Regards,
Walid.
Sheikh Rukn-ud-Din Abul Fath (1251–1335) commonly known by the title Rukn-e-Alam(pillar of the world) commonly called Shah Rukne Alam was among the eminent Sufi saints from Multan, Pakistan.
The tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam was built between 1320 and 1324, is an unmatched pre-Moghul masterpiece. The Mausoleum of Rukn-i-Alam could possibly be considered as the glory of Multan.
The tomb was said to have been built by Ghias-ud-Din Tughlak (r. 1320-1325) for himself during the days of his governorship of Depalpur, between 1320 and 1324 AD, but was given by his son, Muhammad bin Tughluq to the descendents of Shah Rukn-e-Alam for the latter’s burial in 1330.
The mausoleum of Rukn-e-Alam has been admired by not only the travelers and chroniclers but also by the art-historians and archaeologist who wrote the architectural history of the subcontinent.
In the 1970s the mausoleum was thoroughly repaired and renovated by the Auqaf Department of the Punjab Government. The entire glittering glazed interior is the result of new tiles and brickwork done by the Kashigars of Multan.
Following the star the Fool travels through the night. The full Moon rises, illuminating for him a watery path. And he begins to feel disoriented, as if walking in his sleep. He passes under the moon, between two pillars ancient and strange. Suddenly, he looks around to find himself in another land entirely. When he was in the presence of the High Priestess, he saw hints of this dark land through the sheer veil draped behind her throne. And later, when he hung from the tree, he felt himself between the physical world and this one. Now, he has at last passed behind the veil.
Here are the mysteries he sought, the darkest mysteries, ones that have to do with the most primal and ancient powers. It is a land poets, artists, musicians and madmen know well, a terrifying, alluring place, with very different rules. Wolves run wild across this land, hunting along side maidens with bow and arrows. Creatures from childhood nightmares and fantasies peer from shadows, eyes glowing.
The path the Fool was walking is now a river, and he stands hip-deep in the powerful pull of its salty waters. There is, on the nearby shore, a small boat, but it has no rudder, no oar. The Fool realizes he has only two choices. He can lose himself in this desolate, primal land of madness and illusion, howl with the wolves, be hunted down, or he can get into the boat and trust himself to the river. The moon will be in control either way, but in the boat his surrender to the powers of the unconscious will at least take him somewhere.
Inspiration, visions and genius are the rewards of such surrender to the Moon's Magic, as artists, poets and seers know. The Fool gets into the boat, and shoves off. As the waters sweep him away, moonbeams light his "path" and he feels the Mistress of this dark land gazing down at him with the High Priestess's approving eyes.
Translation for the Urdu part.......
ahal-e-talab-aajaab us dil me.n tum ko bulaaye ahadullaah
(Those who are addicted to problems? in heart, the Essence of Allaah calls you!)
Allaahuu
...Zikr se ba.Dh ke nahii.n hai amal ko_ii hai faramaan\-e\-rasuulallaah
(There is no implementation superior to Zikr, is the decree of the Prophet of Allaah! P.B.U.H.)
Allaahuu
Nijaat milatii hai unako yaqiinan kare.n jo qalb se zikrallaah
(Those who do zikr of Allaah from the the heart are indeed freed!)
Allaahuu
zikr se? sar kaTataa hai nafas kaa beshaq zikr hai saifullaah
(The ego of the soul gets chopped off by doing zikr, Zikr undoubtedly is Allaah's sword)
Allaahuu
zikr aman hai, zikr hai fatah, zikr shifaa hai, zikr hai dawaa
(zikr is peace. zikr is Victory. zikr is Healing. zikr is the Cure)
Allaahuu
Allaahuu baaqimil qull-e-faanii aur fanaa hai sub wo waqaabillaah
(Allaah is the only One who is eternal and immortal and rest are perishable and will be destroyed by Allaah)
Hasbii rabbii jallallaah, maafii-qalbii Gairullaah
noor-e-mohammad sallallah, haq laa_ilaahaa_illallaah
(Apart from the greatness of Allaah, apologize from the hearts for anything else)
(Light of Mohammad, may peace be upon him, There is no other god except Allaah)
Allaahuu
Hasbii rabbii jallallaah, maafii-qalbii Gairullaah
noor-e-mohammad sallallah, haq laa_ilaahaa_illallaah
Allaahuu
har gul me.n, har buu me.n, har shay me.n nuurullaah
(In every flower, in every fragrance, in everything is? the light of Allaah)
har dil me.n, har pal me.n rahe zikr-e-illallaah
(in every heart every moment, may the zikr of Allaah's stay)
hasbii rabbii jallallaah, maafii-qalbii Gairullaah
noor-e-mohammad sallallah, haq laa_ilaahaa_illallaah
Allaahuu
Performed by a Western Gay Chorus, in Urdu and featuring a Hindu soloist.
