toughran.
/ˈtuːɡrə/ An ornamental monogram incorporating the name and title of the Sultan.
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society > communication > writing > written character > [noun] > letter > monogram
ciphera1640
monogram1696
monograph1849
toughra1888
1888 S. Lane-Poole Turkey 36 [1365] It is said that Murād signed the treaty, for lack of a pen, with his open hand, over which he had smeared some ink, in the manner of Eastern seals. This veritable sign-manual is believed to be the origin of the tughra or Sultan's cipher, which has ever since appeared on the coinage and the official documents of the Turks.
1903 Amer. Jrnl. Numismatics Jan. 73 The principal device on the gold coins of the present Sultan..is the imperial toghra.
1954 Stamp Lover XLVI. 136/1 Turkey was introduced by an official document of 1840 bearing the manuscript Toughra or signature of the Sultan.
1962 R. A. G. Carson Coins 488 The tughra, the monogram of the sultan's names and titles which is a feature of later Turkish coinage.., appeared for the first time under Suleyman I.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia III. 664/2 A distinctive tuǧra was created for each sultan and affixed to imperial decrees by a skilled calligrapher.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1888