TURKISH TENTS

Prof. Dr. Faruk Sümer

    It is certain that five hundred year ago Turks had lived a migrant life as a result of climate and geographical conditions in Middle Asia. It was such a migrant life that, people who had lived this kind of life were knowing writing and they were dealing with commerce. Turks who were living migrant life, were liking to being moral, helping to poor people and seeing this as the biggest virtue. There were some different classes in Turkish socities in middle epoch: very rich aristocrats, public class which is free in every subject, lower class forming from slaves which is called black public. As it is signed, colored scene of the civil life and many institutions are observed in Turkish migrant society. Turks, had borned, lived and died in tents. Past Turks were calling the tent as otak (otað) that, “oda” (room)  word that we use today is coming from here. “Otað” name not only had been used in Seljuks and beyliks but also in Ottomans. The word “Tent” is a Turkish word and related to “stack” word. In tents, powerful desires were also struggling with eachother and gossip were also very important for the people.

   Like European omniscients accept, Turks are soldiers, organizers, managers from their birth, had lived in the middle epoch, in wide sparsely vegetated plains of Middle Asia and their tents was made of felt. The shape of the tant was circular and it was fasten to the ground with strong stakes. Ordinary public tents had such a largeness that eight ten people can live in. Aristocrats had special tents that were made of various shape and largeness. Big tents which are made of red satin and silk were the capacity of taking fifty, hundred people in. Official meetings were made and lavish meals were given in these special big tents. These tents which were decorated with colorful valuable fabrics and silks, were sometimes been looted after the lavish meals under the permission of head who gave the meal. During the looting, head and his sons ,if he has, were going away from the tent. People who looted the tent were greeting the head after the looting had finished. And then they were going to their own place with the goods that they looted. This is the true looting feast of ancient Turks. Iranians, gave the name “han-ý yaðma” (meaning looting table) to this tradition that they had seen from Turks.

   Turks had loved and got used to tents so much more that, Turks who lived in abroad and homes missed tent life too much. It is certain that they actually missed free and open life. In the beginning of seventeen century, a Kök Turk shahzadah who had lived some period in China, didn’t want to live in an extraordinary building that was given to him and he lived in a tent in the garden of the building. Tents, clothes and such things of ancient Turks was white. Only slaves and female servant was licing in black tents. Some of the tents of important people were rouge, red and orange-colored. According to Arabian authors, our Prophet Muhammad had lived in Turkish tent in the last period of his life and liked it very much. Tents of the Ottoman Turks were not different such as the Middle Asians. Tents of Ottoman Monarchs were so big and great that, it was called “otað-ý hühayün”. It was used in journeys, huntings and outings. Otað-ý hümayüns which were extraordinary decorated, embroided and fancy were seperated to numerous parts. The colour of otað-ý hümayüns were red and no body except padishah in Ottoman army, shahzadah, vizier and governor-general couldn’t use a tent in this colour. The padishah tent which Kanuni Sultan Süleyman had used in Sigetvar war in 1566 was seven-posted. The marksman and historian of sovereign “Celalzade” had portrayed this tent very literary. We understand from his portrait that Kanuni’s tent had decorated with colored ribbons and golden fringes. A congregation named “hayme mehterleri” was dealing with the tent of padishah. This congregation was seperated to four part which are expressed as room. When Padishahs went to war or somewhere far away, these “hayme mehterleri” had gone to Davutpaþa, Çýrpýcý çayýrý and Doðancýlar in Üsküdar before the Padishah and formed tents. Having two tents in wars were a tradition. In one of them Padishah was sitting and the other tent was formed on to further zone together with horsetails. Soldier tents were made of cotton and their colour was white.