Summary
Zorica Janković: Caru na divan: Encounters between Serbian rulers and Turkish sultans
History in the true sense of the word does not exist, only biographies." – Ralph Waldo Emerson The official visits of Serbian rulers to the Ottoman sultans were of great diplomatic importance for our nation. Miloš Obrenović was the first to bow to the Turkish sultan in Istanbul in 1835, and the last to King Petar I. Karađorđević in 1910. However, in that short period of seventy-five years, numerous social and political events shaped the history of Serbia within the borders of the Ottoman Empire, and each reception by the then Serbian delegation was an attempt to ease the position of the oppressed people. These pages describe behind-the-scenes stories that left a far-reaching impact on the course of history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is written in a beautiful and attractive style and language." More than a description of sometimes tedious and monotonous political negotiations, the author deals with the atmosphere, ceremony, description of trips, personalities, luxurious suits, uniforms, carriages, balls, decorations and a multitude of other events that illustrate times, people, courts, mentality and a sense of protocol details that emphasize a political or personal relationship in a literary exciting way..." - Slavenko Terzić, academician and historian
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