1501-1736: The Safavid Empire ruled in Persia. The establishment of Shia Islam as the state religion helped unify the empire. The seat of the empire was at first located in Tabriz, then moved to Kazvin, and later, to Isfahan. The first Safavid ruler, Shah Ismail (reigned 1501-24), subdued the areas that the Whitesheep ruled in Azerbaijan and Persia. Persia weakened appreciably during the rule of Shah Tahmasp I (reigned 1524-76).

1512: The Flight of Bihzad. The great miniaturist Bihzad emigrated from Herat to Tabriz.

1514: The Plunder of the Seven Heavens Palace. The Ottoman Sultan Selim the Grim, after defeating the Safavid army at Chaldiran, plundered the Seven Heavens Palace in Tabriz. He returned to Istanbul with an exquisite collection of Persian miniatures and books.

1520-66: Süleyman the Magnificent and the Golden Age of Ottoman Culture. The reign of Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Important conquests expanded the empire to the east and the west, including the first seige of Vienna (1529) and the capture of Baghdad from the Safavids (1535).

1556-1605: Reign of Akbar, Emperor of Hindustan, a descendant of Tamerlane and Genghis Khan. He established miniaturists’ workshops in Agra.

1566-74: The reign of Ottoman Sultan Selim II. Peace treaties signed with Austria and Persia.

1571: The Battle of Lepanto. A four-hour naval battle between allied Christian forces and the Ottomans subsequent to the Ottoman invasion of Cyprus (1570). Though the Ottomans were defeated, Venice surrendered Cyprus to the Ottomans in 1573. The battle had great impact on European morale and was the subject of paintings by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.

1574-95: The reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat III (during whose rule the events of our novel take place). His rule witnessed a series of struggles between 1578-90 known as the Ottoman-Safavid wars. He was the Ottoman sultan most interested in miniatures and books, and he had the Book of Skills, the Book of Festivities and the Book of Victories produced in Istanbul. The most prominent Ottoman miniaturists, including Osman the Miniaturist (Master Osman) and his disciples, contributed to them.

1576: Shah Tahmasp’s Peace Offering to the Ottomans. After decades of hostility, Safavid Shah Tahmasp made a present to the Ottoman Sultan Selim II upon the death of Süleyman the Magnificent in an attempt to foster future peace. Among the gifts sent to Edirne is an exceptional copy of the Book of Kings, produced over a period of twenty-five years. The book was later transferred to the Treasury in the Topkapi Palace.

1583: The Persian miniaturist Velijan (Olive), about ten years after coming to Istanbul, is commissioned to work for the Ottoman court.

1587-1629: Reign of the Safavid Persian ruler Shah Abbas I, begins with the deposition of his father Muhammad Khodabandeh. Shah Abbas reduced Turkmen power in Persia by moving the capital from Kazvin to Isfahan. He made peace with the Ottomans in 1590.

1591: The Story of Black and the Ottoman Court Painters. A year before the thousandth anniversary (calculated in lunar years) of the Hegira, Black returns to Istanbul from the east, beginning the events recounted in the novel.

1603-17: The reign of Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I, who destroyed the large clock with statuary sent to the sultan as a present by Queen Elizabeth I.

Erdağ M. Göknar is visiting assistant professor of Turkish language and culture at Duke University. He is also writing his first novel.