#defterdar mosque | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rhaenahanzades · 1 month ago

Note

Hello! :) Sorry for getting into a conversation again, but I've been trying to find more informations about Ibrahim's daughters these past days and since the topic appeared here, I will share it.

Ayşe Sultan wife of Ibşir Pasha and Süleyman Pasha is Kösem's daughter, not Ibrahim's or Murad's. This is a report dated after 1665 in "Dubrovačka akta i povelje" vol. 3, pages 661 and 662:

"Soliman passa, Visir della Porta. Ritrouai anche alla Corte per Visir della Porta il Sr Soliman passa, stato un tempo Visir Supremo, dal quale fui all'udienza e lo presentai secondo le comissioni, il quale nell'honorarmi e trattarmi bene non uolse mostrarsi meno cortese degl'altri, offerendosi con molta humanità per ogni occorenza de publici seruitii. Questo Sr è assai noto all'EE. VV. per rellationi di diuersi loro ambassadori, onde a me non occorre tediarle in detto proposito. Dirò solo questo, che non le uol male e che sia personaggio da potterle fauorire, essendo ben uoluto da S. Mtà, col quale è ancor congiunto col uincolo di parentella, mentre la sua zia Aisce sultana tiene per moglie."

It's a question to me why in most historians' words, Ahmed I's daughter Ayşe Sultan is thought to have died in 1656 or 1657, since it seems like she lived for 13-14 years more, as the Ragusian ambassador mentions she got gifts in 1670 as well.

Anyway, I do think Ibrahim's daughter Ayşe existed, but she didn't get married before 1662, otherwise I think the Ragusian ambassador would have given her a gift. In my opinion, she may have gotten married between 1663 and 1670, but died before the 1670 list of gifts.

I also don't believe Ibrahim's daughter Ayşe Sultan is the princess who married Haseki Mehmed Pasha and then "Defterdar" Ibrahim Pasha which La Croix mentions and which Joseph von Hammer further identifies as Ayşe.

I've explained about why I think Beyhan is Haseki Mehmed Pasha's wife in the other post. About "Defterdar" Ibrahim Pasha, this became a question mark to me because the first thing that appears when you search him is the Mosque and that is not helpful lol.

La Croix calls "Defterdar" Ibrahim Pasha as governor of Egypt, Aleppo and Kapudan Pasha. As far as I could search, the only Ibrahim Pasha who was Kapudan Pasha in the reign of Mehmed IV is Kara Ibrahim Pasha (d.1687), who also became a Grand Vizier. It appears he wasn't dead by the time La Croix was in Istanbul? He's also not known to have been a Damad.

So here's my theory: a confusion happened with three different Ibrahim Pashas in the informations of European observers at the time. One was Kara Ibrahim Pasha, who was not Damad at all but did become Kapudan Pasha as La Croix claims, and the other two were Damads: Şeytan Melek İbrahim Pasha and Uzun İbrahim Pasha.

Şeytan Melek İbrahim Pasha was at one point Defterdar, governor of Egypt (but not Kapudan Pasha as far as I've been able to search) and became the husband of Murad IV's daughter Rukiye Sultan, but he's confused in European sources as the husband of Mehmed IV's sister, probably due to the fact that Beyhan Sultan was also married to one Ibrahim Pasha, aka Uzun Ibrahim Pasha.

Besides La Croix, the confusion appears again in Ragusian list of 1680: "Ruchie Sultana moglie di Imbraim Pascia hora al Governo di Budim; Behra Sultana moglie di Imbraim hora al Governo di Candia". This quote is very suspicious, because Şeytan İbrahim Pasha is only known to have become governor of Budin in 1684, but not in 1680. In 1680, the governor of Budin is Uzun Ibrahim. This information can be found in "Budin ve Tımışvar Eyaletlerinin Paşaları: Karşılaştırmalı Bir Analiz" on page 26.

So, IMO, Beyhan Sultan is the princess whom La Croix mentions who married Haseki Mehmed Pasha and then Ibrahim Pasha (but he's confusing the informations of three Ibrahim Pashas into one). La Croix would have missed in his list her two first husbands, Hasan Pasha and Hezarpare Ahmed, and two husbands between Haseki Mehmed and Uzun Ibrahim Pasha, which are named by Ragusians as Mustafa Pasha in 1662 and Ali Pasha in 1670. La Croix also confused Beyhan as the wife of one Canpulatoglu, when Ragusians identify his wife as Gevherhan.

All in all, I think the marriages were like this...

Gevherhan Sultan: Musahib Cafer Pasha (d. 1647), Sari Kenan Pasha (d. 1659), Ismail Pasha (d. 1664), Gürcü Mehmed Pasha (d. 1665), Cerrah Kasim Pasha (d. 1675), a Canpulatoglu (d. ???) and Palabiyik Yusuf Pasha.

Beyhan Sultan: Hasan Pasha (d. 1648), Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha (d. 1648), Haseki Mehmed Pasha (d. 1661), Mustafa Pasha (d. ???), Ali Pasha (d. ???), Arnavud Uzun Ibrahim Pasha (d. 1683) and Bıyıklı Mustafa Pasha (d. 1698).

Hello,

thank you for your reply regarding Hanzade Sultan, it was clear that she had at least one son, and it seems that Kösem's daughters had sons from several different husbands.

