An Illustrated Turkish Copy of Niẓāmī’s Khamsa in the Nuri Arlasez Collection of the Süleymaniye Library

Abstract

This study examines an illustrated Turkish copy of Niẓāmī’s Khamsa, recorded under the title “İskendernâme Tercümesi (Translation of the Book of Alexander)” with the number 38 in the Nuri Arlasez Collection of the Süleymaniye Library. The Khamsa of Niẓāmī of Ganja, composed in the twefth century and consisting of Makhzan al-Asrār, Khusraw u Shīrīn, Laylā u Majnūn, Haft Paykar, and Iskandarnāme, holds a significant place not only in Islamic and Turkish literature but also in Ottoman visual culture. The manuscript under study includes three of the five masnavis-excluding Makhzan al-Asrār and Laylā u Majnūn- and is decorated with a total of twenty-five paintings. The study first addresses the codicological features and the illumination program of the manuscript, and subsequently evaluates the stories in the Khamsa within the framework of the text–image relationship. The scenes chosen for illustration from the Iskandarnāme, Khusraw u Shīrīn, and Haft Paykar sections visualize themes of the powerful ruler image, love and loyalty, as well as didactic narratives. Although undated, the miniatures of this manuscript bear striking stylistic similarities to the depictions in the Hamse-i ʿAtāʾī (Topkapı Palace Library, R. 846), the Surnāme-i Vehbī (Topkapı Palace Library, A. 3594), and another copy of the Hamse-i ʿAtāʾī preserved at the Free Library of Philadelphia (O. 97). The close stylistic affinity between the miniatures of Niẓāmī’s Khamsa and those of these manuscripts suggests that this book was likewise produced in the first half of the 18th century, either by the court painter Nakḳāş İbrāhīm or by an artist working in his style at the Ottoman imperial atelier. In line with the parallels established with the Hamse-i ʿAtāʾī (R. 846), the Surnāme-i Vehbī (A. 3594), and the Hamse-i ʿAtāʾī at the Free Library of Philadelphia, it is further considered that this manuscript may have been produced within the circle of Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha. In this respect, the work constitutes an important example with regard to the book culture of the Ottoman elite, their intellectual milieus, and the continuity of the illustrated manuscript tradition.

This article is an expanded version of the paper presented at the “Ottoman Book Arts and Illustrated Manuscripts: New Examples Symposium”, organised by the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Istanbul on 21 November 2024.

No artificial intelligence-based tools or applications were used in the preparation of this study. All content has been produced by myself in accordance with scientific research methods and academic ethical principles.

The study does not require ethics committee approval, and the data used were obtained through a literature review / published sources. It is declared that scientific and ethical principles were followed during the preparation of the study and that all referenced works are listed in the bibliography.

arisdergisi@akmb.gov.tr

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC).

TThe journal is indexed in TR Dizin, ERIH PLUS and J-GATE INDEXING.

There is no potential conflict of interest in this study.

I would like to thank Acting Library Director Salih Kahriman of the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, under the Istanbul Regional Directorate of the Turkish Institution of Manuscripts, for granting permission to use the folios containing the binding, illumination, and miniatures of item No. 38 from the Nuri Arlasez Collection for publication.