AMEN PARADE AND USED IN PAINTINGS

Primary schools (sübyan mektebi) in Ottoman educational system were primarily established to teach Kuran- Kerim and had religious context. Besides children had to study alphabet (elifba) to read and write Kuran and in time some lessons were added to course programmes. Therefore, the context was enriched. Amen parade for children (Âmin alayı) were mostly organised in response to beginning of primary school for the children of wealthy families. It was an important tradition in Ottoman social history. The rituals of this procession have been analysed by scholars in the context of education and social history. Besides the literature, there are also some paintings made by foreign and Turkish artists which are satisfactory documents for this subject. The subject matter of these paintings may be considered as genre paintings focusing on a special event. In the eighteenth century the paintings of Van Mour, some nighteenth century gravures and the paintings of Rıfat Çeteci and Malik Aksel reflect this tradition from different points of view.