1908 — Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Original color manuscript calendar prepared on a fine special paper with 'ahar'. 36x22,5 cm. In Ottoman script (Turkish with Arabic letters). 2 p. Several ink stains on paper, chipped on extremities. A very good manuscript. It shows astronomic situations, locations of planets and stars, and climates in 1324 [AD 1908]. It starts with high praise to Sultan Abdülhamid II with an old style of color moon & crescent icon. Sealed by Mehmed Pasazâde A. Ihsan. On the verso of paper, can be seen detailed calendar and details of 'ruzname'. Written on 'printed' down of the paper, probably it's prepared for the printing, therefore it's understood that Ihsan and Refet were thinking to print this 'taqwim'. Prepared in the year of the Second Constitutional Regime (II. Mesrutiyet) which was Abdul Hamid II's fall came as a result of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, and the Young Turks put the 1876 Constitution back into effect. It seems, it's prepared before fall of the Sultan, and for the present to the Sultan. The Second Constitutional Period spanned from 1908 until after World War I when the Ottoman Empire was dissolved. "The starting year of the Hijrî calendar (al-taqwim al-hijri), the fundamental Islamic lunar calendar still in use among Muslims until today, is 622 CE. Its beginning corresponds to the Hijra or emigration of Prophet Muhammed and his followers from Mecca to Medina. It is based on the revolution of the moon around the Earth and consists of twelve months of 29 or 30 days: Muharram (30), Safar (29), Rabî' al-awwal (30), Rabi' al-thani (29), Jumâda al-awwal (30), Jumâda al-thani (29), Rajab (30), Sha'ban (29), Ramadhan (30), Shawwal (29), Dhul-'l-qi'da (30) and Dhul-hijja (29 or 30). The lunar year consists of 354 days, which is 11 days less than the solar year, and every 33 years it falls one year behind the Gregorian calendar. The discrepancy with the solar year, which follows the seasons, meant that Muslim countries also used the solar calendar, and some calendars drawn up by astronomers include the dates according to the European Gregorian calendar named after Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Ottoman Turkey used both the Islamic lunar calendar and a solar calendar known as the Rumî or Roman calendar, which was based on the Julian calendar introduced since the times of Julius Caesar in 46 BC. The Roman calendar was inherited from the Byzantines and was used by the Ottomans for the taxation of agricultural revenues. The year according to the Rumî or Julian calendar began on 1 March, and the Ottomans took the starting year to be that of the Hijra. To make up for the gain of 11 days made by the solar Rumî calendar over the Islamic calendar, a leap year was deducted from the Rumî calendar every 33 years. A rûzname is a set of tables giving the first days of the months in both the Islamic and Rumî calendars, the date on which the sun enters each sign of the zodiac, and eclipses of the sun and moon. Also known as takvîm-i dâimî (perpetual calendar) or takvîm-i devr-i dâim (calendar of perpetual motion), the ruzname were permanently valid whatever the year. There is no evidence that such calendars were produced in pre-Ottoman times, and they may, therefore, be regarded as a type unique to Ottoman Turkey.". (Source: Glances on Calendars and Almanacs in the Islamic Civilisation by Salim Ayduz).