I would like to know your opinion about what I have researched about Atike Sultan, it seems to me that there is only one Atike and she is the daughter of Ahmed I,

I do not think that Ibrahim had a daughter named Atike, and perhaps the alleged princess of Ibrahim who is said to have had husbands may have been one of his daughters, either Princess Gevherhan or Beyhan.

To be honest, I don't know the order of her marriages, but it seems that Kenan Pasha was her husband until his death in 1652.

Atike sultan was alive in 1658 because of her support for Mihnea:

| Mihnea entered Ken’an Pasha’s kapı at a young age, serving as a page and obtaining education in letters and religious sciences befitting a member of the Ottoman elite. His membership in the household spanned decades and continued after Ken’an Pasha’s death in 1652. Moreover, through the grandee’s wife, Atike Sultan, the pretender managed to establish a bond with valide sultan Hatice Turhan.44 The robust patronage network allowed Mihnea to make a successful bid for the throne in 1658, which was not only supported politically but also bankrolled by Atike Sultan, who contributed 140,000 akçe for this purpose[...] That the Ottoman princess was ready to pay for her client’s bid suggests that she saw it as an investment, although one that ultimately did not pay off: the following year, Mihnea III rebelled against the Porte and was replaced on the throne with a protégé of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. - Michał Wasiucionek (The Ottomans and Eastern Europe)

But then, Atike appears as deceased in an Istanbul court document dated 1663-1664, describing her as the wife of the deceased Kenan Pasha:

| Mahmiye-i İstanbul’da merhûm Kenan Paşa ve zevcesi merhûme Âtike Sultan evkāfına meşrûtiyyet üzre bi’l-fi‘l mütevellî olan iftihârü’l-emâcid ve’l-ekârim câmi‘ü’l-mehâmid ve’l-mekârim Bayezid Bey tarafından husûs-ı âtîye vekîl olup vekâleti bimâ hüve nehci’s-sübût şer‘an sâbite olan umdetü’l-müderrisîni’lkirâm zübdetü’l-muhakkikīni’l-fihâm Ahmed Efendi b. Ali mahfil-i kazâda Mehmed Bey b. Abdi mahzarında üzerine takrîr-i da‘vâ edip evkāf-ı mezbûre mukāta‘atından olup vilâyet-i Rumeli’de eyâlet-i Silistre’de kasaba-i Tatarpınarı mukāta‘asını bin yetmiş iki senesi Martı ibtidâsından bir sene tamânına değin evkāf-ı mezbûreye sâbıkan mütevellîler olan Abdullah Bey ve Hüseyin Bey nâm sagīrlerin kāimmakāmları Ebûbekir Efendi ve Hızır Ağa mezbûr Mehmed Bey’e iki yüz bin akçeye der-uhde edip ol dahi vech-i muharrer üzre iltizâm ve kabûl ve bir sene tamâmen zabt ve mikdâr-ı mezkûr mahsûlünü dahi kabz eyledikden sonra kıst-ı iltizâmından yüz bin akçesini vakf için ahz u kabz eylediklerinden sonra kırk beş bin akçesini dahi işbu hâzır bi’l-meclis mezkûr Hızır Ağa’ya teslîm edip mezbûr Hızır Ağa dahi ba‘de’l-kabz sagīreyn-i mezbûreynin vâlideleri ve vasiyyeleri umdetü’l-muhadderât zübdetü’l-muvakkarât tâcü’lmestûrât Eğlence Hâtun’a tamâmen teslîm edip hâlâ üzerimde bâkī kalan elli beş bin akçesini dahi vakıf için mezkûr Mehmed Bey’den bi’l-vekâle taleb ederin, suâl olunsun dedikde gıbbe’s-suâl mezbûr Mehmed Bey cevâbında fi’l-vâki‘ kaziyye minvâl-i muharrer üzre olup lâkin evkāf-ı mezbûre kâtibi olan mezbûr Ebûbekir Efendi ve Hızır Ağa kıst-ı iltizâmım olan iki yüz bin akçeyi yüz bin akçeye tenzîl edip zabt temessüküme vakıf için yüz bin akçeye tahrîr edip hat ve hâtemlerini hâvî yedime işbu meclisde kırâ’at olunan temessükü verdiklerinden sonra harc nâmına kırk beş bin akçeyi mezbûr Hızır Ağa ve elli beş bin akçesini mezbûr Ebûbekir Efendi benden ahz u kabz eylediler deyû mukır ve mu‘terif olmağın mûcebince meblağ-ı mezbûr elli beş bin akçeyi edâya mezbûr Mehmed Bey’e tenbîh olunup mâ vaka‘a bi’t-taleb ketb olundu.

- M.ÂKİF AYDIN ISTANBUL KADI SİCİLLERİ 44 İSTANBUL MAHKEMESİ 191 NUMARALI SİCİL (H. 1000-1027 / M. 1591-1617)

Dr. Cumhur Bekar points out that there are clear documents with the names of those present at the Edirne Palace:

| "[...] For instance, when Prince Mustafa, the first son of Mehmed IV, was born in Edirne Palace in 1664, Ayşe Sultan,Gevherhan Sultan and Beyhan Sultan, sisters of Mehmed IV, were called to Edirne Palacefrom Topkapı to join in the celebration for the new prince" - Cumhur Bekar (The rise of the Köprülü family)

The other sister Fatma Sultan, had died by then, which strongly suggests that there was no princess named Atike daughter of Ibrahim, in the documents.

I am looking forward to seeing your suggestions ,Because I intend to prepare a research on YouTube about Atike daughter of Ahmed I. Good day.

