Ayse Hilal Ugurlu

From the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the caliphal status and the legitimacy of the Ottoman sultans were constantly and increasingly challenged. One of the most effective and powerful tools that they utilized in order to strengthen their diminishing image in the eyes of their subjects was the re-appropriation of sacred places, either by extensive restorations or by demolishing and rebuilding them. While this was not an emergent practice, during the tumultuous moments of the long nineteenth century, these incidents proliferated. Additionally, a sacred network associated with the benevolence and religiosity of the sultans was created by the increasing mobility of the sacred relics of Prophet Mohammad. For instance, hair strands of the Prophet (lihye-i şerif) were sent to different corners of the Ottoman geography by the court. These sacred relics were kept generally in newly built mosques or custom built and repurposed edifices that protected and made its visitation possible. Similarly, in the Capital, visiting these relics became popularized. So much that Abdülmecid I (r.1839-61) ordered the construction of a new imperial mosque (Hırka-i Şerif Camii) at Fatih. Although called a mosque, it was designed specifically for the visitation of the Holy Mantle, as a ziyara.
This article investigates the proliferation and circulation of the sacred relics in the nineteenth-century Ottoman lands.  It argues that these acts not only aimed to address the religious needs of the subjects but were also expected to infuse the sacredness of these relics to the imperial image.

##nofultext##Soon after the Hagia Sophia was converted into an imperial mosque by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (r.1451–81) in the mid-fifteenth century, it became one of the primary settings for imperial religious ceremonies. The waqfiyya of Mehmed II specifically stated that the imam was entrusted with leading the daily prayers and congregational night prayers, such as the prayers of the tarawih, the Night of Decree (ar: leyle’t-ül kadr) or the Night of Forgiveness (ar: leyle’t-ül berat). From the sixteenth century until the proclamation of the Gülhane Imperial Edict of 1839, besides occasional Friday or daily prayers, it was customary for sultans to perform the Night of Decree prayers at the Hagia Sophia. In 1840, for the first time, Abdulmecid I (r. 1839–61) performed the Night of Decree prayers in the Nusretiye Mosque. It became a new custom for sultans to perform their prayers in Nusretiye from then until the second half of the Hamidian era, when, in 1886, the Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque became the venue for all religious ceremonies and stately processions. Although the sultans were not attending the prayers held at the Hagia Sophia during this highly significant religious night anymore, it kept its prominence for the Istanbulites. However, after the 1880s the court began to considerably alter the ceremonial decorum of the Night of Decree prayers held at the Hagia Sophia. The Ottoman government began to issue passes or tickets for the foreign embassy staff and their guests, to watch the ritual from the mosque’s upper galleries. A specific seating arrangement was made for them and officials would give them explanations about the rituals during the ceremony. From 1880s to 1932, the number of non-Muslims that watched the ceremony increased from tens to thousands. In this paper, I argue that this atypical use of a mosque’s interior was very much connected with the changing perception of Hagia Sophia both by its Ottoman users as well as its European spectators. By focusing on the last fifty years of the life of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque, this paper deals with the transformation of a religious ceremony into a spectacle through Hagia Sophia’s conceptualization as a showpiece monument distinct in function from other imperial mosques.Ohio State University & Cornell Universit

