2-913-587 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Turkish Dervishes - from an original drawing by James Robertson, of Constantinople, 1854. 'Among the varied population of Constantinople, not the least picturesque are the Dervishes, whose dancing and howling performances are stock subjects in most books of travels to the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Their full trousers and huge mantles, and Eastern head-dress, make up a very effective costume...Contrary to the custom of all the other Moslemah...the dervishes permit Europeans to penetrate to the very heart of their tekkes, on the sole condition of leaving their boots or shoes at the entrance, and entering in bare feet or with slippers. They chant their litanies, and perform their evolutions without seeming in the least disturbed by the presence of Christians, whose attendance as spectators, is said, on the contrary, to be regarded by them as rather flattering than otherwise...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.