Hi! @rhaenahanzades and I have already talked about Atike binti Ibrahim and we agreed that she probably didn’t exist.

Burnaz Atike Sultan’s husbands seem to have been the following:

the son of Ekmekçizade Ahmed Pasha (d. 1618) (during Osman II’s reign)

Sofu Kenan Pasha (at the beginning of Murad IV’s reign, so her previous husband must have died pretty soon). Kenan Pasha died in 1652

Doğancı Yusuf Pasha (she married him in 1652)

If that judicial document is well dated, then Atike must have died between 1658 and 1662-63.

Thanks for giving me this quote by Cumhur Bekar:

Besides the number of the personnel in Topkapı and Edirne palaces, what can we say about the members of the harem in both palaces? Although we have no exact data on the subject, scattered information can be founded in the sources. For instance, when Prince Mustafa, the first son of Mehmed IV, was born in Edirne Palace in 1664, Ayşe Sultan, Gevherhan Sultan and Beyhan Sultan, sisters of Mehmed IV, were called to Edirne Palace from Topkapı to join in the celebration for the new prince. This summons shows that some members of the sultan’s family still resided in Topkapı Palace after 1663.

From how it’s worded, it seems those three princesses lived in Topkapi Palace and not with their husbands. Were they widows at the time, then? They must have been teenagers in 1664 (if we consider 1649 the last year a pregnant concubine could have given birth to a child of Ibrahim, then this child was 15 years old in 1664) so I don’t think they still lived with their mothers… Or maybe they just lived in Istanbul, the summons were sent to Topkapi and then forwarded to the princesses.

As a matter of fact, Ragusian diplomats mention those three princesses in 1662 and in 1670:

Ghiuherhan Sultana moglie di Smail Passa; Beihan Sultana moglie di Mustai Passa; […] Aise Sultana moglie di Suleiman Passa

Ghievherhan sultan moglie di Casciu’ Pascia, Beihan Sultan, moglie d’Ali Pascia, Hiscie Sultan, moglie di Scoleiman Pascia

(Off-topic, then Kütükoğlu is right when he says that the Ayşe Sultan who married Malatyali Süleymân Pasha was a daughter of Ibrahim’s? He is clearly not right when he said she was also married to Ibşir Mustafa Pasha).

At this point, I think Fatma must have died before 28 July 1662, when Ragusian diplomats stopped mentioning her. Uluçay found a document dated 8 May 1661 related to her stipend, so she was definitely alive until then.

I definitely agree that Atike Sultan binti Sultan Ibrahim did not exist.

8 notes · View notes

reallifesultanas · 3 years ago

Photo

Family of Bayezid II (quite big lol)

+1 information about the daughter of Mahmud, Ayşe: She surely was still alive between November 1555 and November 1556 since she is listed in Old Palace register with a daily stipend of 70 aspers.

The same 70 apsers daily stipend was given to Sehzade Ahmed’s unnamed daughter. We dont know if this stands for Kamer, Fatma or the unknown daughter.

About his daughters:

Selcuk Sultan 1459-1508 - mother unknown - she married twice: 1/Ferhad Bey in 1484; 2/Mehmed Bey in 1486 - she had five children: 1/ Nesl-i Şah who died in 1564, she married Halil Paşa in 1510; 2/Gaazi Husrev Bey who was governor of Sarajevo, which he developed into a great city, then he was governor of Smederevo (1521), governor of Bosnia (1526-1533), then governor of Belgrade in 1533 and again governor of Bosnia from 1536 to 1541. He died in Sarajevo and was buried there. 3/ Hanzade who married her cousin, a son of Ilaldi Sultan 4/ unnamed princess who married the son of Halil Paşa (her eldest sister’s husband) in 1510; 5/unnamed princess who married twice, the first time to Grand Vizier Yunus Pasha and the second time to Defterdar Mehmed Çelebi (later Grand Vezier and Egypt governor)

Ayşe Sultan 1465 - after 1515 - she may have been sister to Şehzade Ahmed or to Şehzade Korkut. Ahmed was born in 1466 Korkud in 1467 so Ayşe surely was born before them. - she married Güvegi Sinan Pasha in 1480 and had several (at least 6) children but we don’t have information about each one of them: 1/ GevherŞah who married one İbrahim Bey 2/ KamerŞah who married the son of Grand Vizier Mesih Paşa 3/ Fatma who married another son of Grand Vizier Mesih Paşa 4/ Ahmed Bey; 5/ Mustafa Bey; 6/Hanzade Ayşe Mihrihan who later married Dukaginzade Sultanzade Mehmed Paşa and had a daughter Mihri Hatun, who surely was alive between 1555 November and 1556 November. - she built a mosque and a school in Gallipoli and in 1505 she established a foundation

Hatice Sultan 1465 - 1500 - the identity of her mother is unknown - she married to 1/ Müderris Kara Mustafa Pasha around 1479 and had two children with him: Ahmed Çelebi (1480?-1500) and Hanzade; 2/ she married Faik Pasha after 1483 - she built a mosque, school and fountain in Edirnekapi - she was buried in Bursa in the Hatice Sultan Tomb, built by her son

Gevherimülük Sultan 1467 - 1550 - mother unknown - she married to Ahmed Pasha and had 2 children: 1/ Nesli Şahwho died in 1559, she married Dukaginzade Iskender Pasha; 2/ Mehmed Pasha who died in 1557, was governor of Aleppo and Egypt, he married his cousin Ayşe Hanzade Mihrihan, daughter of Ayşe Sultan - she built a school near the Zal Mahmud Pasha Mosque, and she was buried there