Sufi music is a science, objective of which is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God. It is an art through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits. This Video is dedicated to all the Sufi saints and poets who inspire and guide to dissolve the physical realm into the spiritual one by polishing the heart and enhancing the spiritual aspect of the human being over the physical being.
Sufi songs in Indian movies. Below song is dedicated to Sh Nizamuddin Awlia disciple of Sh Qutubuddin Baqtiyar Kaki.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia did not have an Arab Spring. But it has had a revolution of sorts.
Open criticism of this country’s royal family, once unheard-of, has become commonplace in recent months. Prominent judges and lawyers issue fierce public broadsides about large-scale government corruption and social neglect. Women deride the clerics who limit their freedoms. Even the king has come under attack.
All this dissent is taking place on the same forum: Twitter.
Unlike other media, Twitter has allowed Saudis to cross social boundaries and address delicate subjects collectively and in real time, via shared subject headings like “Saudi Corruption” and “Political Prisoners,” known in Twitter as hashtags.
With so many people writing mostly under their real names — there are some 2.9 million users in the kingdom, according to one recent study, and it is the world’s fastest-growing Twitter zone — the authorities appear to have thrown their hands up.
“Twitter for us is like a parliament, but not the kind of parliament that exists in this region,” said Faisal Abdullah, a 31-year-old lawyer. “It’s a true parliament, where people from all political sides meet and speak freely.”
Whether all this talk will lead to real change is hard to say. Some skeptics see the government’s unexpected tolerance as a deliberate ploy to let people blow off steam, not so different from the billions of dollars the government spent on social welfare programs last year in the wake of the Arab uprisings: anything to quell a real rebellion. In a country where public entertainment and street life, let alone protests, scarcely exist, and few people socialize outside their families, social media fills a crying need.
Still, the sudden lifting of taboos on public criticism has been remarkable in its own right. It has revealed, among other things, a striking depth of anger at the royal family that cuts across the political spectrum and has led some Saudis to wonder how long this deeply conservative and seemingly placid society can survive without serious reform.
“Twitter has revealed a great frustration and a popular refusal of the current situation,” said Salman al-Awda, a prominent cleric who was jailed for several years in the 1990s for his attacks on the government and is now seen as a moderate. He has more than 1.6 million followers on Twitter.
“There is a complete gap between the rulers and the ruled,” he said. “Even those who are in charge of security do not know what the people really think, and this is not good.”
The most flagrant criticism of the royal family by far has come from a single mysterious person named Mujtahidd. (The word means “studious.”) Starting late last year, Mujtahidd began posting sensational and richly detailed accusations about corrupt arms deals, construction boondoggles and back-room power plays involving numerous royals, including King Abdullah. He often writes directly to the Twitter accounts of the alleged malefactors.
“Is it true that your house in Jedda cost $1 billion but you charged $6 billion and pocketed the rest?” he wrote early this year to Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd, one of his favorite targets. There is no way to verify any of his claims, but the royal family clearly takes him seriously, writing heated denials. He now has more than 660,000 followers.
The royal family is said to have made strenuous efforts to uncover Mujtahidd’s identity, to no avail. He is widely rumored to be an alienated member of the royal family, or someone relaying information from such insiders.
In the meantime, Mujtahidd appears to have emboldened many other Saudis.
The annual National Day holiday last month, for instance, elicited a gale of criticism. On the day before the holiday, the interior minister, Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, released a statement noting that “we enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.” The statement was meant to be patriotic.
But on Twitter, many Saudis said they saw the prince’s “we” as an arrogant reference to the royal family, not the nation. The minister, upset, posted a defense. That drew more angry denunciations, including the following: “Remember that we have no medical insurance, no jobs. Prince Salman” — Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the heir apparent — “has billions of dollars, and don’t forget all the fenced-in lands belonging to the royal family.”
