In late July 1720, Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703–30) and his high-ranking officials decided to host a circumcision festival in Istanbul that would start in mid-September and continue for three weeks. As noted in the narrative sources, among various other preparations that the officials had to take care of, the most urgent task was to construct large and small naḫıls (lit. “date palms”), consisting of wooden poles decorated with wax, fruit, flowers; and giant model candy gardens (sing. bāġçe-i şeker). Despite this concern, the sources do not provide substantial information regarding the construction of these objects. Interestingly, this lack of information is also evident in narrative sources related to previous imperial celebrations. By analyzing unknown archival documents and considering the textual and pictorial sources for the 1720 festival, this essay intends to elucidate the design and construction process of the splendid naḫıls and candy gardens, which were indispensable material objects in Ottoman imperial festivals.
Erdoğan İşkorkutan, Sinem. "Naḫıls and Candy Gardens in the 1720 Ottoman Imperial Festival", Muqarnas No 37, 1 (2020): 179-207.
29 pp.
