Tulips of Ottoman





In the tours I have conducted for years, we often see tulips very often when we visit mosques. Tourists coming to Istanbul in April also see that everywhere is covered with tulips. Even in April, a huge carpet-sized tulip is planted in Sultanahmet Square. When tourists see these tulips during our tours, they jokingly say that tulips are the flower of Holland. And we laugh together. Although the Turks say that they invented the tulip, tourists from many parts of the world think that the origin of the tulip is Holland. Now I will tell you the real story of the tulip.

The flower of the Ottoman Tulip is almond-shaped and the leaves are lance-shaped and the tips are thin and pointed like an awl. T. Baytop stated that it was Şeyhülislam Abu Suud Efendi who obtained the first improved tulip variety and that hundreds of tulip varieties were cultivated over time, but with the end of the Tulip Period (1730), Istanbul, that is, the Ottoman Tulip gradually disappeared.


Tulip maintained its popularity not only during the Ottoman Regression period but also in all periods of the Ottoman Empire. The tulip, which came to Anatolia with the Turks, has had a completely different place for the Turks since the Seljuk period. The reason why the tulip stands out from other flowers and appeals to the Turkish soul in a different way is quite interesting. Both its shape and its name made it different. 


  The Turks and especially the Ottomans tried to beautify the environment they lived in. For this purpose, special promenades were built and Istanbul and other big cities were equipped with parks and gardens. They cultivated flowers such as tulips, roses, carnations and carnations as the indispensable flowers of Istanbul gardens. One of the reasons why the tulip was so accepted by the Ottomans is that when it is written in Arabic letters (ﻻ ﻟﻪ), it covers all the letters in the word Allah (ﷲ). According to the "ebced" method, which is based on the calculation of the numbers corresponding to the letters, the fact that the word "Allah" and the word "tulip" correspond to the same number has aroused a deep excitement in the poets based on the idea that the "creator" is manifested in his creatures.   If the tulip is written in Arabic letters and read backwards ( ل ﻫﻼ ) = Crescent = Moon, the Crescent or Moon is the emblem of the Ottoman Empire.


 The tulip bulbs that went to Europe, especially to the Netherlands, became a rival to the Ottoman Empire by obtaining new species through hybridisation, and even surpassed the tulip cultivation in the Ottoman Empire. From now on, tulips started to be brought to the Ottoman Empire from the Netherlands. 


The reason why the tulip has a different value for the Turks, apart from its appeal to the eye, is mostly related to the period in which it was grown. In addition to the palace and the palace circle, this flower, which was of interest to the common people, became a "fashion" in the true sense of the word. At the same time, this flower, whose value gradually increased and whose varieties were multiplied, became a commercial commodity. This flower, which also mirrored Ottoman daily life, was the subject of poems, edicts and stories. We have understood why the Ottomans loved this flower by adopting it so much with its characteristics. Nevertheless, it is one of the rare events in history that a flower gains such importance that it gives the name of a return. This also reveals the importance the Ottomans attached to "beauty" and art.

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