The insurgent emotions visible on Twitter appear to have carried over into the traditional media, where columnists and talk show hosts have become more assertive in criticizing the government. But Twitter still drives the conversation.
The new voices are not confined to calls for Western-style liberal reform. The largest Twitter followings belong to clerics. Muhammad al-Arifi, a conservative cleric, has more than 2.7 million followers, dwarfing the most prominent champions of women’s rights, for instance, and members of the royal family.
Earlier this year, when a young Saudi poet and columnist named Hamza Kashgari wrote three Twitter postings that seemed to criticize the Prophet Muhammad, the Saudi Twittersphere was full of calls for his arrest and prosecution, even as Western liberals urged clemency. He was extradited back to Saudi Arabia after trying to flee to Malaysia, and remains in prison on blasphemy charges.
Religious criticism appears to be a red line for almost all Saudis. After the controversy last month over an anti-Islamic video, a popular Saudi Twitter tag was “Anything but the Prophet.”
Nor does the government have a totally hands-off policy. Interior Ministry officials prowl the Twittersphere, always under false names, chastising government critics and issuing brittle avowals of loyalty to king and country.
There have also been a few ham-handed efforts to control the criticism, including a royal decree issued in July barring Saudi judges from writing on Twitter.
That decree was a result of months of furious verbal assault by judges against the mismanagement of the judicial sector. In September, 45 judges resigned in protest. “There is a revolution in judicial circles,” said Abdulaziz al-Gasim, a prominent Riyadh lawyer.
But Twitter remains a remarkable vista of areas of Saudi society that had until recently been closed to outsiders. The issue of political prisoners, for instance — a category usually understood here to include both champions of a constitutional monarchy and Islamists who oppose the government on religious grounds — draws a broad band of sympathy.
On a recent afternoon, Mr. Abdullah, the lawyer, sat at a cafe on Riyadh’s Tahlia Street and flipped open his laptop to scroll through an amazingly diverse array of critical Twitter feeds. One of them, “Public Prison Diary,” is by a prisoner who posts from a cellphone that is occasionally smuggled into his cell. He has 85,000 followers. Sample message: “If you see a prisoner sleeping, do not wake him up. He might be dreaming of freedom.”
A hashtag about the cinema, which is illegal in Saudi Arabia, shows a lively debate between liberals who oppose the ban and conservatives who say lifting it would corrupt the youth.
“This is increasing the culture of rights here,” Mr. Abdullah said. “And it matters. Yesterday, I wrote a tweet about the court system, accusing the judges of arrogance. The judiciary minister himself called me to talk about it. So you see, they read it.”
One of the richly illustrated manuscripts of the sixteenth century is the Zubdat-al Tawarikh in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul, dedicated to Sultan Murad III in 1583. The manuscript contains forty miniatures of the finest quality reflecting the mature Ottoman court style of the latter part of the sixteenth century.
The art of Ottoman Turkish miniature painting reached its peak in the sixteenth century, especially during the reigns of Suleiman the Magnificent and Murad III, who were both great patrons of art responsible for the uninterrupted output of the imperial ateliers during this period. Most of the miniatures executed in the sixteenth century took their subjects from Ottoman history illustrating major political and social events of the time. Less attention was given to producing literary manuscripts. Illustrated religious texts, which increased in number later in the century, very often remained in a historical framework. That is, in some of the major books on world history, Ottoman sultans were linked genealogically with Koranic and Biblical prophets. The Zubdat-al Tawarikh is a book of that nature where the text is a summary of Biblical and political world history covering the creation of the world, stories of the prophets and prominent historical figures of the past, and largely Turkish history to the time of the reigning sultan Murad III, also including genealogical accounts of the first twelve Ottoman sultans. The author was Seyyid Loqman Ashuri, the prolific historiographer of the Ottoman court during the period of Murad III, who in his introduction explains how he compiled this world history from different sources.
In addition to the Zubdat al-Tawarikh in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works, two other copies of Lokman's work exist in Topkapi Saray museum Library H. 1321, dated 1586, and Dublin, Chester Beatty Librar, no.414, dated 1573.
