I ki hezar aferin bon nidge Sultan olur
 Dervishes Ceremonies in Constantinople Described by Western Travellers and Painters between Sixteenth and Eighteenth Century

Giovanni De Zorzi

doi:10.30687/annor/2385-3042/2019/01/004

Abstract

Between the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century many Europeans visited Constantinople, the new Ottoman capital, and wrote reports that took various aspects of its cultural and musical life into consideration. Among the recurring elements of such reports, we note the description of Dervishes and their ceremonies, often accompanied by engravings and very rarely by musical transcriptions. Through time, such a description became a topic (and a stereotype) both in literature and in fine arts. My article retraces and comments descriptions of Dervish ceremonies, in a chronological order, by Western travellers and scholars between sixteenth and eighteenth century, between the so-called Age of Exploration and Modernity.

Highlights

Between the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century many Europeans visited Constantinople, the new Ottoman capital, and wrote reports that took into consideration various aspects of its cultural and musical life
The whole inclusions and exclusions process of what was noted and reported in Constantinople by Western travellers would be capable of raising many questions, yet, it is worth saying that, at the time, almost every Sufi brotherhood of the vast Ottoman world had a centre in the capital:1 according to Ottoman historian Evliyâ Çelebi (1611-1684), in his time in Constantinople there were five hundreds and seventy seven tekkes and six thousands zaviyas of dervishes
For this reason meeting a dervish in the street must have been a rather common experience for Western travellers. If such a curiosity for these ‘strange’ figures, was, after all, rather normal, I am wondering why did Ottomans think that European visitors would have enjoyed such dervish ceremonies or been impressed by it? What the mevlevî ceremonies was likely to have represented for Ottoman hosts? Was it a ‘performance’ of which they were especially proud? And for their part, why were Europeans almost invariably fascinated? What did they see in such rituals, aside from mere picturesque element?

Summary

Introduction

Between the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century many Europeans visited Constantinople, the new Ottoman capital, and wrote reports that took into consideration various aspects of its cultural and musical life. At a certain point of their sojourn in Constantinople, ambassadors, aristocrats, wealthy merchants, and other worthy travellers invariably would be taken, or at least directed, to the lodge of the famous mevlevî dervishes, better known as ‘Whirling Dervishes’, situated in Pera, the European part of town Upon their return at home, the observers published books containing, amidst many other subjects, the description of such Dervish rituals, often illustrated by engravings and more rarely by musical transcriptions: through time, these ceremonies became a topic (and a stereotype) both in literature and in fine arts.

Two Western Residents in Town

The following words appear in a small typeface under the musical score

10 On Some Jean Baptiste Vanmour Works

14 Final Remarks