Blog Posts

  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, or an Ottoman Traveler in the New World, 1675-1683

    In the late seventeenth century, an Ottoman traveler, Ilyas (Ilyas ibn Hanna al-Mawsuli), witnessed “a large nocturnal vampire” in Panama’s coast town named Portobelo. According to the traveler, the vampire “who fastens upon his victim while asleep and bleeds him by sucking his blood,” also had wings which he used “simultaneously to fan the victim…

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  • The 1675 Imperial Festival and Firework Makers in an Ottoman Register

    The 1675 Imperial Festival and Firework Makers in an Ottoman Register

    This article offers a micro-level examination of the firework makers in the 1675 imperial festival which took place in Edirne during the reign of Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). It presents a critical approach to the festival, focusing on the firework displays. This study examines overlooked dimensions of the firework displays, such as daily wages and…

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  • Space and Time in Ottoman Dynastic Celebration of 1675

    My new article, “Space and Time in Ottoman Dynastic Celebration of 1675”, is now published in Near East Historical Review (11/4, October, 2021, pp. 1 – 17). Here is the link that goes to the page on the journal’s website: https://nehrreview.com/?mod=makale_tr_ozet&makale_id=54897 You can also reach the article directly from this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.29228/nehrreview.54897 This article offers a…

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