The manuscript is rather large in size (64.7 × 41.3 cm.) with ninety-one folios and forty miniatures, twenty-three of which illustrate the stories of the prophets, five are portraits of the caliphs and the founders of the Islamic rites and the last twelve are portraits of the first twelve Ottoman sultans.
The manuscript's miniatures are of great significance iconographical and stylistically leading to a deeper insight to Turkish religious art and portraiture. The large number of miniatures allotted to the stories of the prophets from the earliest examples of Ottoman religious painting. Some of the images follow the traditional iconographical schemes of the earlier fourteenth and fifteenth century Islamic miniatures but most of them are new interpretations reflecting the Ottoman approach to religious subject matter. The directness and clarity with which the ottoman artist narrates his historical subjects seem to be repeated in these illustrations where the story of each prophet is summarised and represented in a convincingly realistic way marked by an accuracy of detail. The prophets are depicted generally in attire similar to the figures found in the historical miniatures of the period, namely a belted dress and a caftan with embroideries on the collar and the sleeves, and it is only their halos that mark their holy character. The prophets are shown sitting crossed legged or in a kneeling position. If the prophet is praying, his hands are raised in a gesture of prayer, if he is in the act of giving advice; his left hand is slightly raised. The Biblical kings wear similar garments but are crowned Non-muslims or infidels wear a plain garment and a simple cap.
The first miniature in the Zubdat-al Tawarikh is a celestial map with the earth surrounded by seven heavens, signs of the Zodiac and the lunar mansions, symbolizing the macrocosm. (fig. 1)
The stories of the prophets start with Adam and Eve. An interesting interpretation of this story is found in a miniature where Adam and Eve are shown with their thirteen twin children. (fig. 2). As the text indicates, all of Adam's children were twins and each son had to marry the twin sister of a brother. Abel was asked by his father to wed Cane's twin sister, but Cane, whose twin happened to be the most beautiful, wanted to keep her. This is how the dispute started between the two brothers. To end the dispute Adam asked both sons to make an offering to God and Abel's was accepted. This interesting version of the story is depicted in the lower left hand corner, where Cane is shown pulling the arm of his twin sister. The bushes, the symbol of Cane's offering, rest above the figures of Cane and his sister. Earlier Islamic artists, when illustrating the story of Adam and Eve, usually showed the couple in paradise but never placed them with their children, nor represented this version of the dispute between Cane and Abel. The Ottoman artist's narrative intent comes in here when he describes the story in the minutest detail and dresses his figures in sixteenth century Ottoman garments as if the theme was a local event.
A story often illustrated in Islamic manuscripts as well as in the Western world is that of Noah’s ark and the deluge. In its representation in the Zubdat-al Tawarikh, Noah's ark is caught in the thunderstorm and the heavy rain that will flood the earth (fig. 3). One of the masts in the ship is bent from the strong wind and Noah's sons are shown moving to and fro with anxiety trying to control the sails. Noah has calmly grabbed the rudder. The ark is represented as a sixteenth century Ottoman ship very similar to images found in illustrations of the Ottoman fleet in historical miniatures of the time. On the other hand in accordance with its Biblical description, it has two stories, through the windows of which pairs of animals can be observed. The text of the Zubdat-al Tawarikh states that the number of Noah's sons varies in source. The artist here has chosen to represent the prophet with seven sons and to interpret the story of the deluge as the common adventure of any ship caught in a storm.
Stories of Prophet Joseph are widely illustrated in the Islamic world. The prophet's adventures with his brothers and especially with Zoeyha have been a source of inspiration for many Islamic poets and artists. In a miniature in the Zubdat-al Tawarikh Joseph is shown enthroned with his father Jacob and his brothers, after he succeeded to settle in Egypt in spite of all his adventures with his brothers (fig. 4). The story tells how upon Joseph's wish his brothers brought their father to Egypt and how his brothers had to ask him for food after the occurrence of the well known famine. Nevertheless, in the lower section of the miniature, several people, differently dressed, are shown waiting to get their share of the grain. The representation of this episode in Joseph's life has no counterpart in Islamic miniature painting. The Ottoman painter must have chosen this theme of the reunion of Joseph's family, because it was the most suitable for a courtly representation and therefore more appropriate for the pictorial taste of the period. Courtly representations and enthronement scenes were very common in sixteenth century Ottoman historical miniatures, and the artist applied the same composition scheme to his religious subject matter.