III.Selim, onsekizinci yüzyılın ikinci yarısının büyük kısmında devam eden (1768-74, 1787-92) Osmanlı - Rus savaşlarının maddî-mânevî yıprattığı imparatorlukta, merkezî otoritenin ve hükümdarlık imajının günden güne zayıfladığı bir dönemde tahta çıkar. Tahta çıktığında kendisine büyük ümitler atfedilen III.Selim’in saltanatı boyunca yaşanan pek çok askeri - siyasi başarısızlık, hem oluşturulmaya çalışılan kapsamlı ve yeni düzenin, hem de bizzat padişahın meşruiyetlerini sorgulanır hale getirir. Vahhabi-Saudi devletinin devam eden genişlemesi, özellikle hac yolunu engellemeleri ve 1803 yılında Mekke’yi işgal etmeleri gibi Arap yarımadasında artan karışıklıklar da Selim’in islamın savunucusu ve hadim ul-haremeyn ül-şerifeyn olarak imajını olumsuz yönde etkiler. Bu çalışma, daha çok askeriye, iktisat, ticaret, siyaset, diplomasi gibi pek çok alanda düzenlemelere gitmiş bir reformist olarak ele alınan III. Selim’in, İstanbul halkının gözünde dini liderlik imajının zayıflamasını engellemeye yönelik faaliyetlerini incelemeyi ve Eyüp Sultan Camiinin yeniden inşası özelinde bu çabaları bütüncül olarak anlamlandırmayı hedeflemektedir

Selim III was enthroned at a time when the central authority and image of the sultan was gradually weakening due to the Ottoman-Russian wars during most of the second half of the eighteenth century (1768-74, 1787-92) that emotionally and financially strained the empire. The number of military and political setbacks during his reign, brought about the questioning of both the extensive new order that was trying to be implimented as well as the legitimacy of the sultan himself. The escalating turmoil in the Arabian peninsula caused by the continued expansion of the Wahhabi-Saudi state after 1790’s, especially their disruption of the annual hajj and occupying Mecca in 1803, also effected Selim’s prestige as the defender of Islam and “the servant of the two noble sanctuaries” (hadim ul-haremeyn ül-şerifeyn) [Mecca&Medina]. This paper aims to examine the efforts of Selim III - who is commonly known with his reforms in areas such as the military, economy, trade, politics, and diplomacy- to counteract the weakening image of his religious leadership in the eyes of Istanbul residents through a case study of the reconstruction of the Eyüp Sultan Mosque

##nofultext##Soon after the Hagia Sophia was converted into an imperial mosque by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (r.1451–81) in the mid-fifteenth century, it became one of the primary settings for imperial religious ceremonies. The waqfiyya of Mehmed II specifically stated that the imam was entrusted with leading the daily prayers and congregational night prayers, such as the prayers of the tarawih, the Night of Decree (ar: leyle’t-ül kadr) or the Night of Forgiveness (ar: leyle’t-ül berat). From the sixteenth century until the proclamation of the Gülhane Imperial Edict of 1839, besides occasional Friday or daily prayers, it was customary for sultans to perform the Night of Decree prayers at the Hagia Sophia. In 1840, for the first time, Abdulmecid I (r. 1839–61) performed the Night of Decree prayers in the Nusretiye Mosque. It became a new custom for sultans to perform their prayers in Nusretiye from then until the second half of the Hamidian era, when, in 1886, the Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque became the venue for all religious ceremonies and stately processions. Although the sultans were not attending the prayers held at the Hagia Sophia during this highly significant religious night anymore, it kept its prominence for the Istanbulites. However, after the 1880s the court began to considerably alter the ceremonial decorum of the Night of Decree prayers held at the Hagia Sophia. The Ottoman government began to issue passes or tickets for the foreign embassy staff and their guests, to watch the ritual from the mosque’s upper galleries. A specific seating arrangement was made for them and officials would give them explanations about the rituals during the ceremony. From 1880s to 1932, the number of non-Muslims that watched the ceremony increased from tens to thousands. In this paper, I argue that this atypical use of a mosque’s interior was very much connected with the changing perception of Hagia Sophia both by its Ottoman users as well as its European spectators. By focusing on the last fifty years of the life of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque, this paper deals with the transformation of a religious ceremony into a spectacle through Hagia Sophia’s conceptualization as a showpiece monument distinct in function from other imperial mosques.Ohio State University & Cornell Universit

Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan'a, günümüz literatürü, diğer pek çok Valide Sultan için olduğu gibi, "dindar, hayırsever anne" rolünü biçmiştir. Bânisi olduğu, cami, mescit, imaret, mektep, bend, çeşme, sebil gibi çok farklı türlerde pek çok yapı tek tek ele alındığında, Mihrişah'ın bu rolü gayet başarılı biçimde üstlendiği söylenebilir. Ancak dönemin şartları, III.Selim'in siyâsî projesi ve buna yönelik imar faaliyetleri gözönünde bulundurularak, Mihrişah'ın imar faaliyetleri bütüncül biçimde ele alındığında, Mihrişah'ın Nizâm-ı Cedid projesi içerisinde oynadığı nispeten geri planda fakat oldukça aktif rol anlaşılabilir. III.Selim devrinde inşa edilen Üsküdar Kışlası dışındaki, Levend Çiftliği, Humbaracı ve Lağımcı Kışlası, Beyoğlu Topçu ve Toparabacı Kışlası gibi diğer kışlalarda bulunan dînî yapılar ve su câmi, mescit, hamam ve çeşme gibi yapıların bânisinin Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan oluşu, bu düşünceyi destekler niteliktedir. Bu çalışmanın esas amacı; Mihrişah ...

From the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the caliphal status and the legitimacy of the Ottoman sultans were constantly and increasingly challenged. One of the most effective and powerful tools that they utilized in order to strengthen their diminishing image in the eyes of their subjects was the re-appropriation of sacred places, either by extensive restorations or by demolishing and rebuilding them. While this was not an emergent practice, during the tumultuous moments of the long nineteenth century, these incidents proliferated. Additionally, a sacred network associated with the benevolence and religiosity of the sultans was created by the increasing mobility of the sacred relics of Prophet Mohammad. For instance, hair strands of the Prophet (lihye-i şerif) were sent to different corners of the Ottoman geography by the court. These sacred relics were kept generally in newly built mosques or custom built and repurposed edifices that protected and made its visitation possibl...

özet: Oğlu ile her dâim yakın ilişki içerisinde olan ve onun “modernleşme” projesini her yönden destekleyen Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan, îmar faaliyetleriyle de oğlunun hep yanında olmuştur. Ancak günümüz akademisi Mihrişah’a “dindar, hayırhah Vâlide sultan” imajını yüklemiş ve konuyla ilgili yapılan akademik çalışmalar da bununla ilişkili olarak Mihrişah’ın Eyüp’te yaptırmış olduğu külliye ve İstanbul’daki çeşitli su yapıları üzerinde yoğunlaşmıştır. Halbuki, Mihrişah’ın mimari bâniliğinin, en büyük destekleyicilerinden olduğu III.Selim’in siyasi programından bağımsız olarak ele alınmaması gerekir. Üsküdar kışlası dışındaki, Levend Çiftliği, Humbaracı ve Lağımcı Kışlası, Beyoğlu Topçu ve Toparabacı Kışlası gibi diğer kışlalarda bulunan cami, mescit, hamam ve çeşme gibi yapıların bânisinin Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan oluşu bu düşünceyi destekler niteliktedir.
Bu çalışmada Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan’ın îmar faaliyetleri III.Selim’in “hem merkeze rakip olabilecek iç güçlerin, hem de uluslararası arenada muadil kabul edilen Avrupa devletlerinin karşısına “yeni”, “güçlü” ve “modern” bir imparatorluk olarak çıkılması” olarak özetlenebilecek siyasi projesini gerçekleştirme çabasına verdiği desteğin fiziksel bir yansıması olarak ele alınacak, bu projenin hangi cephelerinde rol oynadığı değerlendirilecektir.
Abstract:
Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan, who was always in a close relationship with her son and endorsed his "modernization" project in every way, also supported his agenda with her building activities. Yet, contemporary scholarship depicts her as "a religious and charitable Vâlide sultan (sultan's mother)" and the relevant academic studies accordingly focus on her complex in Eyüp and the various water structures she commissioned in Istanbul. However, Mihrişah's architectural patronage should not be treated independently from the political agenda of Selim III, of which she was one of the foremost supporters. The fact that Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan was the patron of the mosques, baths, and fountains built inside most of the military barracks in Istanbul, excluding the Üsküdar barrracks, supports this view.
In this study, the architectural activities of Mihrişah Vâlide Sultan will be examined as a physical reflection of her endorsement of Selim III's political project, which can be summarized as "emerging as a "new," "strong," and "modern" empire against the internal forces which could rival the center, as well as against the European states which were equivalents of the Ottoman Empire in the international arena." The study also will discuss in which facets of this project Mihrişah's patronage activities played a role.

