Tulip Period

Tulip Period or Tulip Era, also known as the era of joy and pleasure, was a peaceful and a
modern period for Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1718 until 1730. During this period, the
Ottoman Empire began to adapt ground-breaking policies such as the printing press, china
workshops and paper mills, and also libraries in Topkapı Palace and New Mosque were established
under the leadership of Ahmed III. These libraries consisted of books from different countries
around the world. Teams of translators were formed to translate these books into Ottoman Turkish.

Aside from these innovative movements, Sultan Ahmed III and the grand vizier Nevşehirli
Damat Ibrahim Pasha preserved an unprecedented peace throughout the decade and expanded the
relationship with Europe. Ambassadors were sent to big European capitals such as Paris, London and
Vienna, in order to conduct an experiment on their every-day-lives and to get to know their culture
closely. As a result, the Ottoman women implemented a few European-inspired changes in their
clothing but it was eventually met with criticism by the conservative circles.

One of the symbols of the era was the tulip, which was used as an artistic motif by a wide
range of leading painters, miniaturists and poets. The empire wasted away the money and
consequently charged the people with high taxes in order to grow and distribute it to the West. The
flower became a passion for the social class when new gardens and palaces were surrounded with
tulips. Under all the stress of wars and social problems, people were given the chance to spend their
time in these relaxing gardens full of different colors of tulips. Even though tulip was widely
recognized by the people of the era, it was only in 1910, when writer Yahya Kemal Beyatlı came up
with the name Tulip Period (Turkish: Lâle Devri) and historian Ahmet Refik Altınay published a book
under the name “Lâle Devri”.

Naturally, the era was not considered a bed of roses for everyone. Towards the late 1720s,
expenses made by the court and the change in the social class became more infuriating for the
conservative circles. It was rumored that the Sultan sold conquered castles in Iran and therefore the
people requested him to make a sail. Sultan Ahmed III held a pseudo procession, only to return back
to the palace on a boat at night. After this was revealed to the public, a janissary named Patrona Halil
gathered his followers and began the infamous rebellion, which led to the execution of many
including Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha and eventually the end of the Tulip Period.