Perhaps even a more popular Biblical and Koranic prophet is Abraham, whose life is extensively narrated in the Koran. His being cast into fire by King Nimrod or the sacrifice of his son, who according to Islamic sources was Ishmael not Isaac, are often represented in miniatures. In the Zubdat-al Tawarikh, both stories are depicted on the same page (fig. 5). Above, Abraham is shown sharpening his knife and when he is about to sacrifice his son, an angel suddenly comes, into the scene holding the sacrificial ram. Ishmael, his eyes closed, is waiting calmly. Below, the prophet has been cast into fire by Nimrod as a punishment for destroying his father's idols, but he is seated in the midst of flames, miraculously unharmed. Nimrod, the devil, and the magician are watching the incident with great astonishment.
The next miniature in the manuscript shows the destruction of Sodom (fig. 6, not illustrated). The doomed city is overthrown by heavenly fire and stones, and the sinful inhabitants of Sodom are drowned in the flood. Some of the people are in the waters struggling to survive with arms stretched ut crying for help. The angel on the left has fulfilled his mission, while Prophet Lot on the left, dressed in a blue caftan, is praying to God in deep grief.
The story depicted in the section below the image of Lot, is about Safwan, mentioned in Islamic sources as the prophet who saved his people by destroying the giant bird Anka to whom a youth was sacrificed each day.
One of the recurring themes in Islamic religious painting is the well-known miracle of Moses and Aaron, who produced a serpent dragon from a rod before the Pharoah.
The story is illustrated in one of the miniatures in the Zubdat-al Tawarikh, where the Pharoah is shown sitting in a loggia astonished at the miracle just performed, while magicians and courtiers are watching from the windows (fig. 7, not illustrated). The miracle of the rod has obviously taken place in the palace gardens where the loggia forms a bridge over the brook flowing in a curve… Carefully drawn settings with a wealth of architectural elements are characteristic features of the Ottoman painting style of the second half of the sixteenth century.
Interiors are also drawn with great care as in the image showing Prophet Elijah and his successors (fig. 8, not illustrated). The prophet's followers are in the process of changing their caps, symbolising their conversion. This type of headdress was used by Ottoman artists to point out the non-muslims in historical miniatures of the time. Below on the same image, is found the story of Prophet Ezekiel. The text states that Prophet Ezekiel, seeing the children of Israel killed by the plague, prayed to God for their resurrection. The mission was granted to him. The prophet is shown here standing among the tombs with one hand raised in gesture of resurrecting the dead, some of which have already emerged from their coffins while others are still a pile of skeletal bones scattered all over the field.
Still another miniature depicts the stories of three different prophets (fig. 9). In the upper section is found the story of Jonah and the fish. Jonah, the text tells tried to avoid his mission by sailing away but was caught by a violent storm. He was then swallowed by a fish and after three days left on shore. In the miniature Prophet Jonah is shown trying to hide nis nakedness in the midst of bushes. Below him is a brook full of brightly colored fish. On the upper left hand corner, another prophet is represented. Sitting among trees and animals according, to the text, Prophet Jeremiah, grieving over the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylonians, hid in a wild forest. A similar story is narrated in the text for Prophet Uzeyr, depicted in the lower section of the miniatures, who also grieved over the destruction of the Holy City but his grief was so deep that God took his soul and gave him life, years after Jerusalem was reconstructed. The building on the lower right hand corner undoubtedly symbolizes the rebuilt city of Jerusalem, yet it is the accurate rendering of a typical sixteenth century Ottoman building with a dome and an arched portico. The ruins of the once destroyed city, on the other hand, are indicated by broken arches and columns on the left.
Another miniature depicting more than one story shows Prophets Jircis and Samson (fig. 10, not illustrated). According to the story in the text, Jircis was tortured by the Malik of Mosul as a punishment for his holy mission. His body was burnt and cut up into pieces but each time God restored him to life. In the end, he was cut in half by a sword and died, upon which incident the people of Mosul were destroyed by heavenly fires. The prophet Jircis, on the other hand, was buried by angels. This episode is depicted in the section above where the prophet is ready to be buried in a tomb dug by angels. Below on the same miniature, is the well known story of Samson. Samson, who owed his strength to his vow to God that the would never cut his hair, was betrayed to his enemies by Delilah, and his revenge came when he pulled down the Philistine temple. Samson is shown here pulling one of the columns is the temple to tear down the whole building.
