İPE DİZİLEN KÜLTÜR: OSMANLI’DA TESPİHİN FOLKLOR İLE TİCARİ FAALİYETLERDEKİ YERİ ÜZERİNE TESPİTLER
CULTURE ON A STRING: DETERMINATIONS ON THE PLACE OF TASBIH IN FOLKLORE AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES IN THE OTTOMAN

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the place of the rosary (tespih) within Ottoman culture, focusing on its practical functions in the late period of the empire, not only as a faith-based object but also as an accessory, a means of gift-giving, and a commercial commodity. Since the Turks’ conversion of Islam, the rosary, regarded as a sign of remembrance (dhikr), gradually became a component of material culture that reflected aesthetic taste and carried symbolic meaning in the social sphere. It emerged as an accessory frequently used in daily life by both women and men. Among the public, beyond its use in worship, it was considered an object that occupied the hands, complemented attire, and provided spiritual satisfaction and pleasure; for state dignitaries and notable individuals, it was perceived as a marker of prestige and status. The rosary, which became a subject of collecting among statesmen and intellectuals, appeared among valuable items listed in estate inventories and was carefully preserved in the private quarters of the Imperial Harem following the sultans’ deaths. Adorned with precious stones such as jade, pearl, coral, amber, ruby, and diamond, it attained an artistic dimension. The finest examples were produced in Istanbul, and the craft of rosary-making reached its golden age within the Ottoman borders in the nineteenth century. Highly esteemed during the reign of Mahmud II, this art form-organized under a commercial guild-enabled the training of renowned masters and managed to survive for a long time thanks to the oversight and support of state administrators. Over the centuries, it became an indispensable element of social and commercial life and has endured to the present day. Within this framework, the article aims to examine the rosary as a cultural product by drawing on Ottoman archival documents and the relevant literature. The article explains the historical trajectory through which the rosary transformed from an object primarily used for worship into a folkloric item, and seeks to identify the social groups that played the most significant roles in its development and in the position it acquired within everyday life practices.

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