.D. 420. In the poem NizamT relates stories of Bahram Gur's hunting prowess, of his courage, and of his seven wives and the stories they told him, each on a different night of the week. Seven pavilions were built, each with a dome in the colour appropriate to the princess who occupied it, for example, red for the Russian princess, sandalwood for the Chinese princess, and so on. Bahram Gur visited the princesses in turn, beginning with the Indian princess in the black pavilion on Saturday. In this manuscript, his visits to the Indian princess (fol. 26 recto) and to the Tartar princess in the green pavilion on Monday (foL 35 verso, fig. 9) are illustrated. Angular and somewhat stiff, with straight lines and a limited colour range, these paintings demonstrate the difference between the Ottoman style and that of contemporary romantic Persian miniatures of the same subjects. Other uniquely Ottoman features seen in these paintings also occur in the small Shaykhl manuscript (Or.14010), including the stylized 'peacock-feather' rocks and the singular heads. The style is also characterized by details including grey roof and dome tiles and the fastenings on tunics and kaftans in the form of gold frogging across the chest. The first miniature in the Haft Paykar (fol. 17 recto, fig. 6) illustrates the trial undergone by Bahram Gur to attain the crown. It was guarded by two lions, one of which he is fending off while the other watches smugly from the safety of its hole. This is an unusual interpretation of a scene in which the lions are generally chained to a throne hearing the crown. The artist, who had a penchant for enormous thrones, as evidenced in another miniature (fig. 5), would have found it difficult to fit a throne into this composition

135 ;5if:^>:j^Tgi^:j^%^T:^^

r.. 8. Illuminated heading. 60x98 mm. Or.13948, fol. 61 verso Fig. g. Bahram Gur visiting the green pavilion. 157 x 102 mm. Or.13948, fol. 35 verso and has got round the problem by omitting it altogether and placing the crown on the ground. Although one miniature (fol. i68 recto, fig. io) includes the archaic * peacock-feather' rocks, the landscape in the painting with the lions is already in the form used in Ottoman miniatures throughout the rest of the sixteenth century, in which hills are drawn in a series of semicircles. The rocks in the background and also those surrounding the lion's hole are salmon-pink, a colour used extensively by Ottoman artists, but not in Persian painting. The beginning of Khusraw va Shmn has a particularly fine Herat 'unvdn or heading. Predominantly painted in gold on a blue background, the design incorporates a delicate floral with the main rectangle enclosed in an intricate plaited-strap border in gold. The only miniature (fol. ioi verso, fig. 7) illustrating this poem is of Khusraw approaching Shirin's castle as she leans out of a window to welcome him. Although he is arriving on horseback in the conventional manner, he is, somewhat unusually, flourishing a bunch of tulips. Tulips are not included in the stylized clumps of flowering plants in the landscapes of any of the illustrations, so they must have been considered special enough to use in a bouquet foreshadowing the 'tulipomania' which gripped Sultan Ahmed III (d. 1730), whose reign was known as the {Ldle Devri). The other two miniatures are included in the last poem in the manuscript, the Book of Alexander. The first (fol. 168 recto, fig. 10) is of the Prophet Khizr collecting water from the 'Water of Life' while his horse drinks from the stream in the foreground. Alexander the Great, wearing a gold crown and surrounded by his soldiers and retinue, is watching in the background. The water, which has turned from silver to black by oxidization, emerges from the rocks, flowing as a waterfall, and forms the stream in the foreground. A very unusual feature of this miniature is the pair of gold spurs worn by Khizr, for spurs are very seldom included in sixteenth-century Persian or Turkish miniatures. The final illustration is of Alexander the Great and the ruler of China conferring together on an immense throne (fol. 186 recto, fig. 5). This miniature is similar to a composition which originally belonged to the manuscript but which was sold at Sotheby's Kevorkian sale of 12 December 1976 (lot 57). It has subsequently been published in E. Binney, Turkish Treasures from the Collection of Edwin Btnney 3rd (Portland, Oregon, 1979), no. 5, and almost certainly came from the Iskandarndma section of the British Library manuscript. The composition includes a similarly gigantic throne set in the same way, out of doors against a simple landscape, as that on fol. 186 recto (fig. 5) in the manuscript. Opportunities to acquire illustrated manuscripts in these days of astronomical prices are somewhat restricted. It is the policy to acquire, whenever possible, manuscripts of historical or stylistic importance with which to fill gaps in the collections. These two manuscripts are notable acquisitions on both counts, providing in each not only examples of Ottoman painting in its formative years but, in the case of the Nizami (Or. 13948), a rare and valuable link with Herat, the greatest centre of book production in late fifteenth- century Iran.

138 ;?. 70. Alexander the Great and the 'Water of Life'. 155 x 100 mm. Or.13948, fol. 168 recto