How many governments, rulers, or royals have artisanal sides or hobbies these days? It is quite unusual today to see a governor doing design or craftsmanship, but for the Ottoman Sultans, that was different. It is known that almost every Ottoman Sultan had a hobby or profession other than being a Sultan or Prince; for some scholars, this is the same as following the holly messenger’s lifestyle as they have a profession other than being a messenger of God.

A colorful personality, the last Ottoman Sultan

With the rise of Turkish historical television series, more people know about the individual lives of Ottoman Sultans, and one of the most popular ones is Abdulhamid II, who we see in the show often spending his time in his carpentry workshop. Sultan Abdulhamid, known as one of the most mysterious Ottoman Sultan known as a genius carpenter whose father is also a calligrapher. One of the best pieces, a study desk with hidden drawers and a great craftsmanship table, is exhibited in Beylerbeyi Palace and is still amazing today, even by the by the best craftsmen for the design and techniques. This complex and artistic design with hidden compartments is seen as a reflection of the last Ottoman Sultan. He was a colourful person and intellectual with different interests like reading, photography, painting, craftmanship, and sports.

The Sultan of Ottoman’s hardest time rested his mind with books and calmed his body with carpentry, he did not abandon books and carpentry, even in his years of exile. He was very skilled, especially in fine wood carving, best craftsmen could not produce the hardest woodworks works as fine as his; he had a personal carpentry shop in Yıldız for this purpose. Most reputable and known Turkish historian and old Topkapi Palace manager, as İlber Ortaylı said, "If Sultan Abdulhamid II had not been a sultan, he would have been a world-famous artist whose name was mentioned with his furniture and designs. If he were the man of this era, he would be the designer of the best automobiles, possibly with his genius and creativity."

Tamirhane-i Humayun in Yıldız Palace

Tamirhane-i Hümayun, which means 'repair shop or workshop of sultan', was established by the order of the sultan for the princes to learn carpentry and to meet the wooden furniture needs of Yıldız Palace, it was more than a workshop but an academy for furniture masters, of which the 34th last Ottoman Sultan was head teacher. It was built with the single-story Baghdadi technique in the section running parallel to the inner garden of Yıldız Palace that had approximately 60 workers, most of them foreigners living in Ottoman lands or from different countries in Europe, working in the "Big Carpenter Shop" that was managed by Mehmet Efendi.

The Sultan gifted the wood carvings he liked to his guests, and in 1888, a 35-horsepower steam engine and a steam-powered grater were purchased from Europe to equip this workshop with the latest machinery in the industry. The sultan has his own small workshop for his personal work and has equipment mostly for wood carving, mother-of-pearl inlay, and different techniques, some of which are from Japan. Today, this furniture and equipment are still exhibited in Yildiz, Beylerbeyi, Dolmabahce Palaces, and other late era Ottoman palaces.

The furniture pieces or joinery produced in Tamirhane-i Hümayun have the Sultan’s tuğra (tughra is a calligraphic monogram, seal, or signature of a sultan); however, this does not mean that all these items were done by the Sultan himself. Some of the pieces done by Sultan are known from the memories of Pashas or his daughters, but even if he didn’t do the items, he designed most of them, especially some items which has hidden compartments and functions done by Sultan himself.

Secret of the great sultans

All Ottoman sultans were very intellectual and interested in art, design, and engineering and even produced many pieces; however, these sides of rulers are not well known. The Magnificent Kanuni Sultan Sulaiman was a very skilled goldsmith; Fatih was a great engineer, which made him the conqueror of the century,

The sultans, who took lessons from private teachers during their princely years, produced works in many branches of art and craft in the following years. They sold these valuable works to the pashas and lords around them and distributed money as alms to the needy. In the Ottoman Empire, where 27 of its 36 sultans were poets, in addition to poetry, works were produced in the fields of music, painting, hunting, jewellery, carpentry, calligraphy, engraving, carving, and violin making. Maybe that creativity and mind-hand work are the main reasons why the Ottoman Empire became one of the three biggest empires.