Bursa: Silk Road Hub

Major hub on the Silk Routes and early capital of the House of Ottoman, Bursa is the site of Ulu Cami, Yesil Camii (Green Mosque), and the Green Tomb. 

Ulu Cami exhibits enormous decorations of “mirror calligraphy.” Calligraphic designs were also woven into ceremonial robes worn by Sultans and Pashas. These in turn became fashionable among European elites, and from there found there way into European paintings, where we can see “Pseudo Arabic” decorating gowns, paintings, and decorative objects of Christian Europe. The last image below is a a ciborium with Pseudo Arabic around the central band. Source: Wikipedia Creative Commons.

 

We went shopping in a the Koza Han, the Silk Bazaar that was  built by Sultan Bayazit II (d. 1512) as a way to provide income to fund his soup kitchen in İstanbul. This was a common  practice before and during the Ottoman period (and before, with wealthy patrons establishing charitable foundations to provide food and lodging to those in need, as well as hospitals and schools--all of which could be funded by trading activities that would be established by the same patron. The Koza Han still operates, with many charming shops selling silk clothing and scarves.

The Yesil Mosque (Green Mosque) was built by Mehmed I. At this time Bursa was the capital of what would become the Ottoman Empire after Constantinople was conquered in 1453. It is an early example of how Sultans built mosques and associated charitable foundations to establish their prestige and legitimacy. It also shows the virtuosity of architectural design and decoration that  was inherited from Seljuk and Mamluk Turks.

We visited the Karagoz Puppet Museum and saw both the puppets on display and a puppet show that was attended by children as well as ourselves. This ancient tradition had died out almost entirely until it was revived by the government. The puppets are ethnic and walk-of-life stereotypes that suggest the ethnic diversity of the empire: Circassians, Italians, Persians, etc. an opium addict, etc. Scenes from everyday life, local songs and dances, slapstick jokes, pratfalls, and jokes are a mainstay of the Karagoz puppet style. In keeping with the improvisatory style of the form, the puppeteer at the performance we attended incorporated some dialogue in English, which made us laugh.

It was easy to hear the repeated words, the alliterations and rhymes. The puppeteer made us laugh not only with the slapstick physical humor but with the funny voices, differentiated with great skill and humorous expression. A high point of the show for the children was the iconic fart joke. Nothing ever changes!

I thought of the many ethnicities of the Karagoz puppets when reading the chapter “Bursa at the Crossroads: Iranian Silk, European Competition and the Local Economy” from Making a Living in the Ottoman Lands, 1480 to 1820 by Suraiya Faroqhi. This reading describes, among other things, the importance of slave labor in silk production. Slaves wee brought from the Balkans and from Russia and trained. Eventually some were manumitted or were allowed to buy their freedom.