Sultan Abdul Hamid II, one of the last Khalifah’s commissioned thousands of photographs of the Uthmani (Ottoman) Khilafah during his time. The following is a link to site containing many of these photographs, it gives us an appreciation of the reality of the Khilafah in that time.
This monumental collection portrays the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II. The 1,819 photographs in 51 large-format albums date from about 1880 to 1893. They highlight the modernization of numerous aspects of the Ottoman Empire, featuring images of educational facilities and students; well-equipped army and navy personnel and facilities; technologically advanced lifesaving and fire fighting brigades; factories; mines; harbors; hospitals; and government buildings. Most of the places depicted are within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, but buildings and sites in Iraq, Lebanon, Greece and other countries are also included.
