Conquest of Santiermu on Malta, from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman

Object Information

Title:: Conquest of Santiermu on Malta, from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman

Calligrapher and production place:: Qasim al-Husayni al-'Aridi of Qazvin
Istanbul

Description:: Conquest of Santiermu (Fort St Elmo) on Malta in 1565, from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman. This scene shows the Ottoman army, cannons, and fleet at the capture of Santiermu (Fort St Elmo) in June 1565, in advance of the unsuccessful siege of Malta against the Knights Hospitaller. The Ottoman court historian (sahnameci) Sayyid Luqman composed this versified account of Süleyman the Magnificent's last seven years of life, describing events in the capital Istanbul, the sultan's military campaigns in the Balkans, Austria, Hungary, on Malta, and on Chios, and concluding with the sultan's death and funeral in 1566. Luqman was continuing the Ottoman dynastic chronicles established by his two immediate predecessors: Eflatun and before him the renowned court historian `Arif. `Arif composed the multi-volume Shahnama-yi Al-i Osman (Book of Kings of the House of Osman): Luqman’s work (CBL T 413) carefully follows this work’s form in language and general layout. `Arif also worked on two other important accounts of the Ottoman sultan: Mujmal al-Tumar (imperial scroll, 1584) and Hüner-nama (begun 1577), which were completed by his two court successors. Detached folio, ink, pigments and gold on paper, Persian verses with full-page painting (on recto), from the History of Sultan Süleyman by Sayyid Luqman, account of the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent in the years 1559-1566, commissioned for Ottoman Sultan Murad III, Istanbul, Turkey, 1579.

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