Şehzade Hundi Sultan 1465(?) - 1511 - some suggest a birth date of 1470 but it is not correct as she was the daughter of Bülbül Hatun and so Şehzade Ahmed’s sister. Ahmed was born in 1466 so Hundi had to be born before him. - Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha was her husband from 1484 and had children with him: 1/ Mustafa Bey who was governor of Bozok and died in 1533 killed by rebels in his province; 2/ HümaŞah who died after 1551; 3/ Musa Bey

Ilaldi Sultan ? - before 1518 - mother unknown - she had two children with her husband Hain Ahmed Pasha: 1/Aynişah who died after 1531 and married Abdüsselam Çelebi; 2/ unnamed son who married his cousin, the unnamed daughter of Selçuk Sultân - she wrote a congratulation letter to Selim I

Aynişah Sultan 1464(?) - after 1512 - daughter of Şirin Hatun and sister of Şehzade Abdullah (b. 1465) - she married Akkoyunlu Damad Göde Ahmed Bey in 1490 and had children: 1/ Hanzade who married to Yahyapaşazade Gaazi Küçük Bali Paşa; 2/ unnamed princess who married Şehzade Alaeddin, one of Şehzade Ahmed’s sons - she built a school in Istanbul and established a foundation in 1506 - she sent letters of congratulations to Selim I when he became sultan

Hüma/Hümaşah Sultan ? - after 1504 - mother unknown - she married Antalyalı Bali Paşa around 1482 - she was buried in Bursa

Kamer/Kamerşah Sultan ? - ? - she was the daughter of Gülruh Hatun - she was married to Damad Nişanci Kara Davud Pasha, with whom she had a daughter who later married one Mesih Bey. - she was buried in the tomb of her mother in Bursa

Şah/Şehzade Şah Sultan ? - after 1506 - her mother is unknown - she married Nasuh Bey around 1490 and had a daughter - she was involved in charity - she built a mosque in 1506 - she was buried in her sister Hatice’s mausoleum in Bursa

Sofu Fatma Sultan 1466(?) - after 1515 - she was the daughter of Nigar Hatun and sister of Şehzade Korkut and since Korkut was born in 1467 so actually Sofu Fatma should born even before 1464/5/6. - she married Güzelce Hasan Bey around 1504 and had two children with him: 1/ Mehmed Çelebi who later married Ayse Sultan daughter of Şehzade Alemşah; 2/ unnamed daughter who later married Ahmed Bey, son of Ali Bey and Fatma Hanımsultan - about her marriages it is possible she had a first marriage which is not listed by most historians (she would be too old for a first marriage in 1504). She should have a first marriage around the early 1480's. About the identity of the first hubby: Öztuna claims Sofu Fatma's firs husband was İsfendiyâroğlu (Cândâroğlu) Mirza Mehmed Pasha, son of Kyzyl Ahmed Bey. Öztuna gives no marriage date. The problem is, Fatma remarried in 1504 but the pasha was alive until 1530. I don't see why would they divorce, so well I don't know. Öztuna claims they had a son, Mehmed Bey, together who later married Selim I's daughter Gevherhan. Its fine Fatma's son Mehmed did marry Gevherhan okay. But then why would she name her second son also Mehmed? Because she had a son Mehmed from her second marriage who married Ayse Sultan daughter of Şehzade Alemşah. So just why 2 Mehmeds? I dunno this... Maybe one of the names is mistaken? - she was charitable --> left all her possession to the poor when she died - she was buried in the tomb of her half-brother Şehzade Ahmed in Bursa

Sultanzade Sultan ? - ? - daughter of Hüsnüşah Hatun and sister of Şehzade Alemşah

29 notes · View notes

aboutheraklion-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Basilica di San Marco: One of the first Venetian buildings in Heraklion was founded in 1239, dedicated to the patron of Venice Saint Mark.

The Basilica of Saint Mark is located in Heraklion Center, opposite to the Lions Fountain and just a few meters away from Loggia (Heraklion Municipalitiy)

This three-aisled timber-roofed basilica, was constructed to fulfill the religious needs of the ducat and the Venetian authorities.

In this building, the Venetian nobles where buried in sarcophagus and official ceremonies took place.

There used to be a high bell tower on the corner, which often would forewarn for bombs, being used as a bomb alarm. The Turks tried to destroy it many times and it was demolished when the Ottomans managed to invade the city. Then, the Basilica was converted into a mosque, named after Defterdar Ahmet Passa. It is unfortunate that the new conquerors destroyed the frescoes and the Christian graves.

After the big earthquake of 1304, the original building was repeatedly restored. The mosque functioned until 1915, when the building was undertaken by the National Bank and subsequently by Heraklion Municipality.

For a short time it functioned as a cinema under the name Minoa, run by a local civilian.

During the German occupation the Basilica was turned into a warehouse, until in 1956 the monument was restored in its present condition by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies.

From the bell tower, which was quite tall, only a part of its Venetian base is saved today with a small part of the later Turkish mosque.

Very often and especially at the evening, the Basilica stairs are a gathering spot for youngsters, sitting and relaxing while eating souvlaki or having a beer.

Today the Municipal Art Gallery is housed in the building, and it is open to the public every day.

