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The Arcadian Library: Available online for the first time! View rare books and documents of the Arcadian Library focus exclusively on the shared cultural heritage of Europe and the Arab World: https://www.arcadianlibraryonline.com/about-the-arcadian-library

In association with Oxford University Press, the Arcadian Library publishes illustrated, scholarly books inspired by the library’s holdings.

The Arcadian Library is an exceptional, privately-owned library, which documents and celebrates the centuries-old interface between Europe and the Middle East.

From the deserts of eastern Chad, the Wadai Sultanate built one of Central Africa’s most enduring Muslim states — a kingdom of scholars, caravans and cavalry that flourished for nearly three centuries before falling to French colonial conquest.

Long before European powers carved up Africa, a powerful Muslim kingdom stood between the Sahara and the savannah.
Centred in present-day eastern Chad, the Wadai Sultanate emerged in the seventeenth century and endured for almost 300 years. Built on Islamic governance, scholarship, trade and military strength, it became one of the most influential states in the Central Sahel.

Its rulers controlled vital trans-Saharan caravan routes, developed a sophisticated administrative system and extended their authority across a vast and culturally diverse region.

But Wadai’s story is not only one of kings, armies and conquest. It is also the story of a Muslim civilisation deeply connected to wider networks of learning, commerce and faith linking Central Africa with North Africa and the broader Islamic world.

The rise of Wadai
The sultanate arose after the decline of the Tunjur kingdom, which had dominated parts of eastern Chad and western Sudan.

Around 1635, Abd al-Karim overthrew the last Tunjur ruler and founded a new dynasty. He took the title of Kolak, the traditional designation of Wadai’s sultans, and established his capital at Wara, also known as Ouara.

Abd al-Karim’s authority rested on more than military power. He was associated with Islamic scholarship and religious legitimacy, with historical traditions linking him to learned scholars from the Central Sudan.
His rise reflected a wider pattern across the Sahel, where Muslim rulers strengthened their authority through Islamic learning, political alliances and military strength.

Islam at the heart of the state
Islam formed the foundation of Wadai’s political and social order. Islamic institutions shaped administration, courts and public life, while jurists, scholars and imams held influential positions within government. Islamic law provided an important framework for justice, governance and royal authority.

Wadai was also home to diverse communities, including the Maba, Tunjur, Fur and Arab peoples. While Islam became firmly rooted among the ruling elite and in urban centres, older customs and local traditions continued in parts of the kingdom.

The early rulers of Wadai faced pressure from the neighbouring Muslim Sultanate of Darfur. For a period, they paid tribute to Darfur, but gradually consolidated their authority and asserted independence.
By the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Wadai had expanded its territory, strengthened central administration and built a disciplined military capable of defending and extending its influence.

Provincial governors collected tribute, maintained public order and mobilised troops when required. At the centre of the state stood the Kolak, supported by military commanders, advisers and respected religious figures.

A centre of Islamic learning
Wara became a symbol of Wadai’s political ambition and Islamic identity. Protected by defensive walls, the capital housed the sultan’s palace, royal residences, mosques and centres of religious learning. It functioned not only as the kingdom’s administrative capital, but also as an important centre of Islamic scholarship.
Wadai’s scholars maintained close links with the wider Muslim world. Along the same caravan routes that carried commercial goods came books, paper, manuscripts and religious texts.

Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic literacy and theological scholarship flowed between Wadai, Darfur, Bornu, Egypt and North Africa.

Nineteenth-century travellers described a society where Qur’anic education was widespread. Villages maintained Qur’anic schools, while larger towns supported more advanced centres of learning.
Scholars preserved Islamic knowledge, advised rulers and reinforced the religious legitimacy of the state.

Caravans, commerce and power
Wadai’s location was one of its greatest strengths. Positioned along major trans-Saharan trade routes, it linked Central Africa with North Africa and the Mediterranean world. Caravans carried ivory, ostrich feathers, hides and other commodities northwards, while firearms, textiles, books and luxury goods entered the kingdom.

