A tughra (; ) is a

calligraphic Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

monogram, seal or

signature A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, Handwriting, handwritt ...

of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the

tamgha A tamga or tamgha (from ) was an abstract Seal (emblem), seal or brand used by Eurasian nomads initially as a livestock branding, and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was used as a livestock branding for a particular tribe, clan or fam ...

, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign. Very elaborate decorated versions were created for important documents that were also works of art in the tradition of Ottoman illumination, such as the example of

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 ...

in the gallery below. The tughra was designed at the beginning of the sultan's reign and drawn by the court calligrapher or '' nişancı'' on written documents. The first tughra examples are from the 14th century. Tughras served a purpose similar to the cartouche in ancient Egypt or the

Royal Cypher In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country's reigning Monarch, sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a Crown (heral ...

of British monarchs. Every Ottoman sultan had his own individual tughra.

Etymology

There are two main schools of thought on the origins of the word tughra. The first sees it derived from a Turkic secretarial emblem called ''tughragh'', and the second as an effort by Persian scribes to shape the name of the ruler into a bow-like element called ''turgha''/''turghay'', subsequently mispronounced as tughra. The primary argument for the first school is a remark by Mahmud al-Kashgari in his '' Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk'':

Visual elements of a tughra

The 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 name of the sultan is written out in the bottom section, called a ''sere''. Depending on the period, this name can be as simple as

Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...

, son of Osman, in the first tughra in 1326. In later periods honorifics and prayers are also added to the name of the tughra holder and his father. The loops to the left of the tughra are called ''beyze'', from Arabic meaning ''egg''. Some interpretations of tughra design claim that the beyzes are supposed to symbolize the two seas the sultans held sway over: the outer larger loop signifying the Mediterranean and the inner, smaller loop signifying the Black Sea. The vertical lines on the top of the tughra are called ''tuğ'', or flagstaff. The three tugs signify independence. The S-shaped lines crossing the tugs are called ''zülfe'' and they, together with the tops of the tugs that also look to the right, signify that the winds blow from the east to the west, the traditional movement of the Ottomans. The lines to the right of the tughra are called ''hançer'' and signify a sword, symbol of power and might.

Tughras of the Ottoman sultans

File:THES-Heptapyrgion inscription.jpg, Tughra of Murad II at the Heptapyrgion in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

(1431) File:Estambul20100627P1090259.JPG, The Tughra at Dolmabahçe Palace. File:Eyüp_Sultan_Mosque_-_Door_-_Ottoman_language.jpg File:İstanbul-Topkapı_palace._-_panoramio.jpg File:20131204_Istanbul_224.jpg File:20131204_Istanbul_029.jpg File:Tughra Suleiman.jpg, Decorated tughra of Süleyman the Magnificent (1520) File:Tughra of Selim III.JPG, Tughra of Selim III (1789) File:Berat_za_imam_vo_Sultan_Mehmed_dzamija_vo_Ohrid.jpg File:Цакафнаме_за_Охризаде_1491.jpg File:5_Piastres_1327_Mehmed_V_(obv)-8475.jpg File:Gate of Felicity Topkapi Istanbul 2007 detail 003.jpg, Tughra on the Gate of Felicity at Topkapı Palace File:EmirganMosque_(3).jpg File:Port Gate tughra.jpg, Tughra above Port Gate in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Other tughras

Although the tughra is largely identified with the Ottoman Sultans, they have also sometimes been used in other states, such as the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

Safavid Empire The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

, the

Crimean khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

, the

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; ...

. Later, tughras were used among the

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

of Tartary. The

Mughal Emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

s are also known to have used calligraphic symbols, alongside the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, the Mughal "Tughra" was circular in shape with three points at its tip, beside the calligraphic signature of the emperor. Afghan currency notes from 1919 to 1936 had the tughra present as well. Pakistan had the tughra on its coins from 1947 till 1974; both of these are present in the State Bank Museum in Karachi. The nawab of Bahawalpur and the Nizam of Hyderabad had tugras on their coinage as well. File:Uzun hasan tughra.png, Tughra of Uzun Hasan File:Tughra (signature) of Sahib Giray.png, Tughra of Sahib I Giray File:Naser al-Din Shah stamp.jpg, Tughra of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar File:Mogultughra.jpg, The official imperial "tughra" of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

in red ink, and in the lower right, there is the tughra of Shah Alam II. File:YNK1033485 Pakistan-1-pice-1957.jpg, Tughra of

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

on a 1 pice coin, 1957 File:Bahawalpur pattren coin.jpg, Tughra of Nawab of Bahawalpur on a Bahawalpur (princely state) coin File:Tughra of Şahin Giray (khan).png, Tughra of Şahin Giray File:Signature of Khass Murad.png, Tughra of Hass Murad Pasha File:Tughra Abbas II.jpg, Tughra of Abbas II File:Delhi tughra.jpg, The tughra of Muhammad bin Tughluq File:Tughra Khan Murad Giray.jpg, Tughra of Khan Murad Giray File:Tughra of Mohammad Zahir Shah.svg, Tughra of Mohammad Zahir Shah of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Post-imperial interpretations

There are modern

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

artists that use the characteristic tughra form today. Examples are the tughras of Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and

Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...

Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

, created by artist Vladimir Popov.

References

External links

*
Ottoman Sultan Tughras
(archived) {{Authority control Islamic calligraphy Culture of the Ottoman Empire Monograms Signature Turkish words and phrases