My name is Sinem Erdoğan İşkorkutan
and I'm an art historian focusing on early modern Ottoman visual
and material culture
with a particular interest in Ottoman ceremonies and festivals
in the early modern period, which I studied during my Ph.D.,
And I have a book on one of the most extensive and famous
imperial and public celebrations that the Ottoman court held
in the early modern period, which happened in the year 1720
on the occasion of the circumcision of Royal Princes.
This festival lasted for three weeks and was celebrated day
and night, both within and outside the walled city of Istanbul.
For the first time in Ottoman historiography
and art historiography
I employ an interdisciplinary approach
by using methodological tools of history, art history
and performance studies to understand why and how the Ottoman Court
held this massive scale celebration at this historical juncture.
To answer this question,
I analyzed the festival through a holistic approach
by looking at interrelated aspects of the event. Related to that
I examined preparation, staging and representation of the festival
on the basis of a variety of sources, including thousands
of hitherto unknown archival
registers, narratives, as well as miniature paintings.
Ottomans were quite particular among the other Islamic states
in the sense that they had transformed royal
circumcisions into massive scale celebrations.
Then the court and the people living in the capital city,
including men, women, Muslims and non-Muslims, came
together, ate, drank and participated in the spectacles.
I see such kinds of celebrations as extraordinary occasions
in the early modern period, the so-called cultural performances,
when various aspects of the society were enacted and put on display.
Following this perspective, my extended analysis
shows that studying such kinds of events
not only tells us about forms of entertainment and leisure,
but also about some broader subjects related to early modern
Ottoman history, such as the projection of imperial
imagery, establishment and formation of social hierarchies,
networks of patronage, as well as material
visual, culinary culture and the history of performance.
So this festival lasted
for only three weeks in the year 1720 in Istanbul.
However, my study demonstrates that its repercussions
were far more extended than the event itself.