Osmania

Since the moment they set foot in Europe as conquerors, the Turks never failed to arouse curiosity in the Western Christian world. And even when their presence was no longer considered hostile, their customs and institutions continued to attract visitors and adventurers, whose reports describe an “architecture of human things” so unfamiliar as to only be comprehensible with an effort of imagination. But why did the Turks appear so strange to travellers, leading them to believe it worthwhile to describe this people’s customs, manners and dress with words or images? We find an explanation in the words of Alexander William Kinglake, who details the bizarre scenarios of the Ottoman Empire in an incredibly amusing fashion.