These are modern translations of two short Hungarian historical novels by Mór Jókai set in the Ottoman Empire of 1730 (The White Rose) and a century later (The Last Days of the Janissaries).
A fehér rózsa (“The White Rose”) and A janicsárok végnapjai (“The Last Days of the Janissaries”) were originally published as a series in Pest, then in book form in 1854. Since then, they have been published as separate short novels — until now.
Multiple story lines with twists and turns and unexpected surprises
unfold in the context of historical figures and events. Jókai, the
master storyteller, immerses the reader inside the Ottoman Empire with
his skillfully crafted descriptions of action, intrigue, romance,
sensuality, superstition and humor, all rooted in his knowledge of the
Ottoman court, Turkish life, and historical events.
The White Rose is Beyaz Gül, the fictional heroine in the novel Jókai named after her, but the protagonist of the story is the historical Patrona Halil. He was an Albanian janissary, sailor, and rag-and-bones peddler working in Istanbul. His name survives in history because of the Istanbul mob insurrection he led in 1730 that became known as the Halil Patrona Revolt. For two short months he effectively became the Ottoman head of state, deposing Sultan Ahmed III and ending the Tulip Era known for the obsession of the Ottoman wealthy with tulips, ostentatious garden parties, sumptuous entertainment and, increasingly, Western European fashions.
The Last Days of the Janissaries is also set in Istanbul, in part, but a century after Halil Patrona. The novel culminates with the Auspicious Incident of June 15, 1826, when the Janissary Corps, the once feared elite but by then rebellious Ottoman infantry, was ruthlessly abolished by Sultan Mahmud II.
The main character in Jókai’s Janissaries novel is Ali Tepelena, the Pasha of Janina, one of the most brilliant, picturesque, and ruthless pashas of Turkish history. Ali Pasha became the Western personification of an oriental despot. The Balkan wars seeking his overthrow helped precipitate the Greek War of Independence.
Several story lines are woven together with vivid descriptions of Istanbul, the Pashalik of Janina, the Levant, and Circassia in the Caucasus Mountains. Jókai incorporates Turkish and Muslim customs, fairy tales, magic, actual history, and a sharp sense of humor.
Jókai was a Hungarian nobleman, novelist, dramatist, journalist, and statesman. His novels were translated into several languages, including English. One of his most famous admirers was Queen Victoria herself.
There is much history in The White Rose and The Last Days of the Janissaries
and Jókai was familiar with Ottoman history because Hungarians had been
fighting and living with the Ottomans for over three centuries. Hungarians were not
only quite familiar with Ottoman institutions, they were interested in
Ottoman efforts to modernize just as much as they were of their own, and
reform is a central theme in Jókai's two novels about the janissaries.
Prior English translations by Nisbet Bain under the titles Halil the Peddlar and The Lion of Janina date back to 1894 and are long out of print. Nisbet Bain (1854–1909) read German translations then taught himself Hungarian. He ended up becoming the most prolific nineteenth century translator of Hungarian into
English.
Bain wrote in a Victorian English complete with the archaic King James biblical thee, thou and dost in an impossible effort to reproduce the formal and informal second person of the Hungarian language. However, Jókai was writing in a natural Hungarian that still reads as standard modern Hungarian. Moreover, perhaps out of the prudery for which the Victorian Era is famous, Bain's nineteenth century translations omit some of the more colorful sections of the novels.
These translations by T. László Palotás preserve the full text and expression of Jókai’s original Hungarian, including his footnotes and citations, and provide the reader with additional historical annotations and context.
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