AN ILLUMINATED FIRMAN OF AHMED II (R.1691-95)CONSTANTINOPLE, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED RABI'I AH 1103/ NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1691 ADAN ILLUMINATED FIRMAN OF AHMED II (R.1691-95)CONSTANTINOPLE, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED RABI'I AH 1103/ NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1691 ADOttoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 14ll. black diwani beneath a gold and polychrome illuminated tughra of Ahmed II, signature above the tughra and later illuminated heading in top left corner, backed with green fabric23 3/4 x 13 3/8in. (60 x 34cm.)The text of this firman relates to the endowment of silk revenues to the caravanserai of Hoca Sa’d al-Din Efendi in Istanbul. Located at the terminus of the ‘silk road’, ports like Bursa on the west coast of Anatolia grew rich off duties charged on European merchants – particularly those from England and Italy - who came there to trade in Persian silks (M. Çizakça, A Short History of the Bursa Silk Industry, Leyden, 1980, p. 149). So important was this particular endowment that it commanded the attention of Sultan Ahmed II (r. 1691-5) himself, whose personal signature appears in the top-left hand corner contained within an illuminated headpiece. A further firman from the brief reign of Ahmed II can be seen in the state archives of the Republic of Turkey (various authors, Osmanli Fermanlari, Ankara, 2003, p. 31).细节 AN ILLUMINATED FIRMAN OF AHMED II (R.1691-95)CONSTANTINOPLE, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED RABII AH 1103/ NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1691 ADOttoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 14ll. black diwani beneath a gold and polychrome illuminated tughra of Ahmed II, signature above the tughra and later illuminated heading in top left corner, backed with green fabric23 3/4 x 13 3/8in. (60 x 34cm.)