BBC RADIO FOUR on Ottoman Tughras:Listen to the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00tn9vc
See the wonderful tughra from British Museum Collection.
A tughra (Ottoman Turkish: طغراء; Ṭuğrā) is a calligraphic seal or signature of an Ottoman sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign.
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Sultan Suleiman's Tughra |
The tughra was designed at the beginning of the sultan's reign and drawn by the court calligrapher or nişancı on written documents. The first tughra belonged to Orhan I (1284-1359), the second ruler of the Ottoman Empire and it evolved until it reached the classical form in the tughra of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566).
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Animated Tughra of Sultan Mahmud Abdulhamid Khan  Read more about Tughra: |