One of the most important routes passed through the Sahara towards Kufra and Benghazi, allowing Wadai to strengthen its economic independence by reducing reliance on rival states.

Trade generated immense wealth. That wealth financed the royal court, strengthened the military and reinforced the authority of the Kolak.

But Wadai’s prosperity was also tied to the trans-Saharan slave trade. Like several states across the region during this period, the sultanate participated in slave raids and commercial networks that treated human beings as commodities.
This remains one of the most painful and undeniable aspects of its history.

The golden age of Sultan Sabun
Wadai reached the height of its power under Sultan Muhammad Sabun, who ruled from 1803 to 1813.
Sabun expanded the kingdom’s territory, defeated Bagirmi and established Wadai as one of the dominant powers in the Chad Basin.

He understood that economic strength and military power were inseparable. His government encouraged caravan routes that bypassed rival states while investing heavily in the kingdom’s armed forces.
Wadai’s military included cavalry, infantry and soldiers armed with lances, swords, shields and firearms. Its mounted cavalry became especially renowned across the open landscapes of the Sahel, where speed and mobility often decided battles.

Later in the nineteenth century, Sultan Muhammad al-Sharif moved the capital from Wara to Abéché, which offered greater advantages for administration and commerce.

Abéché rapidly developed into one of Central Africa’s leading commercial and religious centres.

The city also became closely connected to the Senussi Order, an influential Islamic revival movement whose lodges stretched across North Africa and the Sahara.
These lodges served as centres of worship, learning, hospitality, trade and diplomacy, further integrating Wadai into Islamic networks extending through Kufra and present-day Libya.

France’s colonial assault
By the end of the nineteenth century, Wadai faced growing pressure. Darfur had re-emerged as a regional rival, succession disputes weakened political unity and local conflicts strained the kingdom’s resources. But the greatest threat came from French colonial expansion.

France sought control over Central Africa through military conquest, political alliances, manipulation of local rivalries and intervention in succession disputes. Following the death of Sultan Yusuf in 1898, divisions within the royal family created an opening for colonial interference.

Muhammad Salih, better known as Dud Murra, emerged as the leading figure in Wadai’s final struggle for independence. Backed by the Senussi Order, he tried to preserve the sovereignty of the sultanate against advancing French forces.

France, meanwhile, supported a rival claimant, Adam Asil, and launched a sustained military campaign. In 1909, French troops captured Abéché, delivering a devastating blow to Wadai’s political authority.

Dud Murra continued resisting beyond the capital, but French forces had superior weaponry, stronger organisation and expanding colonial resources. They gradually isolated Wadai by targeting its allies and dependent territories.

By 1910, Dud Murra’s resistance had been broken. By 1912, the Wadai Sultanate had been fully incorporated into French colonial rule.

A legacy beyond conquest
The fall of Wadai was not the collapse of a weak or insignificant kingdom.

For nearly three centuries, the sultanate endured because it adapted to changing political realities, built effective institutions and remained deeply connected to regional networks of trade and Islamic scholarship.
Its collapse came when French colonial conquest met internal division and regional rivalry.

Today, Wadai stands as an enduring reminder that Central Africa was home to sophisticated Muslim states long before European colonial rule.

Its rulers combined political organisation, military strength, commerce and religious authority to build a kingdom that shaped the history of the Central Sahel.
Its scholars connected eastern Chad to a wider world of Islamic learning stretching across Africa and beyond.
The story of Wadai is therefore not simply one of conquest and defeat. It is the story of a Muslim sultanate that defended its independence for centuries and whose legacy continues to illuminate the rich Islamic heritage of Central Africa.

https://1nationmedia.com/index.php/2026/07/04/wadai-the-islamic-sultanate-that-ruled-the-sahel-for-centuries/

It's not just the 4th of July. It's also the anniversary of when the US shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian passenger plane, killing 290 people including 66 children.

Prem Thakker breaks down how the failure to hold anyone accountable led exactly to what's unfolding today.

There is a rare thrill that comes from being afforded a behind-the-scenes insight into the inner world of one of history’s great dynasties.