You can read more information here and here

Find Basilica of Saint Mark on Google Map

Here's what the visitors mention about Basilica Monument (via TripAdvisor)

By molly215 Auckland New Zealand

Fascinating.

We watched a choir singing in the church.....very beautiful and lovely atmosphere..VERY lovely old church .

By Sarahellen M

Lovely archetecture

The archetecture is so lovely in Crete. Every place you go is full of it. So worth the visit to see its history if you can get around if not there is the bus or taxi that can help. It was closed when we went but even the out side is lovely. A tibute to its keepers.

Gwgw K

An amazing place

I'm one of Heraklion residents who visit this site more than 2 times per month. It is one of the city’s “jewels”, but also hosts really interesting exhibitions.

Xaris S

αξιζει να πας!!

Η Βασιλική του Αγίου Μάρκου είναι από τα σημαντικότερα Ενετικά κτίρια - μνημεία στο Ηράκλειο. Η Βασιλική του Αγίου Μάρκου βρίσκεται απέναντι ακριβώς από το σιντριβάνι με τα Λιοντάρια, στην Πλατεία Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου στο κέντρο του Ηρακλείου. Σήμερα στεγάζει τη Δημοτική Πινακοθήκη της πόλης και είναι ανοιχτή στο κοινό καθημερινά σχεδόν όλη τη διάρκεια της μέρας.

Visitors comments in Google

By Amir Ali Khan

a former basilica, then a mosque and now a gallery. do step in.

by Ελένη Μπρεδάκη

Εξαιρετικό Μνημείο στην πλατεία των Λιονταριών, στην καρδιά του Ηρακλείου. Συνήθως φιλοξενεί εικαστικές ή φωτογραφικες Εκθέσεις. Προσφέρεται ιδιαίτερα ως χώρος για Συνέδρια και Εκδηλώσεις Λόγου και Τέχνης.

(Translated by Google)

Excellent Monument to Lion Square, in the heart of Heraklion. It usually hosts visual or photographic exhibitions. It is especially offered as a venue for Conferences and Logos and Art Events.

By Yannis Samatas

Ναός που κτίστηκε από τους Ενετούς για να τιμήσουν τον προστάτη-άγιο της Βενετίας, τον Αγιο Μάρκο. Εδώ λάμβαναν χώρα οι επίσημες τελετές της ενετικής διοίκησης ενώ επίσης εδώ τάφονταν οι ενετοί άρχοντες. Επί Τουρκοκρατίας μετατράπηκε σε τζαμί, αλλά το 1956 αποκαταστάθηκε στην αρχική του μορφή. Σήμερα, η Βασιλική του Αγίου Μάρκου χρησιμοποιείται για διάφορες εκδηλώσεις, όπως εικαστικές εκθέσεις και συναυλίες.

(Translated by Google)

Temple built by the Venetians to honor the patron-saint of Venice, St. Marco. Here took place the official ceremonies of the Venetian administration while also here tafontan the Venetian rulers. Under Turkish rule was converted into a mosque, but in 1956 was restored to its original form. Today, the Basilica of St. Mark is used for various events such as art exhibitions and concerts.

#Heraklion #aboutheraklion #basilica di saint mark #crete #greece #travel

1 note · View note

divanquotes · 5 years ago

Text

Mignot, History of the Ottoman Empire v2, 1771

Page 39: The siege of Tripoli was resolved in the Divan of Constantinople. In the eyes of Suleiman, they painted the Knights of Malta as pirates whose destruction was important to expedite, but this prince believed these pretended pirates to be subjects of Charles VI, under the orders of his generals, because ll of the places they occupied had belonged to the western emperor.

Page 155: This action, which a hundred and sixty years before had cost the life of Soliman, son of Bajezet, called by some Suleiman I, was received with transport by almost all the Muslims who were dissatisfied with the severity of his reign. Selim, surrounded by Pashas, witnessed by a very small number at Constantinople, entered the hall of the Divan, and ascended the throne of his ancestors. As there was not a single Janissary in his capital, he would at that moment be proclaimed, because the use of this militia, formidable even to its masters, was to require at each accession to the throne, a largesse very expensive to maintain, but which they dare not refuse. Selim, after holding the Divan, went in pomp to the principal mosque; there he sacrificed several heifers and several she, which were afterwards distributed to the poor, and the Mufti girded Othman’s sword, pronouncing the words: God give you the goodness of your grandfather Othman.”

Page 160: (Albert) de Vüs complained in vain of this violation of the law of nations. After many delays, the Ministers of the Divan replied that they would not punish, for an insult to a Christian, those same Janissaries who had just been rewarded for having resisted their master. De Vüs, seeing the impossibility of avenging himself on such a bloody affront, died a short time later of pain and anger.

Page 163: The Venetians entertained an ambassador at Constantinople. They had complimented the Sultan on his accusation to the throne, and renewed the alliance that existed between the Porte and the Republic. all the articles were scrupulously observed by the Venetians. The Divan also sent an Ambassador to the Senate with orders to complain, without anyone being able to know about what.

