Istanbul Ka Tulip (P.B) (Hindi)

The Tale of Istanbul is a historical novel that showcases the splendor of the Turkish Empire through the lenses of art, aesthetics, imagination, and grandeur. It also depicts a period of economic and social decline, extravagance, and wastefulness. This era, known as the Tulip Era, witnessed a major popular uprising in 1730 that changed the course of Turkey’s destiny.

The novel begins with the story of a young man whose beautiful wife is murdered on their wedding night. Even more astonishing is that this innocent young man is imprisoned for the murder of his own wife. To prove his innocence and find his wife’s killer, his only clue is a tulip bulb found in the palm of his deceased wife. Unaware of his true identity, he does not know that he is actually a prince, the son of a sultan, raised outside the palace. Later, rumors of his presence in the royal circles lead to a conspiracy.

Woven with historical and cultural details, the story gives readers a glimpse of life inside royal palaces and dervish dwellings, while also revealing the gardening secrets of cultivating special tulip varieties. It introduces readers to innovative treatments in mental asylums, the various torture devices of prisons, and conspiracies hatched in coffee houses and baths by discontented revolutionaries and criminals.

At a time when the world was fascinated by the military, political, and artistic achievements of the Turkish Empire, ?skender Pala vividly portrays the splendor and vices of Istanbul during this era.

About the Author:
?skender Pala was born in 1958 in U?ak, Turkey. He graduated from Istanbul University’s Faculty of Literature in 1979 and received his doctorate in Ottoman Turkish Divan Literature from the same university in 1983. His short stories, essays, theoretical articles, and newspaper columns have inspired readers to view Divan literature in a new light.

He has received the Turkish Writers’ Union Award (1989), the Turkish Language Foundation Award (1990), and the Turkish Writers’ Union Essay Award (1996). In U?ak, he was honored with the title “The People’s Poet.” His books — Death in Babylon, Love in Istanbul, The Tulip of Istanbul, The King and the Sultan, and Od and Mihmandar — have won several literary awards and enjoy a large readership. In recognition of his literary achievements, he was awarded the President’s Culture and Arts Grand Award in 2013.

?skender Pala is married with three children and teaches at Çulçur University.