It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdülhamid is forever victorious.Ĭalligraphy had a prestigious status under the Ottomans, its traditions having been shaped by the work of Abbasid calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta'simi of Baghdad, whose influence had spread across the Islamic world, al-Musta'simi himself possibly being of Anatolian origin. The stylized signature of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire was written in an expressive calligraphy. Despite newer added amalgamations, the Ottoman dynasty, like their predecessors in the Sultanate of Rum and the Seljuk Empire, were thoroughly Persianised in their culture, language, habits and customs, and therefore, the empire has been described as a Persianate empire." Throughout its history, the Ottoman Empire had substantial subject populations of Orthodox subjects, Armenians, Jews and Assyrians, who were allowed a certain amount of autonomy under the confessional millet system of Ottoman government, and whose distinctive cultures enriched that of the Ottoman state.Īs the Ottoman Empire expanded it assimilated the culture of numerous regions under its rule and beyond, being particularly influenced by Byzantium, the Arab culture of the Islamic Middle East, and the Persian culture of Iran. Persianized Seljuq Turks, the Ottomans' predecessors. There was a strong influence from the customs and languages of Islamic societies, notably Arabic, while Persian culture had a significant contribution through the heavily Ottoman culture evolved over several centuries as the ruling administration of the Turks absorbed, adapted and modified the various native cultures of conquered lands and their peoples. 1578, Iznik Tile, Ottoman Empire, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tile with Floral and Cloud-band Design, c.