Page 165: The Grand Vizier Mehmet wanted to abandon the enterprise of the Island of Cyprus, to fly to the aid of these unfortunate Grenadines: but the soul of Selim was not in favor of doing such great things, and the policy of his Viziers involved nothing beyond conquests. Mehmet was alone in his opinion in the Divan: in vain did he claim the fetfa or decree of the Mufti; this head of religion, who knew how to yield to circumstances, replied that all the Grenadines had ceased to be Moslems, and had made themselves unworthy of the protection of the Porte, by the cowardice which they had shown in receiving baptism and attending to the mysteries of the Christians. The deputy of the Grenadines was dismissed without the slightest help. The Capitan Pasha Piali and the Vizier Mustafa Pasha, who had most insisted on the conquest of Cyprus, determined the Sultan to formally declare war on the Venetians.

Page 211: Some historians raise this army to more than a hundred thousand men against all probability, and even against possibility. Whatever he did in the evening, the Cossacks and the Moldavians cut into pieces an army much larger than theirs. After Ivan entered Wallachia, the Divan at Constantinople decided that greater efforts were needed to subdue this rebel. Ninety thousand men were sent to Wallachia under the orders of the Béglierbeg Achmet.

Page 215: This monster had killed his father and several brothers to usurp the throne of Tunisia. As he governed with a scepter of iron, sparing his subjects no more than his family, the people complained to the Divan, who made this an opportunity to extend his power in a Muslim country that is not entitled to him. Otchiali conducted his fleet there; he caught the owl. Amid, as timid as he was cruel, fled from Tunis as soon as he learned that the enemy were masters of his strongest rampart.

Page 221: His Grand Vizier Mehmet, who had seized the sovereign power, and who had found but few obstacles in the Divan, without himself appearing at the head of the armies, had known how to use them for the glory of the Empire and for the lowering of the enemy powers. In the midst of this prosperity, Selim was attacked by an acute illness, the fruit of his intemperance and debauchery, which caused him to die at 52 years of age, in December 1574, after eight years and a few months of a reign in which he had had no part. Th Grand Vizier Mehmet concealed the death of the Emperor, as he had concealed that of Soliman his father, to give Amurat II, his son and successor, time to come from Amas where he was living.

Page 226: The suite of the Ambassador was numerous and brilliant. The Emperor, after having given him an audience in the Divan, left Constantinople on the pretax of hunting for a few days; but his true design was to display, upon his return, the splendor of his retinue in the eyes of the Persian ambassador. After the Sultans had been absent from Constantinople for only a week, they returned there surrounded by a triumphal pomp.

Page 233: An inspired Iman came to tell the Emperor that he had seen during his sleep an inscription in letters of fire, saying: “Amurat, the conqueror of Persia.” In vain did the Grand Vizier Mehemet repeatedly say in the Divan that a war against the Persians would always be useless to the Empire, and might become fatal; the old Vizier did not have the same credit with Amurat that he had received from Selim.]

Page 249: The Prince seated himself near the throne of the Monarch; and in the Divan, to which he was admitted, he sat immediately below the Grand Vizier, who presided over the assembly. It is don so that the Great Lord or Sultan never attends the Divan except behind a veil; so that the ministers, who deal with affairs in this assembly, do not know whether it is in the presence of their master, and whether he listens to what they propose or decide as to the affairs of the state.

Page 253: It was forbidden, under severe penalties, for all the merchants to provide themselves elsewhere than at the public treasury. These forced distributions soon filled him; but the weight of this tax, of which the Grand Vizier claimed to have charged only the Giaurs, fell back against the Moslems, who, forced to have recourse to these merchants thus vexed, paid much more expensive the stuffs whose material had been sold at such a high price. Despite the care of the Grand Vizier and the efforts he had made to relieve his compatriots at the expense of a foreigner, he did not enjoy the confidence of his master for long. Some infidelities which were made in the distribution of timers cost the lives of ten Secretaries of the Divan.

Page 259: He declared that he would command the army during the next campaign; but all his exploits were confined to Adrianople, where he reviewed some of his troops. While the squadrons of the Spahis and the various corps of the Janissaries were passing before his eyes, a storm, more violent than had been seen for a long time, compelled the troops to disperse due to the force of the hail. Amurat, very frightened, consulted the Devils, whom he trusted more than the best heads of the Divan.

Page 305: For several days the Janissaries in battle seemed to be waiting for someone to put themselves at their head. The discussion was closed; no Divan had been held; the administration of justice, even the markets were interrupted. But no one had drawn his scimitar.

Page 315: When the news of this defection was received at Constantinople, the Emperor had recently been attacked by smallpox. The Grand Vizier Murad, whose presence was much needed at the Divan, sent Captain Pasha Cialis against the rebels.

Page 332: This Prime Minister felt the injustice of his master; but he was neither less zealous nor less daring to serve him. He easily understood that the Divan had declared war against Persia only because he had different projects. Murat, at the age of 86, showed this indifference to the life which the years give to the aged, when they do not weaken their souls. He resolved to apply all his talents and all his care for the good of the State, at the risk of what might happen.

Page 335: On the charge formed in the Divan, the Grand Vizier first asked that the Defterdar (bookkeeper or minister of finance) should be taken to the prison of the Seven Towers, and that all the Pachas of the Bench and all the other Defterdars should examine the accounts. The most exact researches could discover neither the slightest error nor the slightest breach of trust. The accused left the castle of Sept-Tours to continue the exercise of his office; and the confidence of the Emperor in the Prime Minister only increased. The Vizier, having calmed all the storms, and obtained the suffrage of his master for the conduct that he had claimed, returned to his troops encamped at Scutari, determined to destroy what remains of the rebels.

