Page 290 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

Appendix 3

Society of Painters and Bookbinders

The dates of the earliest payroll registers of the Ehl-i Hiref coincide from Circassia; and one each from Albania (Arnavud), Moldavia,
with those of the reign of Süleyman. The Ehl-i Hiref documents and Rumelia. The Aceman corps included ten masters from Ta-
were drawn four times a year and listed the members in ranking or- briz and one apprentice from Isfahan.
der, giving their names and daily wages in akçes. A number of these The mücellidan, headed by Mehmed b. Ahmed, had four Ru-
registers recording the nakka§an and the mücellidan have been melian apprentices and one Austrian.
published 1 together with documents related to gifts presented from 4. Document dated Rebiulevvel, Rebiülahir, and Cumadeyn 965 5
the artists to the sultan and special bonuses awarded by the sultan (22 December 1557-20 March 1558): lists thirty-four nakka§an
to the artists. The information presented in this appendix is a compi- and ten mücellidan.
lation of the registers dated between 1526 and 1566 together with The nakka§an register consisted of only the Rumiyan corps,
related documents. headed by Mehmed §ah. It included twenty-six masters and ten
The following is a brief description of these payroll registers. apprentices of which six were from Bosnia; two from Albania,
1. Undated register drawn before 1526: 2 lists forty-one members of Hungary (Macar), and Rumelia; and one each from Austria, Cir-
the Cemaat-i Nakka§an and nine members of the Cemaat-i cassia, Georgia (Gürci), and Moldavia. It is possible that this is a
Mücellidan. partial listing of the society and the Aceman section was lost.
The nakka§an were divided into twenty-nine masters and The mücellidan document, headed by the same Mehmed b.
twelve apprentices, headed by §ahkulu, called ressam. Included Ahmed, contained only the names of the masters, with two from
in it are three men from Tabriz, two called Rumi, suggesting that Rumelia and one from Bosnia.
they came from Rumelia, or the western provinces of the empire; 5. Register drawn between Muharrem 965 and Muharrem 966 6 (24
and one each from Circassia (Çerkes) and Moldavia (Bugdan). October 1557-14 October 1558): included thirty-nine nakkas,an
The mücellidan included six masters and three apprentices, and ten mücellidan.
headed by Alaeddin-i Kullei. Two of the men are listed as being The nakka§an were once again divided into Rumiyan and Ace-
Circassians.
man corps. The former, headed by Kara Memi, consisted of
2. Document dated Rebiülahir 932* (15 January-12 February twenty masters and six apprentices, five of whom came from
1526): lists the same forty-one nakka§an and eight of the mücel- Bosnia and one each from Albania, Georgia, Moldavia, and Ru-
lidan, giving information on their backgrounds and dates of entry melia. The latter had seven masters with six apprentices; five of
into the society. them were from Tabriz, one each from Europe (Freng), Hungary,
Among the masters in the nakka§hane were three men (in- and Isfahan.
cluding §ahkulu) who were exiled from Tabriz, went to Amasya, The mücellidan, still headed by Mehmed b. Ahmed, included
and then entered the imperial society in Istanbul; two others the same two men from Rumelia and one Bosnian.
have appended to their names the word "Tebrizi," indicating that 6. Document drawn in Muharrem, Safer, and Rebiulevvel 974 7 (19
they too came from that city. Another "Tebrizi" master is defi- July-15 October 1566): listed thirty-eight nakka§an and ten
nitely recorded as having originated from "Acem," that is, Azer- mücellidan.
baijan or Iran; and finally there are four men who are mentioned The nakka§an in the Rumiyan corps, headed by Mehmed
as being the sons of "Acem" masters. Four others are listed as Sinan, consisted of twenty-two masters with ten apprentices. Six
being the sons of former imperial painters with no indication of originated from Bosnia and one each from Albania, Georgia,
their origin; one was the son of the imperial gatekeeper; six were Hungary, Moldavia, and Rumelia. Among the six Aceman mem-
former slaves, purchased or given as gifts; seven others were gifts bers were four masters from Tabriz and one European.
of various pages and officials; and three were assigned to the The mücellidan continued to be headed by Mehmed b. Ahmed
Edirne Palace. and contained the same men listed in 1557-1558.
In addition to the ten members who are recorded as having 8
come from Iran or being the sons of Iranians, the register con- The next document is dated Receb, §aban, and Ramazan 1005 (2
tains two Circassians, an Albanian, and a Moldavian. Another March-29 May 1596) and listed 124 nakka§an equally divided into
breakdown indicates that nine members were recorded during sixty-two masters and sixty-two apprentices without being separated
the reign of Bayezid II, thirteen under Selim I, and nine entered into Rumiyan and Aceman corps. Almost all of the artists appear to
the studio under Süleyman. The dates of entry of the others are be of local origin, with the exception of one man each from Albania,
not given. One of the apprentices in the mücellidan group, Bosnia, Europe, and Georgia. One of the apprentices by the name of
Cafer-i Çerkes, was omitted from this list. It is either an oversight Toma Manol must have been a foreigner, but his country of origin
or this man was no longer employed in 1526. was not given. Two masters were listed as being from Edirne and
Abdullah, sernakka§an;
3. Register dated Muharrem, Safer, and Rebiulevvel 952 4 (15 Bursa. The society was headed by Lutfi and Yahya Abdullah, be-
low
Cafer
Abdullah, kethüda,
are
him
March-11 June 1545): includes fifty-nine nakka§an and twelve serboluk.
mücellidan. The mücellidan now had thirty-eight members, of whom twenty-
The nakka§an were divided into two corps: the Bolük-i Rumi- three were masters. The group was headed by Süleyman b.
yan, headed by §ahkulu-i Bagdadi, consisted of twenty-four mas- Mehmed, the son of the former chief, and includes a kethüda,
ters with twenty apprentices; and the Bolük-i Aceman had Hürrem-i Rum.
eleven masters with four apprentices. The Rumiyan corps include The register that followed, dated Muharrem, Safer, Rebiulevvel
four men from Bosnia (Bosna); three from Austria (Nemçe); two
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