This long journey started during the spring term of the academic year 2009, at the beautiful museum building of Boğaziçi University History Department. While frequenting the wonderful seminar on the sources for the study of history of art and architecture taught by Çiğdem Kafescioğlu, who then became my mentor and advisor, I was mesmerized with the beautiful book paintings of the 1720 imperial circumcision festival. My interest in these book paintings and the festival resulted in a term paper, which later became the basis of my PhD dissertation and later transformed into this study. Making a research in a well-studied and almost iconic topic, however, was a very challenging task as during the early phases of the project, the present author had to cope with many obstacles including scholarly prejudices and very harsh criticisms. With the support of the individuals and several institutions mentioned below, I was able to go after my passion and continue my research. I cannot literally express my debt of gratitude and thanks to those people and institutions for their invaluable help at different times of the project. Needless to say, any mistakes or shortcomings, if you would encounter in this study, are my own.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Çiğdem Kafescioğlu for her invaluable support and encouragement through the years. Her academic guidance and input reshaped various parts of this study and my academic vision in general. I am also heartily thankful to her for providing me with all possible resources and a very flexible schedule while working first as an assistant and then as a postdoctoral researcher at her research projects. Derin Terzioğlu guided my academic life since 2005–2006. Her lectures and comments structured my way of thinking. I am indebted to her for teaching me over the years how to think critically and to have doubts about every information. Arzu Öztürkmen introduced me to the marvels of the folklore studies and performance studies, which not only changed my perception toward the sources but also restructured my personal life in many ways. More importantly, with her care and love she truly saved me during the most difficult days of my academic life. Lale Uluç, over the years, has also became a mentor to me. Whenever I needed, she offered her unconditional help, resources, and vast knowledge. During my research on the illustrated manuscripts, she spent days and hours discussing with me matters related to their production processes and codicology. Also, my thanks to Tülay Artan and Selim Karahasanoğlu for the invaluable feedback I received during the phase of writing my dissertation on the same topic.
My thanks to Brill for this great opportunity and to the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and very constructive comments. I heartily
In the course of researching and re-writing, I was privileged to receive the input of many people at archives, libraries, and conferences, and the support of several institutions. Between January 2018–January 2020, the Boğaziçi University Scientific Research Fund, with the project number 13780, supported my extended research on some of the archival registers. I was honored to have received The Istanbul Research Institute Postdoctoral Research and Writing Grant 2019 during the process of re-writing certain parts of my manuscript. My very special thanks to the Advisory Board Members and the staff at The Istanbul Research Institute Library. I also owe debt of gratitude to Gülru Tanman, Emir Alışık, and Mehmet Kentel for their support, help, and goodwill during the re-writing period. The copyright costs of the images were also funded through the generous grant of The Istanbul Research Institute.
I am thankful to the Presidency of the Turkish Republic, the Directorate of National Palaces for their courtesy and permission to publish the beautiful book paintings used in this study. The, then, deputy Ayşe Erdoğdu, and the curators Merve Çakır and Zeynep Atbaş greatly facilitated my research at the Topkapı Palace Manuscript Library and at the Archives. I also would like to thank Esra Müyesseroğlu for her assistance during the process of obtaining the copyright of images.
My special thanks to the staff working at different sections of the Boğaziçi University Library, especially to Kamber Yılmaz from the Inter Library Loan section, who provided me with books and articles all over the world. Finally, I am thankful to the personnel working at the Presidency of the Turkish Republic State Archives for facilitating my research on the archival documents and for their help in creating the digitized versions.
I also greatly benefited from the feedback of the audience members and participants of several conferences and lectures, and my special thanks are due to Ahmet Ersoy, Mabi Angar, Norbert Naussbaum, Leslie Peirce, Jane Hathaway, Suraiya Faroqhi, Özgen Felek, and Banu Mahir for their thoughtful questions and comments. Also, I owe thanks to Prof. Murat Güvenç, Murat Tülek, and Funda Dönmez Ferhanoğlu from Kadir Has University Istanbul Studies
Over the years, when I was constantly working on this project my friends also provided me with the care and support. I am heartily thankful to Fatma Öncel Yusufoğlu, for her enthusiasm, encouragement, and unconditional help throughout these years. Ayşe Esra Şirin, Ayşegül Damla Anar, Beyza Gürsun, Şule Kulein, Rüya Lange, and Melis Süloş Akyelli always expressed their support. Dilek Tahmis followed the evolution of the project with interest and enthusiasm. I owe special thanks to my dear friend Oya Harmacıoğlu for her care, invaluable support, and true friendship.
My family has always been the source of unconditional love and emotional strength. My mother Ferhan and my sisters Sezen and Simge loved and cherished me, at all times and under all circumstances. My mum made me believe in big dreams and encouraged me to realize them since my early childhood. With her wise and thoughtful comments, Sezen always reminded me of my own power. From the initial stages of the research onwards, Simge listened every single detail related to this work with patience and excitement. She read all my draft notes with a careful eye and she wondered the story of this fascinating festival with me. My niece Mira brought the joy back to our lives in 2016, when we desperately needed it. In August 2019, my life was truly blossomed with the birth of my daughter Zeynep. With her sweetness, peaceful and loving nature, she truly enriched my life. While I was making the final revisions on the manuscript, she turned this process into a joy and became the source of everyday happiness. Finally, my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my husband Ömer, my friend and companion, who has been sharing all bitter and sweet moments of the life with me for more than a decade. Over the years, every time, when things seemed extremely troubled and when I doubted of everything, he patiently reminded me what I was dreaming of when we first met, at the age of seventeen. With his care, love, and great support I was able to find my way and carry on. It is to him I am deeply indebted to, it is to him I dedicate this book.