The ''Shahnama-yi Al-i Osman'' (or ''Shahnameh-ye Al-e Osman''; "Book of Kings of the

House of Osman The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...

") is a 1558 Ottoman work of

universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

and Islamic history written in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. It was written in five volumes by Fethullah Arif (died ), an Ottoman writer and court eulogist, for his patron

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

(1520–1566). Only three volumes are extant. The literary and to a lesser extent visual agenda of Arif's work imitated

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

's classic portrayal of

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

legendary history as shown in his ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'' ("Book of Kings")," as is clear from the title. Indeed, Arif explicitly showed his model—Ferdowsi's work—by selecting the title ''Shahnama-yi Al-i Osman''. The calligraphers of the work hailed from

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

and

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

and were experts in the ''

Nastaliq ''Nastaliq'' (; ; ), also Romanization of Persian, romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'' or ''Nastaleeq'' (), is one of the main book hand, calligraphic hands used to write Arabic script and is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Persi ...

'' script. * The first book, ''Anbiyanama'' ("The Book of Prophets"), starts with

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

and

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, continues with various

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

prophets and significant individuals from Iranian mythology (such as king Kayumars,

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, and notably

Jamshid Jamshid () (, ''Jamshēd''; Middle- and New Persian: جم, ''Jam''), also known as ''Yima'' (Avestan: 𐬫𐬌𐬨𐬀 ''Yima''; Persian/Pashto: یما ''Yama''), is the fourth Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to ' ...

), and concludes with the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

ascending to heaven. It has 48 text folios and 10 paintings, and it was finished in the first few days of March 1558. * The second and third volumes, which are lost, were likely intended to concentrate on Muhammad and the development of Islam as well as the history of previous Turkish kings, such as the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

. * ''Osmannama'' ("The Book of Osman"), the fourth unfinished chapter that was supposed to contain a history of the

Ottoman dynasty The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...

prior to Suleiman, ends in 1402. It covers nearly a century of Ottoman history with 205 folios and 34 paintings. * The longest of the three volumes that are still in existence is the fifth, also known as the ''

Süleymanname The ''Süleymannâme'' (or ''Sulaiman-nama''; lit. "Book of Suleiman") is an illustration of Suleiman the Magnificent's life and achievements. In 65 scenes the miniature paintings are decorated with gold, depicting battles, receptions, hunts and ...

''. It was completed in late June or early July 1558, has 617 folios, 69 paintings, four of which are double-page spreads, and is composed of 60,000 couplets.

References

Sources

* * * * {{cite book , last1=Tanındı , first1=Zeren , editor1-last=Melville , editor1-first=Charles , editor2-last=van den Berg , editor2-first=Gabrielle , title=Shahnama Studies II: The Reception of Firdausi's ''Shahnama'' , date=2011 , publisher=Brill , chapter=The Illustration of the ''Shahnama'' and the Art of the Book in Ottoman Turkey 16th-century Persian books Chronicles containing universal histories in Persian Cultural depictions of Suleiman the Magnificent 16th-century books Ottoman literature Ottoman art Persian literature Islamic illuminated manuscripts