Nakkashane — the art of book making — with artists coming from Turkey, attired in
royal court costumes, demonstrated to visitors at the Doha International Book Fair how
books and manuscripts were made during the Ottoman era. By Umer Nangiana

Reflective of its splendid past and providing a glimpse into people’s lifestyles from centuries ago, ‘Nakkashane, the art of book making’ from the 16th century Ottoman court was reenacted in town recently.
In the Ottoman era, the studios used for traditional preparation of books were called nakkashane. The Ottomans placed great importance on the development of the arts practised in nakkashanes. In these workshops, books would be turned into works of art through calligraphy, illuminated manuscripts, miniature, marbling, tile works and book binding.
One such Nakkashane was formed at the recently-concluded Doha International Book Fair where Turkey was the guest of honour. Presented by Yunus Emre Institute in Doha — 43rd such institute in the world — the nakkashane with artists coming from Turkey, attired in royal court costumes, demonstrated to the visitors how books and manuscripts were made during the Ottoman era.
“In here we are trying to show how in Ottoman times, the books and manuscripts were written. The process shows how one manuscript or book would go from one hand to the other,” Zafer Kiyici, the head of Nakkashane tells Community.
“These colours and those being prepared here by one of the men are all natural colours which he is extracting from different substances. There are no chemicals involved in the process,” he says pointing to one of his colleagues preparing colours at one of the tables at the workshop.
Selahattin Aybay is preparing colours from plant dyes processed in a mortar and mixed with other colours to prepare for final use by the artists. Miftar Adzemi, in the meanwhile, extracts ink. Soot from paraffin, kindle, linseed oil or rubber is collected in a bowl and beaten slowly while adding gum and water.
It takes at least 5,000 beats to get the right consistency. For a nice flavour, rose water or musk can be added to the ink.
“I am doing the part which is called Marbling. It is done on the covers of the books both in the front and the back. And the bordering that you see here on start page of the book is done with real gold,” says Zafer.
Marbling, he adds, is the art of ornamenting the paper with paint on tragacanth (a form of natural gum)-treated water. It is the classical method of adorning the books.
“And one of our colleagues is doing interior design and calligraphy. It is also called Tehzeeb, it is a form of art where the artist makes designs and does calligraphic work,” Zafer points to one of them. Dogan Pur, with his head down, is busy writing with a very thin brush on a piece of paper.
Calligraphy here is the art of writing gracefully within the Arab calligraphic metres, also called ‘husn-i-hat’. On the far end is Serkan Atilla who is decorating written manuscripts and plates with beaten gold and various colours.  
The process starts with preparation of paper and ends with binding. Everything is done with hand with absolute detail. Salih Ates prepares the paper. The paper is painted with vegetable dye and the surface is treated with starch or eggs to make it suitable for writing.
To completely smoothen the rough surface and get the paper ready for writing, it is burnished and preserved for at least six months. Professor Dr Islam Secen finishes the work with putting binding to the books. The art of binding involves putting the pages between protective stiff boards to preserve them in an orderly fashion.  
“The designs in these manuscripts come from the 16th century Ottoman era and this art is well and alive even in today’s Turkey. Our masters spend all of their lives pursuing this art. They dedicate their lives to it. They specialise in it,” says Zafer.
‘We keep getting orders for the books and copies of the Holy Qur’an. So we design Qur’an and other historical books in this art form according to the requirements of the customers,” says the head of Nakkashane.
Normally one book, he says, takes from two to five years to complete. It is because the entire book is handmade, from paper to design and binding. There is no machine involved at any stage of the making of the book. It is entirely done by the artists and artisans themselves.
“Now, here you see there are seven people involved in the process but back in the Ottoman time many more artists were involved. At one time, there would around 5 to 40 people involved in the making of the book,” says the marbling artist.
Besides books, there were people whose job was to write letters in the Ottoman time. It was also done in a classical form and khattat (the letter writer, calligrapher) would enclose the letter written on a piece of paper in a specially designed case which was also made by the masters at nakkashane.
It was made in a way that it would not only look elegant and beautiful but would also protect the contents inside.
Masters in nakkashane also created masterpieces in painting on specially created paper. “For instance, in this design the artist has used marbling and real gold is used in creating it. And then this is miniature painting,” Zafer refers to copies of paintings at his workshop, displayed for public viewing.
The marbling technique, he says, is being used in their times. It is a modern technique of painting. Although evolved from old techniques, it was not practised in the old times in its current form.
The interest in this art form is immense even today, says Zafer. “We still teach it at institutes and it is being pursued by quite a number of people. Even today, there are people who would want an interior cover of the Qur’an designed by hand and we do it through this art form,” he elaborates.
The price of such books depends on the type of work done on it and the amount of designs it contains. Zafer says one such book would cost around US$10,000. The price is high because it is all done by hand and the materials like real gold is used in the designing. These books are mainly purchased by collectors and enthusiasts.