Fireworks displays at Okmeydanı on the second night of the festival

 

46a

 

45b

In (45b) the sultan is seated in the domed observation tower accompanied by two pages as he watches the show. Grand Vizier İbrahim Pasha is again ensconced in his private tent outside the imperial pavilion and joined by Mehmed Agha. In (46a) we see Levni’s rendition of this evening’s fireworks show, the center-piece of which is the "Mausoleum of Afrasiyab", a castle-like structure containing about two thousand fireworks. The stork perched on the roof is also a firework which, when ignited, begins to burn and make croaking sounds. Next to the mausoleum is a tent-like frame that held about eight-hundred fireworks:

When its outermost rim was lit, it turned into a canopy of light while rockets hurtling from within it soared into the sky.

The star of the evening’s performance however was a seven-headed dragon, fashioned so as to move its body back and forth and spout flames from its seven maws. Levni has depicted the dragon being challenged by two sackers in this frame. A third one in the lower left corner of (45b) hastens to their aid.

Notes

1. Afrasiyab: A Turanian hero in Persian poetry.

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