Page 343: The Archduke Mathias, who had become King of Hungary during the lifetime of Emperor Rodolphe his brother, had sent Ambassadors to the Porte to renew the alliances contracted. Attempt, and especially his Divan, were all the more ardent for the war. He wished to recover Baghdad, a city of the Iraquis, very favorable for commerce, and which the Persians had managed to seize in the midst of their bad successes. It must have been that the Grand Vizier was as eager for war as his master and all those who composed the Divan.

Page 390: The Persian Prince sent rich presents to the new Emperor; but as he stubbornly resumed to pay the burdens he had promised in the form of tribute, the Divan decided that the war should continue, and the Grand Vizier made preparations to lead an army in the new conquests of the Sophi.

Page 393: The Divan and the people are upset about Mustafa.

Page 394: The Sultan had no difficulty in removing this considerably good officer who had not been unworthy, to replace him with a man incapable of rendering any service. Several traits of this kind sort made Mustafa despised among the troops, as he was despised in the harem and in the Divan. In the midst of these troubles, the Grand Vizier Mehemet left for Persia at the head of an army which was to grow at each of the garrisons that he would visit inall the provinces of Asia.

Page 398: Prince Othman soon appeared to the crowd of people, who replied with acclamations to the wishes of the militia. He was girt with the sword of Osman, and placed on the throne of the Divan, before Mustafa had heard of the return of the army, which he believed was on the way to Persia, or of any of the events in Constantinople. As soon as Othman was proclaimed, Mehemet sent a detachment of Spahis to meet Mustafa; not wanting to defile the new Emperor with the crime of reproaching his uncle, so that the life of the deposed monarch was respected.

Page 399: The young Emperor, or rather those who used his name, distributed the gold in the odas or harems of the Spahis and Janissaries. The extreme youth of Othman troubled those of the officers of the Divan and the Army, who were truly animated by the love of the public good. But the Mufti, the Grand Vizier, and all those who hoped to govern in the name of this child, reminded the best-intentioned that the Emperor Achmet, at such a tender age, had been able to choose good ministers and to instill respect for authority.

Page 401: The Caiman, who always appeals to the Grand Vizier at Constantinople, when the Prime Minister commands his armies, who presents over the Divan, and consequently sends orders to the provinces. The Bostangi Pachi, Captain of the Othman Guards, had a great share in his favor, because he always accompanied his master during his travels by land and by sea. The Great Eunuch, who had done little to put Othman on the throne, was also credited by the gratitude of the Emperor, and by the necessity which this Prince had of his services.

Page 429: As soon as the cannon shot down the doors, the populace went into hiding. Some Icoglans (pages of the Sultan), Baltagis and Boston’s told the Grand Vizier that the people were in the Divan court, but that they saw no soldiers there. Although Dialer, who was in the Divan hall with the Effendis and Paches of the bench, had heard that his head was being banned, he hoped that his presence would impose on a populace lacking a chief, and that firmness would call back to duty those whose continued silence and been the result of the revolt. He went out with some Chiaoux and Bostangi Pashas; the other people in the Divan, less reckless than the Grand Vizier, hastily closed the door on him. Barely had the Prime Minister appeared, than he was struck by the very people he claimed to have dissipated.

Page 430: Meanwhile the troops were ranged in battle in the courtyard of the Divan. Darud and those he made his lieutenants arranged guards for all the outside of the place, without first venturing into the buildings. The people and the soldiers continually repeated the names of the five proscribed, demanding that the Emperor promise to renounce the journey to Mecca, to dismiss the new militia of Cairo, and to repudiate his wife. The fate which had just befallen the Prime Minister had deprived the other Ministers shut up in the Divan of wanting to open the doors.

Page 432: He was dragged from this place with ropes by the breach which the axes had made. As soon as he had breathed the air he lost consciousness, and he remained a long time without recovering. However, the noise of what was happening had spread into the interior, the doors of the Divan finally opened, and all the Effendis who were going out at the same time gave the rebels a helping hand, assuring that the Sultan Othman had given up the project of going to Mecca; that he had signed an order to dismiss the troops of Cairo; that he was ready to repudiate his wife, and that he would give them the proscribed as soon as the Odas returned to duty.

Page 445: The Sultana Validé, who greatly regretted her son-in-law Darud, undertook to draw him from his retreat, to make him return to the Divan by the charge of the Capitan Pasha, whose position was not vacant. The Janissaries and the Spahis were still very angry with Darud, but the money which is wife and mother-in-law poured out with full hands, soon reconciled this parricide with the principal of his old comrades, who had raised the Janissaries against him. Darud appeared at the Porte. It was only a question of plucking the place of Capitan Pasha from the one who was wearing it, an imposture that would not cost Darud or even the Sultana, his mother-in-law, anything. They agreed to accuse the Capitan Pasha in the Divan of having secret intelligence with the Pashas of Aleppo and of Erzurum, at the same time that he was made a suspect to the Janissaries, spreading in the Odas or troops that Calil Pasha, which was his name, had advised several murders of their comrades, ordered blow by blow by the governors of Asia, to avenge the death of Osman.