One of the recurring themes of the Christian and Islamic worlds is the Seven Sleepers (fig 11, not illustrated). The text of the Zubdat-Al-Tawarikh states that seven young men in search of God ran away from the ruthless king Doxianus and hid in a cave with their dog. God put them to sleep there for three hundred years. In the miniature, the seven sleepers, each dressed in a differently colored Ottoman caftan, are seen sleeping in their cave. The image is a perfect example of the colour scheme with bright tones characteristic of the painting style of the period.
A miniature of iconographical interest is a representation of the ascension of Christ (fig. 12, not illustrated). The text states that Feltianus, who was chosen by the Jews to execute Jesus, was suddenly given by God the appearance of Christ and therefore he himsef was executed instead. Christ, on the other hand, was ascended to heaven by angels. This is shown in the section above where he is lifted by two angels. Below on the right, the figure identical in appearance to Jesus is Feltiyanus, caught by the Jews. Others are astonished at the miraculous ascension of Christ to heaven. This is iconographical a unique verion of the story in Islamic painting.
Equally interesting is the miniature showing Miraj, the ascension of Prophet Mohammed to seven heavens (fig. 13, not illustrated). The Prophet is shown sitting in a mosque with Ali, Hasan, Huseyin and friends. A flaming halo crowns him and extends into the sky above. The descending angels and Gabriel have come to take the Prophet on his nocturnal journey. Miraj is not described extensively in the text, but the scene obviously takes place in a mosque, possibly the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Islamic sources in general agree on the Prophet's ascension to heaven from Jerusalem. The ottoman artist undoubtedly intended to represent a holy building in Jerusalem and was possibly influenced by descriptions of buildings in that city. In Islamic miniatures, Miraj is a recurring theme but in almost all the representations the Prophet is seen mounted on Buraq, the human headed beast, riding among clouds accompanied by angels. The Ottoman artist on the other hand has chosen to represent this very important episode from the Prophet's life in an everyday environment, emphasising the stage before his entry into the celestial world, which is represented above as a separate section.
The last part of the Zubdat-al Tawarikh contains portraits of the first twelve Ottoman Sultans-Several albums were prepared during the period of Murad III with portraits of the Ottoman sultans and it was through these albums that a model was set our for each sultan and followed for centuries. The portraits in the Zubdat-al Tawarikh are therefore as significant a source as these albums. The miniature showing Murad III should be noted as the portrait of the reigning sultan drawn from life. (fig. 14, not illustrated). The miniatures of the Zubdat-al Tawarikh are unsigned like many of the Ottoman miniatures but a stylistic analysis reveals at least four to five different hands and the assistance of apprentices is some of the miniatures. Nevertheless, a document; a salary register, recently found in the State Archives gives a list of painters, illuminators, book-binders who worked on the manuscript and shows that a large groups of artist, the most prominent of the time, contributed to this royal commission. Thirteen painters and illuminators, among which were well known artists such as Osman, Ali Lutfu, Mehmed, Molla Kasim and Huseyin, were responsible for the illustrations in the manus cript. A group of exceptionally skilful painters collaborated on such a manuscript that required great care as it dealt with the genealogical background of Murad III to whom it was dedicated. At the same time, the miniatures in such a manuscript required new insight to religious iconography. The Zubdat-al Tawarikh is a rare Ottoman religious manuscript in which the stories of the prophets are represented so extensively. Therefore, the work must have required a group of artists qualified for the execution of these miniatures, iconographical rather different for the painters of Ottoman historio-graphical subjects. Thus, the miniatures of the Zubdat-al Tawarikh in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts are significant examples of Ottoman religious painting and portraiture during a period whose major concern was illustration of current history.
Source: Turkish Treasures Culture/Art/Tourism Magazine 1978/1, by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Günsel Renda, Hacettepe University, AnkaraOriginal Page: http://www.turkishconsulategeneral.us/abtturkey/cult/deco/mini_zubdat.shtml