Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Turkey: Turkish (Osmanli) script. Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent (r.1520-66). A tughra (Ottoman Turkish: طغراء; Ṭuğrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of an Ottoman sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign.
Abdulhamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, Turkish: İkinci Abdülhamit) (22 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) was the 99th caliph of Islam and the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was the last Sultan to exert effective control over the Ottoman Empire. He oversaw a period of decline in the power and extent of the Empire, ruling from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed on 27 April 1909. He was succeeded by Mehmed V. His deposition following the Young Turk Revolution was hailed by most Ottoman citizens, who welcomed the return to constitutional rule.<br/><br/>During his tenure, he was responsible for the modernization of the Ottoman Empire, and exerted maximum control over its affairs. Changes included: rationalization of the bureaucracy; the ambitious Hijaz Railway project; the creation of a modern system of personnel records (1896); establishment of an elaborate system for population registration and control over the press; systematization of officials salaries (1880); and the first modern law school (1898). Between the period 1871-1908, the Sublime Porte (Istanbul) thus reached a new degree of organizational elaboration and articulation.
A tughra (Ottoman Turkish: طغراء; Ṭuğrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of an Ottoman sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign.<br/><br/> Very elaborate decorated versions were created for important documents that were also works of art in the tradition of Ottoman illumination.<br/><br/> The tughra was designed at the beginning of the sultan's reign and drawn by the court calligrapher on written documents. The first tughra belonged to Orhan I (1284–1359), the second ruler of the Ottoman Empire and it evolved until it reached the classical form in the tughra of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566).<br/><br/> Tughras served a purpose similar to the cartouche in ancient Egypt or the Royal Cypher of British monarchs. Every Ottoman sultan had his own individual tughra.
Abdulhamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, Turkish: İkinci Abdülhamit) (22 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) was the 99th caliph of Islam and the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was the last Sultan to exert effective control over the Ottoman Empire. He oversaw a period of decline in the power and extent of the Empire, ruling from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed on 27 April 1909. He was succeeded by Mehmed V. His deposition following the Young Turk Revolution was hailed by most Ottoman citizens, who welcomed the return to constitutional rule.<br/><br/>During his tenure, he was responsible for the modernization of the Ottoman Empire, and exerted maximum control over its affairs. Changes included: rationalization of the bureaucracy; the ambitious Hijaz Railway project; the creation of a modern system of personnel records (1896); establishment of an elaborate system for population registration and control over the press; systematization of officials salaries (1880); and the first modern law school (1898). Between the period 1871-1908, the Sublime Porte (Istanbul) thus reached a new degree of organizational elaboration and articulation.
A tughra (Ottoman Turkish: طغراء; Ṭuğrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of an Ottoman sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign.<br/><br/> Very elaborate decorated versions were created for important documents that were also works of art in the tradition of Ottoman illumination.<br/><br/> The tughra was designed at the beginning of the sultan's reign and drawn by the court calligrapher on written documents. The first tughra belonged to Orhan I (1284–1359), the second ruler of the Ottoman Empire and it evolved until it reached the classical form in the tughra of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566).<br/><br/> Tughras served a purpose similar to the cartouche in ancient Egypt or the Royal Cypher of British monarchs. Every Ottoman sultan had his own individual tughra.
A tughra has a characteristic form, two loops on the left side, three vertical lines in the middle, stacked writing on the bottom and two extensions to the right. Each of these elements has a specific meaning, and together they make up the form that is easily recognizable as a tughra.
The Ottoman imperial decree – firman – consists of the decree itself, frequently written in the chancellery script, Divani, with the signatures of the officials below and the signature of the ruling sultan in the form of an intricate tughra above.