Istanbul: Places
Photos & Words: Salina Christmas

People in the Ottoman manuscripts were often depicted with small Oriental eyes. This is common not only here, but across the Fertile Crescent of Arabia all the way to Persia.

It was a custom that came from the East, dictated by the Mongols who conquered parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor and Arabia. The conquerers assimilated with the conquered and became Arabised, and in Asia Minor, they founded the Mogul Empire.

I remember seeing, in my uni days, only one or two Ottoman sultans depicted in manuscripts as being blond and blue-eyed. Even then, the eyes were decidedly Oriental in shape.

Is this a form of imperialism? Of course. This rubbish still goes on, but now you see it in fashion magazines, where northwestern European features are favoured.