Hijri Calendar - (تقويم هجری; Turkish: Hicri takvim; Bulgarian: Хиджра)
This is the Islamic lunar calendar, still used in Arabic countries. Surprisingly it's use and application in Ottoman Empire is not very well understood by many ottomanists. One must not forget that this calendar was replaced by the purely solar Rumi / Mali calendar by the time of Tanzimat reforms1), thus from 1840 on later became the only official calendar till 26 December 1925.
The second important issue that hampers even experienced researchers is the spelling of the months in latin. One can hardly find two articles that spell Hijcri months the same way.
There is a fundamental difference in reading Ottoman and Arabic and so the months have different spelling.
For example the holy month of Ramazan (as is spelled in modern Turkish) should not be written Ramadan (as is spelled in English, which is based on Arabic pronunciation). To avoid mistakes one should consult Yazım Kılıvuzu, which standardizes spelling in Turkish.
Ottoman | Turkish | Arabic pronunciation | Days |
---|---|---|---|
محرم | Muharrem | Row 1 Col 3 | 30 |
صفر | Safer | 29 | |
ربيع الاول | Rebiyülevvel | Row 2 Col 3 | 30 |
Rebiyülahir | 29 | ||
جمادى الاول | Cemaziyelevvel | 30 | |
Cemaziyelahir | Row 2 Col 3 | 29 | |
رجب | Recep | Row 1 Col 3 | 30 |
شعبان | Şaban | 29 | |
رمضان | Ramazan | Row 2 Col 3 | 30 |
شوال | Şevval | Row 1 Col 3 | 29 |
ذو القعده | Zilkade | 30 | |
ذو الحجه | Zilhicce | Row 2 Col 3 | 29 or 30 |
Tarih Çevirme Kılavuzu - easy to use, but converts dates to Gregorian (new style) only