The 1675 Imperial Festival and Firework Makers in an Ottoman Register

This article offers a micro-level examination of the firework makers in the 1675 imperial festival which took place in Edirne during the reign of Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). It presents a critical approach to the festival, focusing on the firework displays. This study examines overlooked dimensions of the firework displays, such as daily wages and food provisions of the firework makers, their accommodations, and inventories of the materials they used to engineer firework devices. Using eyewitness accounts, festival books, and archvial sources, it reveals previously unexamined aspects of Ottoman pyrotechnics and firework making.