Abstract:

Every state performs its own special ceremonies. Ceremonies are special implementations which that state carries from the past and identifies itself with. From past to present, different Turkish states have developed some implementations within this context about the state and the ceremonial extents of interstate relations. In the time of the Ottoman Empire some strict and very well-disciplined rules which are in direct proportion to the power of the state were developed and these rules were meticulously applied. In the Ottoman Empire very strict hierarchal implementations were made in regar to the herald’s receptions in terms of interstate diplomatic protocol rules which constitute our subject. During the historical period of the Ottoman Empire which extends from the beylic to the state and then to the empire, these protocol rules were complied with accurately in the diplomatic relations with foreign states. From the first herald’s reception at the the Edirne Palace in the time of Murad II to the receptions at the Topkapı Palace after the capital’s removal to Istanbul, an indication of the grandness of the state was always viewed as a goal and the herald’s receptions were presented in that context. The colours which are used in representations of the reception scenes in the miniatures of the related periods, the scene designs, the emphasis which is put forward in the compositions (the emperor’s and throne’s –which is a symbol of royalty- being centralized) are just all reflections of the power of the state in theimplementation of protocols. In these miniatures we can observe the political standing of the Ottoman Empire on the line that extends from the state to the empire. We can see many examples of them in the travel books written by different travelers of that period and also visually in engravings and paintings

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