The French engineer François Kauffer, who arrived in Istanbul in 1776 at the court of the French diplomat Choiseul Gouffier, completed the earliest, most detailed map of the city in 1786 that covered both the intramuros and Bosphorus shoreline. In an imperial decree issued on 12 April 1797, Selim explicitly expressed his desire to keep Kauffer for “a while longer” in his service. In this document it can be seen that in a meşveret meclisi (consultation assembly), at which Selim was present, where it was decided upon to keep Kauffer employed for some time with the reinforcement of the fortress of Kili -- a building he had designed -- in order not to lose him to another European patron.
“A while longer” also implied a deeper intent. Selim wanted to retain Kauffer for the time required to finish his building activities (especially the new military complexes reflecting his new and modern army), which would radically alter Istanbul's appearance. Although Kauffer had recently completed the İstanbul map eleven years earlier, Selim’s wish to revise it before it was circulated in Europe also reflects his wish to represent his capital, and thus his Empire, before his opponents in its powerful, new  image. Charles Pertusier (d.1836) - a French artillery officer who worked in İstanbul between 1811 and 1814 as a military attaché - defined Selim III’s building activities as “an indication of his purpose to reinvigorate the ancient political existence of his nation,” which also reinforces this idea.
Selim chose to strengthen his diminished authority and prestige by commissioning extensive building activities throughout his imperial capital. When these building activities are examined as a whole, the court’s relationship with its many different audiences -such as the elite, the old military groups (mainly the janissaries), the Nizam-ı Cedid (New Order) troops, the urban public, and the representatives of the European powers- can be understood more clearly through architecture.
This paper aims to highlight how Selim III, the last Ottoman Sultan of the early modern era, used architecture to communicate both in his relations with his audience in the capital and his European counterparts. In the process, it will also explore how his building activities changed the city’s physical fabric.

Onsekizinci yüzyıl başında Saray’ın İstanbul’a dönüşü ile başlayan ve yavaşlayan bir ivme ile devam eden başkentteki fiziksel dönüşüm süreci, yüzyıl sonunda farklı boyutlar kazanarak yeniden hızlanır. Osmanlı-Rus savaşlarının maddî-mânevî yıprattığı imparatorlukta, merkezî otoritenin ve hükümdarlık imajının günden güne zayıfladığı bir dönemde tahta çıkan III.Selim’in, pek çok konuda programlı bir ıslahat projesi yürüttüğü görülür. Hem merkeze rakip olabilecek iç güçlerin, hem de uluslararası arenada muadil kabul edilen Avrupa devletlerinin karşısına "yeni", "güçlü" ve "modern" bir imparatorluk olarak çıkılması şeklinde özetlenebilecek olan bu proje, fizikselleşmiş yansımasını Saray’ın başkentte yürüttüğü imar faaliyetlerinde bulur. Padişahın dînî liderlik sıfatını, hânedanın dindarlık ve hayırseverliğini ön plana çıkartan cami, imaret, tekke vb. hayır eserleri ve halkın günlük hayatında sürekli sultânî imajla içiçe olmasını sağlayarak meşrûiyetini pekiştiren su yapıları gibi onsekizinci yüzyıl İstanbul’u için alışılmış yapı tipleri, padişahın, tebasının fedakârlıkları ve itaati karşılığında kendisinin de halka hizmet etmeyi istediğini göstermesi bakımından tipik ama önemlidir. Bunların yanısıra sultanın ve hânedanın gösteriş ve ihtişamını gözler önüne seren saraylar da imar faaliyetlerinin önemli bir parçasıdır. Ancak askerî yapılar, imar faaliyetlerinin en ağırlıklı bölümünü kapsaması ve anıtsal kütleleri ile İstanbul’un çehresini önemli ölçüde değiştirmesi ile ön plana çıkar.
Askerî yapıların yaptırılmasını, şüphesiz askerî düzendeki değişikliklerle paralel olarak artan yeni fiziksel ihtiyaçların giderilmesi ve devam eden savaşların gerektirdiği insan gücünün sağlanması gibi pratik sebepler zorunlu kılmıştır. Ancak bu birincil sebeplerin ardında, en az onlar kadar önemli olan bir takım siyasî hedeflerin de yattığı söylenebilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Saray’ın yüzyıl sonunda başkentteki imar faaliyetlerinin altında yatan bu siyasi hedefleri, III. Selim’in yaptırdığı askerî yapılar üzerinden ortaya koymaktır.

