A fascinating study of Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire by a Punjabi author. It includes charming, well-executed illustrations of Istanbul's sites and locals. These include a striking foldout lithographic print of the Sultan and his cavalcade. The work shows how Muslim-Indians were using the lives of Muslims in the Ottoman Empire to assess their standards of living under British rule.

The book commences by discussing the history and key sites of Istanbul. This includes a chapter about the Aya Sophia, a focal point of Muslim interest in the city. Ali Khan proceeds to outline the Ottoman empire’s system for education. These are divided between primary, secondary and higher stages. Further passages include the practices of Eid, a copy of a document relating to Ottoman reforms and the transcript of a speech that Khan gave in London. 

Curiously, Ali Khan also includes a list of bookstores around Istanbul. This provides a rare insight into the Turkish book trade in Istanbul at the turn of the century.

In the 1890s, Indian authors began wanting to produce travelogues free from Western bias. An example of this was Shibli Nomani (1857-1914) who wrote about his travels to Izmir in 1892. Navaz highlights an example of this bias, noting that Nomani recalled the increase in the number of schools in Turkey from 94 to 405, and wondered why European writers chose to ignore such developments. 

Ali Khan’s appears to have shared Nomani’s outlook about the Ottoman Empire. The offered book contains a chapter, about the rituals related to Eid al-Fitr, copied and attributed to Nomani’s travelogue.

Nawazish Ali Khan belonged to one of the ruling families of the Lahore district, becoming the Nawab following his father’s death in 1866. He was staunchly supportive of the British rule in India and received many recognitions for Anglo-Indian service. This included Ali Khan being made a Knight of the Indian Empire in 1890.

Ali Khan was also recorded as being philanthropic. He funded the Maktab at Ali Abad and gave stipends to its 20 orphaned pupils. This likely explains his interest in the educational reforms taking place in the Ottoman Empire.

Rare. This cataloguer locates a single holding at the BL (which is listed in the South Asia Union Project).