Languages of diplomatic gift-giving at the Ottoman court

To comprehend fully the role of gift-exchange in Ottoman diplomacy, a mix of approaches is necessary. Conceptualising diplomatic gift-giving as involving a series of ‘languages’, which could function independently but frequently interacted, permits a more sophisticated, multi-layered analysis. This chapter first analyses the protocols surrounding gift-giving at the Porte, providing insights into the structures within which specific items were given. It then turns to the performances involved in the moments of exchange, both by diplomatic actors and by the gift-objects themselves. Finally, the chapter discusses the ways in which the material qualities of specific gifts could communicate additional messages about the relationship between the donor and the recipient. Diplomats and Ottomans alike required great facility with the languages of gifts, because, more often than not such languages did not exist as distinct idioms, but frequently overlapped or interacted in important ways with one another to render gifts and their wordless messages meaningful to the recipient.