Napolyon Bonapart’ın 1798-1801 yılları arasında gerçekleşen Mısır ve Suriye seferi sırası ve sonrasında, Mısır’daki muhtelif şehirleri ve özellikle bu sefer sırasında gerçekleşmiş çeşitli savaşları tasvir eden çok sayıda resim üretildi. Bu yoğun üretimin nedenlerinden biri ulusal başarıları veya çeşitli komutanların bireysel kahramanlıklarını görselleştirerek ölümsüz hale getirmek ise, bir diğeri de Avrupa’da antik Mısır kültürüne artan ilgi idi. Fransız ordularıyla Mısır’a gelen kalabalık bir bilim adamı heyetinin bu süre zarfında gerçekleştirdiği tespit ve arkeolojik çalışmalar tüm Avrupa’da Mısır Bilim’inin hızla yükselişini beraberinde getirmişti. 
Eş zamanlı olarak İngiltere’de ortaya çıkan ve mucidi Robert Barker tarafından panorama olarak adlandırılan bir görsel temsil türü de yine hızla Avrupa kentlerinde yaygınlaşmaktaydı. Bu şekilde Avrupa’da, örneğin Londra’da yaşayan bir İngiliz, İstanbul, Kahire, Paris gibi farklı coğrafyalardan meşhur şehirleri veya çeşitli deniz ve kara savaşlarından sahneleri sanki kendisi ilk elden şahit olmuşçasına gerçekçi bir biçimde tecrübe edebiliyordu.
Bu çalışma, Mısır’ın farklı mediumlar üzerinden üretilen görsel temsillerini odağında tutarak, Osmanlı’nın bu rekabet ortamına ne şekilde dahil olduğunu ve hedeflerini incelemektedir.

