Surname-i Hümayun

The Surnames recount the festivities in order of when the events took place, which includes processions, grand entrances of the Sultan, feasts, entertainers, musicians, dancers, gift giving, firework displays, circumcision and wedding ceremonies.

Colourful paintings that filled the pages of the album demonstrated the extravagance of the processions and the high costs.

The Ottoman Sultans also wanted the memory of their son's circumcisions or daughters weddings to live on, beyond the event itself.

The processions also involved many factions of society taking part and in effect, helped create a sense of unity or community.

[2] The entire festival and in the Surname itself, conveyed a message that state mechanisms created order in a naturally chaotic world.

They reported not just on current state of affairs in the Ottoman Empire, but the great events and spectacles.

Artisan processions were not introduced into these festivals until 1582 and with the incorporation of an elaborate guild structure emerging in the seventeenth century, it became even more entrenched.

There were also the market inspectors (muhtesibs) who displayed themselves by inspecting the crowd, shopkeepers and artisans, as they would do on a regular basis.

Two thousand students of lower religious studies would come from the countryside and participated mainly to show the Sultan the poverty they were living in.

Depiction of musicians and dancers entertaining the crowd, found in the Surname , the manuscript of 1720.
Acrobats during celebrations
Use of fireworks during the celebrations
Ships of parade
During the various festivals, the Ottoman Sultan would throw gold coins into the crowd as a sign of the great wealth of the imperial household.
The various guilds found in the Ottoman take part in the festivals, often through parades and processions.