That is precisely what Ayse Osmanoglu, a writer and member of the House of Osman, the Ottoman dynasty, has given us in her new book Palace in the Mist, published on 3 July by Hanedan Press.

Osmanoglu, who lives in England, is a princess by lineage - a descendant of two Ottoman sultans, Murad V and Mehmed Resad, and the granddaughter of an imperial prince exiled from Istanbul in 1924 when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, did away with the caliphate.

This makes her uniquely placed to pen this captivating book set in the twilight of the Ottoman empire.
Palace in the Mist tells the intimate story of Osmanoglu’s ancestors in the palaces of Istanbul against the backdrop of the 1908 Young Turk revolution, which transformed the empire’s history.

It is an unusual work, somewhere between a novel and an academic history. Every major character depicted is real and Osmanoglu has gone to great lengths to ensure her portrayals are historically faithful.
Her aversion to embellishment means that some of the characters occasionally feel thin and under-written. Yet this is a price well worth paying for the book’s accuracy and authenticity. 

Indeed, Osmanoglu’s sources are unique: the obscure memoirs of figures who lived at that time, and accounts passed down to her personally. 

“During my childhood, I was lucky enough to be told numerous stories regarding bygone times by my paternal grandparents and my great-aunts and uncles and I tried to commit all of these to memory,” she tells us at the book's opening. “They gave me a precious insight into what life was like for the people who lived in the Ottoman palaces at the turn of the 20th century.”
The Young Ottomans, a band of reformers who aimed to turn the empire into a liberal constitutional monarchy, launched a coup against the reigning Sultan Abdulaziz on 30 May 1876. 

They swiftly deposed him and installed his nephew Prince Murad, Osmanoglu’s ancestor, as the new sultan. 

Murad, a liberal constitutionalist, was so paranoid that people would suspect him of having conspired against Abdulaziz that he had a nervous breakdown. He was deemed unfit to govern and the sultanate passed to his younger brother, who became Sultan Abdulhamid II on 1 September 1876.

A parliament was established, along with a constitution. But before long the highly paranoid Abdulhamid dissolved parliament and began arresting dissenters. He felt threatened by his own family, and locked them up too.

This included Murad and his son Prince Mehmed Selahaddin, confined in the “gilded cage” of the Ciragan Palace for 28 years.

'The world moves against me'
Palace in the Mist begins in the final years of Abdulhamid’s iron-fisted rule and Osmanoglu reconstructs that history in vivid prose and with fastidious attention to detail.

We are told, for instance, about the sultan’s “crisp white linen shirt and navy-blue trousers” and the gold buttons of his tailored jacket.

“The world moves against me,” he whispers at one point, waving a pistol around in an empty room.
Betrayal and revolt are central themes of the book. The Young Turks, including one of the protagonists, Captain Hafiz Ismail Hakki, grapple with the prospect of betraying the sultan in an attempt to establish the empire as a democratic constitutional monarchy. 
There is plenty of intrigue; in one scene masked rebels stand over a table on which lie “the Qu’ran and the revolver, gleaming ominously in the golden light”.

But Osmanoglu also pays attention to the lives of the women of the Ottoman imperial family, including young princesses living in confinement.

Thus we are introduced to Princess Rukiye, Murad’s granddaughter, who devours the Sherlock Holmes novels gifted to Abdulhamid by their English author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

There is also the tragic Princess Hadice, a daughter of Murad, and her illicit romantic correspondence with the young Kemaleddin Pasha. She is disgraced and he exiled. When he finally returns years later to Istanbul, she refuses to see him. 
Osmanoglu describes glamorous parties held beneath soaring ceilings and “chandeliers dripped with countless crystals”. 

In this rarified and privileged world, the scent “of oud and musk clung to the tailored frock coats” of princes and politicians drinking sherbet and “cardamom-scented coffee”, to the sound of the “soft melodies of the Imperial orchestra”.
The watershed moment comes in July 1908, when the Young Turks force Abdulhamid to reinstate the 1876 constitution and recall parliament.
The sheikh-ul-islam, the chief jurisconsult of the empire, sides with the revolutionaries at the most critical juncture. 

