DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29463#0197
were painted red and green in spirals; later on they were sometimes
carved, gilded, and surmounted with balls of copper gilt, as the tughs
usually were. The ropes were made of strands of various colors. The
roof sometimes had zigzag motifs, while all around it was a kind of
flounce with a checkered motif in red and green. The fence was also
decorated and high enough to conceal everything from the eyes of
the uninvited. In front of an Otag-i Humayun seven sultan's tughs
were planted, while at the entrance in the fence, which was open but
overlapped, a special watchtower was erected.
The second rank of tent was that of the grand vizier, although,
apart from the great round tent of the sultan, his were almost of the
same class. Here we have adequate information from Marsigli, who
described in detail the camp of the grand vizier Kara Mustafa at
Vienna in 1683—a description that can be compared with the report
by King Sobieski, mentioned above, as well as with actual specimens
from Vienna, or at least those bound to it by tradition. We also have
at our disposal some valuable drawings made by the Polish court
painter Martin Altomonte, who saw the pitched Vienna tents at the
royal residence of Jaworow, where the king gave special receptions
for magnates and diplomats.^ The grand vizier's camp consisted of
various tents for different functions as well as for various detach-
ments of the enormous Ottoman army. According to King Sobieski's
letter, it was like Warsaw or Lvov within the old city walls, although
the number of 100,000 tents, mentioned by him, is much exagger-
ated. Most valuable to research are the plans of seventeenth century
Turkish camps presented by Marsigli.^
After the grand viziers' came the tents of pashas of lower rank and
those of various palace dignitaries. A great number of simple tents,
usually round, domed, and fixed with one pole and several ropes,
served for military units of sipahis, Janissaries, and others. Separate
tents belonged to artisans and to merchants. Different again were
the tents used for kitchens, for storing food and ammunition, for
prayer, and finally for animals, such as horses, oxen, or camels. A
tent for executions, on one pole and without walls—to give good
visibility of the cruel scene to onlookers and thereby to promote
discipline—was pitched in front of the high commander's tent.
In these camps of tents, the traditional life of the Turks, reaching
back to nomadic times, was recreated and continued up to our own
century.
173
carved, gilded, and surmounted with balls of copper gilt, as the tughs
usually were. The ropes were made of strands of various colors. The
roof sometimes had zigzag motifs, while all around it was a kind of
flounce with a checkered motif in red and green. The fence was also
decorated and high enough to conceal everything from the eyes of
the uninvited. In front of an Otag-i Humayun seven sultan's tughs
were planted, while at the entrance in the fence, which was open but
overlapped, a special watchtower was erected.
The second rank of tent was that of the grand vizier, although,
apart from the great round tent of the sultan, his were almost of the
same class. Here we have adequate information from Marsigli, who
described in detail the camp of the grand vizier Kara Mustafa at
Vienna in 1683—a description that can be compared with the report
by King Sobieski, mentioned above, as well as with actual specimens
from Vienna, or at least those bound to it by tradition. We also have
at our disposal some valuable drawings made by the Polish court
painter Martin Altomonte, who saw the pitched Vienna tents at the
royal residence of Jaworow, where the king gave special receptions
for magnates and diplomats.^ The grand vizier's camp consisted of
various tents for different functions as well as for various detach-
ments of the enormous Ottoman army. According to King Sobieski's
letter, it was like Warsaw or Lvov within the old city walls, although
the number of 100,000 tents, mentioned by him, is much exagger-
ated. Most valuable to research are the plans of seventeenth century
Turkish camps presented by Marsigli.^
After the grand viziers' came the tents of pashas of lower rank and
those of various palace dignitaries. A great number of simple tents,
usually round, domed, and fixed with one pole and several ropes,
served for military units of sipahis, Janissaries, and others. Separate
tents belonged to artisans and to merchants. Different again were
the tents used for kitchens, for storing food and ammunition, for
prayer, and finally for animals, such as horses, oxen, or camels. A
tent for executions, on one pole and without walls—to give good
visibility of the cruel scene to onlookers and thereby to promote
discipline—was pitched in front of the high commander's tent.
In these camps of tents, the traditional life of the Turks, reaching
back to nomadic times, was recreated and continued up to our own
century.
173