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The years were structured to use the Julian month lengths, with a rearrangement of months to cause the new year to fall on the day corresponding to March 1 (Julian). Thus, leap years added an epagomenal, not intercalary, day at the end of the year corresponding to February 29. The structure of the calendar is shown in Table 9.14. |
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The first difficulty with this calendar arises from the attempt to preserve the Hegira method of enumerating years. The Islamic year is approximately 11 days shorter than the Julian year, which means that the Islamic calendar cycles through year numbers more quickly than the Julian. About every 33 years, then, the calendar is forced to drop the number of an entire year. |
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The framers of this calendar, however, were faced with this problem almost immediately. The first year of the calendar is 1086, and it started with the 25th day of the last month of A.H. 1086, which is day number 350 of A.H. 1086. This year had 365 days, so it ended with day five of the year A.H. 1088. The year 1087 was suppressed. Thus, the first year of the calendar was 1086, and the second year was 1088. |
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Adjustments of this sort were made roughly every 33 years. The years 1121, 1154, 1188, 1221, and 1255 were also suppressed. |
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In effect, the calendar attempts simultaneously to count years by two different and incompatible methods. On one hand, the Julian calendar is used to reckon months, with the logical consequence that a common year contains 365 days, while the Hegira year count has the logical consequence that a common year contains 354 days. |
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| Table 9.14 Turkish administrative calendar. | | Ottoman Month | Corresponding
Julian Month | Month Length
in Days | | 1 | March | 31 | | 2 | April | 30 | | 3 | May | 31 | | 4 | June | 30 | | 5 | July | 31 | | 6 | August | 31 | | 7 | September | 30 | | 8 | October | 31 | | 9 | November | 30 | | 10 | December | 31 | | 11 | January | 31 | | 12 | February | 28, 29 in leap years |
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