'Picture of the Tents of the Turks'. Photographer: H. A. Mirza & Sons

Content

Genre/Subject Matter

This image shows the tents of the Ottoman Turkish troops at their camp at Medina. Despite the apparently secular nature of the subject, and the fact that the camp does not depict a stopping-off point on the hadj, the laudatory poetry and prose makes clear the relevance of the image to the experience of the hadj – that is, that the Turks, as ‘military people of the highest rank’ serve Islam by defending and enabling the passage to Mecca and Medina for other Muslims.

As with the other photographs in this album (Photo 174/1-13), whose subjects are architectural and landscape, the figures are not the subject of the image. However, a detailed examination of the image shows the soldiers going about their day-to-day activities, such as cooking and eating. The method by which the ground would have been prepared before a tent was erected is indicated by the empty low circular foundation in the lower left corner of the image. In the distance, in the right-hand background of the image, beyond the dry-stone wall delineating the camp, palm groves and permanent dwellings can be identified.

Inscriptions

Recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. :

Upper centre: 'Picture of the Tents of the Turks'

To the right and left of the title:

'These are the true men of God, the fighters for God's religion;

These are the Turks who sacrificed their lives for the path of the chosen one [i.e., Muhammad]

Friends, these are the tents of the warriors of the faith;

These are the lions of God, the sincere upholders of the faith.'

To the right and left of the image:

'The people, the accounts of whose bravery have filled the pages of world history; the people – each drop of blood that was extracted from every individual and made into a gem of bravery and heroism; the people who made even their enemies utter, "Truly in the entire world, these are a military people of the highest rank"; the people who amongst themselves are a people of the highest degree of kindheartedness and hospitality; the people who in their religious ardour are always ready to sacrifice their life; who are those people? Those people, those blessed people, are these very Turks. They are the self-sacrificing people who, since the time they accepted the blessing of Islam, have served it with spiritual and material commitment, without the slightest hesitation. These are the blessed tents of these people which remain standing in an orderly manner in Medina the Radiant.'

Lower centre: 'H. A. Mirza & Sons, Photographers, Chandni Chowk, Delhi'

Lower right corner, along right edge, in pencil: ‘1’ ‘138’

Verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. :

In pencil, upper right corner: IO/138 4th [?] [? 07?] [illegible]

Recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. :

In red ink on upper left of image and – faintly – beneath lower left intersection of cruciform double-barred frame)

رجسطری شده

[superscript ط]

Labels

( verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ):

1 – Letterpress

‘138 H. A. Mirza & Sons: Photographers.

نقشه خیام ترکان (Naqsha-i Khyiám-i-Turkán

A photo. [sic] of the Turkish camp in Medina

with a brief description.) One sheet.

Published by the Photographers: Delhi.

(Octr. 15, 1907.) 14 x 18º. Litho. Ist

Edition.

Price, R. I, A. 4.’

2 – Ink stamp

‘India Office

19 May 1909

Library’

Other Notes

The image was formerly referred to as: ‘The Turkish Camp at Medina’

Extent and format

1 b&w photographic print held within a blue card window mount

It is part of

Album of 'Views of Mecca and Medina' by H. A. Mirza & Sons, Photographers

42 images

Ref: Photo 174

Physical characteristics

Dimensions

Mount (external): 350 x 446 mm

Mount (internal): 202 x 273 mm [landscape]

Format

Photographic print held within window mount in landscape format.

Materials

Mottled blue-tinted window mount, card, gelatin silver The principal photographic process used for black and white photography from the 1870s. print, indigo ink (printed), red ink (hand-painted)

Condition

Mount is extensively bowed and edges are scuffed on the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. , particularly lower left, with staining along all edges. Creasing, scuffing and light staining is also visible on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. , which consists of a paper backing over cotton strips.

The print shows signs of toning, linear indentation as well as bubbling and distortion across the surface.

Foliation

1 (138)

Process

Gelatin silver The principal photographic process used for black and white photography from the 1870s. print

Written in

Urdu and English in Arabic and Latin script

Type

Photograph

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Visual Arts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Photo 174/1

Former British Library reference

138

History of this record

Date(s)

c 1907

Related material

Places

Medina MunawwarahMecca

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'Picture of the Tents of the Turks'. Photographer: H. A. Mirza & Sons, British Library: Visual Arts, Photo 174/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023493445.0x000001> [accessed 6 April 2025]

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