When asked to issue a legal ruling against the insurgents, the sheikh-ul-islam tells a dismayed Abdulhamid that “the Constitution accords with Sharia… To refuse it would be to defy Divine law”.
Thus parliament is given the power to hold the sultan to account, and his absolutism is brought to an end. 

A revolution betrayed
This extraordinary political experiment frees Murad’s family from their confinement. But it is short-lived.
We are introduced to Ali Kemal, a liberal journalist with a “flamboyant moustache” - an ancestor of Boris Johnson, a recent British prime minister.
“They may silence a man,” Kemal boldly declares, “but never an idea. If ink is treason, let the gallows be our pressroom.”

Many of the Young Turks, however, desire a centralised and bureaucratic state. Prince Sabahaddin, the revolutionary son of Abdulhamid’s sister, argues in vain that “it is essential that the provinces be given autonomy if the Empire is to survive”. He loses the debate.
Ultimately the revolution is betrayed on all sides. An armed uprising erupts, initially consisting of disgruntled soldiers and madrasa students. The Young Turks turn autocratic and ruthlessly put down the mutiny.
Abdulhamid, accused of “appeasing” the mutineers, is deposed and exiled from Istanbul. “Allah and history will bear witness that I have served the State faithfully,” he insists.

Mehmed Resad, an ancestor of Osmanoglu, is appointed the new sultan. There will be much more tumult and bloodshed to come.

Beautifully written and carefully crafted, moving gracefully between high politics and family drama, Palace in the Mist is an extraordinary accomplishment.
Osmanoglu has gifted us an inside story, and an essential read for all lovers of Ottoman history. 

Palace in the Mist: The Ottoman Dynasty Chronicles by Ayse Osmanoglu is available in paperback and hardback from 3 July

https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/palace-mist-ottoman-princess-inside-story-dynasty-during-1908-revolution

In this episode of Live, Love & Decorate With Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Martyn takes viewers inside some of Istanbul’s most remarkable homes and interiors, exploring spaces that reflect the city’s rich history, cultural diversity, and timeless elegance.

The journey begins at the waterside mansion of one of Martyn’s dearest friends, philanthropist and businesswoman Nebi Koç, whose yali is a masterful reflection of Istanbul’s layered past. Next, architectural designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu—the first woman to design a mosque in modern Turkey—opens the doors to her extraordinary home and the suite she designed at the world-renowned Peninsula Hotel.

Later, a 19th-century Bosphorus yali by Serdar Gülgün showcases a stunning collection of Ottoman art and design, blending tradition with contemporary sensibilities.

The tour concludes at the enchanting home and garden of İrem Kınay, tucked in the shadow of Rumeli Fortress, where elegance and intimacy converge.

These visionary designers and their exceptional spaces offer an intimate glimpse into Istanbul at its most inspiring.

Ottoman Coffeehouse has become one of the most celebrated independent cafés in the UK, earning recognition as the No. 1 coffee shop in the United Kingdom and No. 7 in Europe. This short profile documentary explores what sets Ottoman Coffeehouse apart, from its unique approach to specialty coffee and carefully designed interior to the experience, rooted in Ottoman coffee culture, that has earned it international acclaim. Located in Glasgow, Ottoman Coffeehouse has built a reputation that extends far beyond the city, attracting coffee lovers from across the UK and beyond.

Campaigners and scholars say that recent revelations that the British Museum made false claims about its removal of "Palestine" from its displays raise serious questions regarding the integrity and transparency of its policy and practice.
A Middle East Eye investigation published on Wednesday revealed that the museum’s decision to remove the terms “Palestine”, “Palestinian” and “Israelite occupation” from its displays came in direct response to months of lobbying in 2024.

While the museum previously claimed that the changes were motivated by “audience testing”, the disclosures to MEE show that no such testing took place, and that amendments were made following a series of private and public complaints by pro-Israel activists.