Soon after the Hagia Sophia -the religious and political center of Eastern Christendom- was converted into an imperial mosque by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in the mid-fifteenth century, it became one of the primary settings for the imperial religious ceremonies and daily prayers until the middle of the nineteenth century. The wakfiyya of Mehmed II specifically stated that the imam was entrusted with leading the daily prayers and congregational night prayers such as the prayers of the tarawih, the Night of Decree (ar: leyle’t-ül kadr) or the Night of Forgiveness (ar:leyle’t-ül berat).
This paper focuses on the Night of Decree prayers that were customarily held in Hagia Sophia until the mid 19th century. Right before the Fossati restoration of the building (1847-49), this rite was moved to the Nusretiye Mosque. It was performed there until the second half of the Hamidian era when Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque (1886) became the venue for all religious ceremonies and stately processions. Right after the dethronement of Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1909, Night of Decree ceremonies were shifted back to the Hagia Sophia. However, this time the ceremonial decorum had been considerably altered: the Ottoman government began to issue passes for the foreign embassy staff and their guests, who were able to watch the ritual from the mosque’s upper galleries.
In the accounts of seventeeth-and eighteenth-century European travelers, one finds numerous references to secret visits in disguise since imperial mosques were not accessible to non-muslims. However, the archival documents reveal the easing of these prohibitions from at least the mid-eighteenth century. The court started to issue permits to non-Muslims allowing them to visit imperial mosques such as Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmed and Suleymaniye, outside the hours for daily prayer. Furthermore, Hagia Sophia became even more accessible when the court permitted foreigners to be present in the mosque during the Night of Decree (Layla’t-ul Kadr) Prayer Ceremonies. I argue that this atypical use of a mosque’s interior was very much connected with the changing perceptions of Hagia Sophia both by its Ottoman users as well as its European spectators. In this presentation, I will deal with the transformation of a religious ceremony into a spectacle through Hagia Sophia’s conceptualization as a showpiece monument distinct in function from other imperial mosques.

III.Selim, onsekizinci yüzyılın ikinci yarısının büyük kısmında devam eden (1768-74, 1787-92) Osmanlı - Rus savaşlarının maddî-mânevî yıprattığı imparatorlukta, merkezî otoritenin ve hükümdarlık imajının günden güne zayıfladığı bir dönemde tahta çıkar. Tahta çıktığında kendisine büyük ümitler atfedilen III.Selim’in saltanatı boyunca yaşanan pek çok askeri - siyasi başarısızlık, hem oluşturulmaya çalışılan kapsamlı ve yeni düzenin, hem de bizzat padişahın meşruiyetlerini sorgulanır hale getirir.
Bu çalışma, daha çok askeriye, iktisat, ticaret, siyaset, diplomasi gibi pek çok alanda merkezi güçlendirecek, uluslararası ortamda imparatorluğun elini kuvvetlendirecek düzenlemelere gitmiş bir “müceddid” olarak ele alınan III. Selim’in,  yaşanan çeşitli iç ve dış krizler ile eş zamanlı olarak gerçekleştirdiği ve İstanbul halkının gözünde dini liderlik imajının zayıflamasını engellemeye yönelik faaliyetlerini incelemeyi ve Eyüp Sultan Camiinin yeniden inşası özelinde bu çabaları bütüncül olarak anlamlandırmayı hedeflemektedir.

“Bravely climb up the few stairs that take you to the inner court, no one would say a thing. Even the most bigoted Turk would not object, as you are now in an “open public space”.”

René du Parquet, a Frenchman who worked and lived in İstanbul between 1863-64, defined the inner courtyard of Yeni Cami, in Eminönü, as an “open public space”. He also emphasized its sanctity, mentioning that it is so holy that merchants feel comfortable storing valuable goods there.
In the early eighteenth century, the author Şemdanizade gave other striking examples of the non-religious use of mosque courtyards. For example, he mentioned men and women riding ferris-wheels, swings, and carousels placed in the courtyards of the Bayezid and Fatih mosques, among other locations. The use of mosque courtyards for such secular occasions raises the question of what other social functions and events could take place in these spaces.  Did the inner and outer courtyards have different religious or social meanings? Were they both considered (and used) as open public spaces?
So far, there has been little discussion about the mosque courtyards in which Istanbulites gathered, shopped, discussed social and political issues, demanded justice, took refuge during disasters – in other words, about these important places in which everyday life took place. Studies which focus on Istanbul mosques either examine courtyards on a purely formal level or in the context of “garden of heaven” symbolism. However, along with their direct spatial relation with mosques, these open and semi-open spaces deserve to be given consideration for their various socio-cultural dimensions.
This paper attempts to define the inner and outer mosque courtyards architecturally and socially and explores the cultural dimensions of mosque courtyards in early modern Istanbul.