The history of geometric patterns in Turkish and Islamic art: Methodology, applications and analysis in context of the Topkapı scroll

It is unfortunate that the Turkish world does not have an active role in the few studies being done on the geometric patterns that are found in great variety across the Muslim world. There has not been any doctoral thesis conducted on the analysis of geometric patterns until now. The few existing thesis are based on a descriptive approach within the perspective of art history and architecture. We tackle the Topkapi scroll, which has been published with its facsimile and critical edition by Gülru Necipoglu, as holistically for the first time. In this thesis, starting from the findings of Necipoglu and widening the scope with our analysis, we have, with a focus on geometric patterns, reconsidered the cultural and geographical background of where the scroll was produced. We have run technical investigations on site, and collected data from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Morocco, Egypt and Turkey. And for the places we could not go, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, we analysed detailed visuals that we have optioned through our friends who live there. This way, we have both analysed the geometric patterns that are found in the Topkapi Scroll, and tried to demonstrate the kinship of the related patterns after listening to the whispers of our analysis. Keywords: Topkapı Scroll, Geometric Patterns, Geometric Patterns in Islamic Architecture, Geometric Pattern Analysis.