Laurie and Grandpa were reading quietly together on the couch, when Laurie suddenly jumped up.
"I almost forgot! Our teacher gave us each a tulip bulb today.
She said if we plant it now, it should bloom in the spring." Laurie reached into her backpack.
"Perfect. I was just reading some poetry by an eighteenth-century Turkish poet," Grandpa said, smiling dreamily.
Laurie stared at her grandpa. "I said I got a tulip bulb today."
Grandpa turned to her with the dreamy smile still on his face.
"Do you know where tulips come from?" he asked.
"Holland?"
"Nope. Turkey. And the word 'tulip' comes from the Turkish word for turban because tulip bulbs and buds look like turbans, don't they?"
Laurie smiled as she examined the bulb in her hand. "You're right!"
"The period from 1718 to 1730 is known in Ottoman history as the Tulip Era.
It was a time of peace for the Turkish Ottoman Empire, when the arts, culture, and architecture flourished.
And—your bulb reminded me of this—tulip mania swept over the empire.
Everyone, including the ruler, Sultan Ahmed III, was absolutely obsessed with tulips."
"How funny," Laurie said. "So is a sultan like a king?"
"Yes, a sultan is the ruler of a Muslim empire.
The Ottoman Empire began in 1300 when a Muslim prince named Osman claimed a small area of land in western Turkey.
Osman fought to expand his territory, and after he died, his son continued the expansion.
Many years and many wars later, the Ottoman Empire had conquered neighboring Muslim dynasties in the Middle East,
and most of the Eastern Roman Empire too.
By the seventeenth century, the Ottomans controlled parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia.
And the empire was always ruled by a sultan who was a male descendant of Osman.
Sultans had luxurious lives. They lived in the best houses, wore the finest clothes, and ate the most delicious foods in the empire.
They were also extremely sheltered from their people.
In the 1400s Sultan Mehmed II conquered the city of Istanbul, made it the capital, and ordered a huge palace to be built there.
The palace was called Topkapi. It was like a mini city, with multiple buildings, courtyards, mosques, and towers.
This huge palace kept the sultan almost completely separated from his officials, soldiers, and subjects.
But things change from generation to generation, and in the 1700s Sultan Ahmed III didn't like feeling locked up in stuffy, old Topkapi.
He loved to celebrate and have parties.
And he wanted to do this outside the palace. His grand vizier at the time—"
"What's a grand vizier?" Laurie interrupted.
"The grand vizier was the highest official in the Ottoman Empire after the sultan.
He represented the sultan and was also the ruler's main adviser.
The grand vizier was so important that only the sultan could hire or fire him.
So the grand vizier suggested that the sultan build new royal palaces, along with mosques and public fountains that could be enjoyed by everyone.
Not only would this make the sultan happy, but it would make him popular!
You've heard of the French Palace of Versailles, haven't you?"
"Yep. Marie Antoinette lived there!" Laurie said, proud to know something important.
"Apparently Sultan Ahmed III was fascinated by the culture of Versailles.
He had heard of the fancy parties and great banquets there.
He wanted to bring a bit of that to the Ottoman Empire.
So he built fountains and mosques that could be lit up at night.
And he built a new palace with beautiful gardens.
The gardens were of course filled with tulips—
tulips with round petals, tulips with pointed petals, tulips with brilliant yellow petals, and tulips streaked red and purple.
Acrobats and entertainers performed in these gardens, while artists sketched, and poets wrote beneath the stars.
And sometimes, on really special nights, the royal gardeners strapped candles onto the backs of turtles and released them in between the rows of tulips.
The colorful flowers were illuminated all night."
"That sounds like fun," Laurie said. "Were kids allowed to go?"
"I'm sure the royal children were. At least until their bedtime.
Sounds like a happy time to be living in the Ottoman Empire, doesn't it?" Grandpa asked.
"Only if you're invited to the parties!" Laurie said.
"Clever girl," Grandpa said, nodding. "Naturally the entire empire was not invited.
And even though it was one of the wealthiest periods in Ottoman history, not everyone enjoyed such luxury.
Peasants who were struggling to earn a living each day were unhappy. And so were the janissaries."
"Who were the janissaries?" Laurie asked.
"They were the Ottoman Empire's soldiers. During the empire's periods of conquest, they were quite respected.
But in peace time, they didn't have anything to do!
Some became gardeners or craftsmen, and others became restless.
Eventually war broke out in the 1720s on the empire's borders with Iran.
Ottoman troops went to Iran, but they failed to settle anything, and the Ottomans lost some territory.
Unhappy with the sultan's weak military response, a group of janissaries revolted.
The sultan was forced to resign and had the grand vizier executed.
For a few weeks, there was chaos as the rebels burned palaces and destroyed signs of excess wealth.
Finally the new sultan, Mahmud, put an end to the rebellion, but the happy times were over.
Mahmud was occupied with wars against Iran and Russia for the rest of his reign, and didn't have much time for fancy garden parties."
"No more tulips for the Ottoman Empire?" Laurie asked, looking down at the bulb in her palm.
"Well, tulips are still a pride of Turkey and appear in lots of Turkish art.
We could call them a legacy of Sultan Ahmed III's reign."
Laurie put the bulb on top of her head.
"I'm going to go plant my turban now," she said, giggling. "See you later, Grandpa."