Disclosed internal emails further contradict museum director Nicholas Cullinan’s claims in February that he “knew nothing” about a letter sent by UK Lawyers for Israel, despite it being addressed to him and sent directly to his office email, with staff having even “flagged” it for his office.

Cullinan further insisted that the changes were made months prior, “during a regular gallery refresh”, and that the museum’s curators had “thought long and hard” about them. The disclosures reveal that some of the changes were made hours after one complaint.

Culture Unstained (CU), a group that has campaigned over the museum’s exhibitions with fossil fuel giant BP, warned that the museum and Cullinan may have breached the Museums Association’s Code of Ethics, and have called for an independent investigation into their conduct.

The code stipulates that “museums need to ensure that decision making is based on best professional practice, is open and transparent, and delivers public benefit”. 

A CU spokesperson told MEE that the findings suggest the Museum “has been swayed by undue political influence which has then undermined ethical and curatorial rigour”, saying that Cullinan’s “misleading statements… served to muddy the waters and obscure the truth of what actually happened”.

MEE contacted the Museums Association for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Dan Hicks, an Oxford University professor and author of The Brutish Museums, told MEE that the emails raise questions about “influence, procedure, and academic integrity". 

As research institutions, he explained, “decisions over gallery texts in organisations like the British Museum must be grounded in curatorial expertise and dialogue with all relevant stakeholders and communities.
"In this case, the concern is that knee-jerk top-down reactions have led to what appear to be ill-considered changes in reaction to random social media posts, overriding, short-circuiting or simply disregarding established procedures.

“The degree of redaction and sustained silence in the British Museum’s replies to MEE’s story is hard to understand," Hicks said.

“A clear, substantive, comprehensive, and fully transparent statement about the timeline, rationale, and process for these changes to public-facing signage is now urgently needed," he added.

“What could there possibly be to hide?”

The British Museum did not respond to MEE's detailed questions about the findings of its investigation but instead shared a press statement originally released in February.

A spokesperson told MEE: “It has been reported that the British Museum has removed the term Palestine from displays. It is simply not true. We continue to use Palestine across a series of galleries, both contemporary and historic.”

‘Absolutely existential’
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, recalled that Cullinan had assured him in a phone call on 16 February that “nothing has changed”, but that he “was not convinced”.

“From day one, the British Museum’s story did not add up,” he told MEE.

Zumlot emphasised that the museum’s “erasure” of Palestinian history also has implications for its future.
“This is absolutely existential for us in light of the ongoing genocide.”

Peter Leary, deputy director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, noted that the museum’s decision to amend its displays “seems to have unfolded against the backdrop of Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.

“With an independent UN inquiry confirming just last week that Israel is targeting and killing Palestinian children as part of a strategy designed to destroy the future of the Palestinians, this chilling evidence indicates that pro-Israel groups have been simultaneously working to eliminate all mention of their past,” Leary told MEE.

He urged the museum to take "steps to address its own shameful record” instead of “choosing to collaborate with efforts to expunge Palestinians and their history”.
Emails also reveal internal staff dissent that the museum’s position was “contradictory”, with “standard” answers already available to address complaints related to content about Israel and Palestine.

Museum staffers previously told MEE that they were kept in the dark about the museum’s hosting of an event marking the anniversary of Israel's 77th Independence Day on 13 May 2025.

They reported that management had failed to apologise and properly respond to multiple letters from staff demanding the museum issue an “immediate explanation and public apology”, and sever ties with Israeli institutions.

"Director Nicolas Cullinan has deceived staff and the public again, making a mockery of the pretence [that] the British Museum is in any way impartial or apolitical," a spokesperson for the campaign group Energy Embargo for Palestine told MEE.

"The museum hoards a vast collection of Palestinian artefacts that will never be publicly displayed. Meanwhile, Israel has destroyed innumerable Palestinian cultural sites and artefacts during the genocide, and countless culture and heritage workers have been murdered or displaced."

"The British Museum's culture of greed, exploitation, and corruption causes real-world pain and suffering, and we will hold them to account".

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/campaigners-and-scholars-demand-answers-british-museum-following-disclosures