Page 446: Under the Empire of Mustafa, the militia was in arms at all times. Several Odas of Spahis and Janissaries marched in order to the Seraglio, demanding loudly the assembly of the Divan, in order to judge Capitan Pasha. Calil was instructed. He had the assurance of riding on horseback, and of going to the seraglio. As soon as he saw the troops in battle in front of the first court, he drew tablets from his bosom, and showing them from a distance, exclaimed: “Faithful Spahis, brave Janissaries, you ask me to be judged, and I ask as you do. May the Divan assemble, let your leaders enter, and the guilty will soon be known.” This noble confidence pleased the troops, and repressed the cries. The Aga of the Janissaries and the Spahi Agasi having entered into the seraglio with Calil, some Torpachis of the Janissaries, some Musalims of the Spahis, and all the Paches of the bench, Calil told the Grand Vizier Guirguin, who wished to evade this examination, that neither he Guirguin, nor Calil, nor any of those who had entered the hall of the Divan, would come out of it, that the conduct of his accuser and his was not cleared up.

Page 447: Darud appared and exhibited letters from Calil to the Pasha of Aleppo, as the Capitan Pasha had expected, and other letters from the Pasha of Erzurum addressed to Calil. The latter, after claiming his former services, and his attachment to the corps of the Janissaries, of whom he had given evidence during Othman’s reign, called in an Effendi witness accompanying the Mufti: This man made sure that he knew the author of the letters presented, and was in a position to produce the counterfeit. It was a young slave who had deftly counterfeited the characters. He was taken to the Divan.

Page 449: The Pachas on the bench having represented to them that they wanted to have Darud slaughtered instantly, rather than deliver him to the troops, gave a warning to Bostangi Pachi. “Well,” exclaimed the Janissary’s Aga, “we agree that the criminal remains at large; but woe to you and to all of you,” said Bostangi Pachi in a threatening tone, “ if he escapes your vigilance.” The Spahi and Janissary officers, who are more than twenty on the divan, unsheathed their sabers all together, and pronounced very loudly: “We all swear by the Prophet, that Darud will die tomorrow.” The Sultana Valide learned with as much fright as surprise, what had happened in the Divan. Neither she, nor the Grand Vizier, nor Mustafa himself, believed themselves powerful enough to save a head that the Janissaries had proscribed.

Page 454: The two Agas wanted the troops to proclaim Amurat, nephew of the Emperor, as they had proclaimed himself during the deposition of Othman; but the lawyers represented that this form was too arbitrary, and gave too much power to a solider whom seditiousness and the slightest discontent could arm; that it was necessary, if it were possible, to effect this change without tumult, and for that reason, to convince the whole Divan and all the Ulema of the profound incapacity of Mustafa, and of the urgent necessity of giving him a successor. In fact, the Grand Vizier call for an assembly of the Divan for the next day, and the Mufti one for the Ulema.

Page 455: The Mufti, after having kissed the hem of his jacket, conjured him in very strong terms to descend to the Divan, to listen to the complaints of his faithful subjects, and to remedy the disorders which afflicted the empire. Then the imbecility of Mustafa was manifested to all the eyes that had ben chosen as witnesses. This Prince answered only with puerilities, accompanied by a laugh which showed what had always been suspected. Despite the cries of the Sultana Valide, the deputies sent them to the Divan. They gave an exact and detailed account of what they had just seen and heard. After this detail, which did not weary the hopes of Prince Mustafa, the assembly exclaimed that it was necessary to have a chief in the Empire. The choice could only fall on one of Achmet’s children: the elder, named Amurat, was less than fifteen years old. With an advantageous figure, well spoken and physically agile, and more open-minded than one might expect from a Prince of that age, yet raised in a prison, there was nothing to give hope that this young Prince would one day ascend, due to the evils afflicting the Empire, and up to that time would listen to those who were capable of guiding him. The same deputies who had gone to Mustafa when in the name of the Divan, the Ulema and troops, to offer the Empire to his nephew.

Page 456: He went down to the Divan, where he spoke in a few words, with great precision and grace. All that remained was to have the new Emperor girt with the sword of Osman. This ceremony was to be fraught with many difficulties. The troops had not been asked for their consent to this proclamation. It was the first time that the Divan and the Ulema had undertaken a revolution in the Empire: till then the tremors were always the work of the troops, and especially of the Janissaries, who had usurped by force the right to elevate and to depose the Emperors.

Page 459: Three days after the Sultan Mustafa refused to appear at the Divan, the troops went to order in the first court, shouting: “Long live Amurat Iv,” our “mighty monarch.” This Prince, as w have said, was not yet fifteen when he was placed on the throne of his predecessors. The Pachas of the different orders, Sangiacs Agas, and principal officers, both of the troops and of the Ulema, and especially of the Spahis and the Janissaries, had entered into the Divan. The Mufti ask aloud whether this imposing assembly wanted Amurat for their Emperor. All respond with shouts of approval and gladness.

Page 460: The first use that Amurat made of his authority was an act of rigor and justice. The Pacha of Cairo, newly arrived at Constantinople, was accused by several Timariots of various vexations. The Emperor wished that this affair should be cleared up in the Divan; and on the evidence acquired against the culprit, he was condemned, not to the lace, but to have his head cut off. The confiscation of his ill-gotten property began to repair the void that the profusions of the previous reigns had left in the public treasury.

Page 468: The wisest of the Divan represented that it would be a bad way of defending the Franks to embitter them with this cruelty. The Cossacks, who wished only booty, did not attempt to fight; they took off and disappeared for several days from the same post to increase the anxiety and enjoy the trouble they had caused in the city by ravaging and burning the lighthouses and neighboring villages. This insult made the Divan understand the necessity of keeping Constantinople guarded by sea.

Page 469: It was time. The Grand Vizier, instead of marching against Abassa, as had been agreed in the Divan, went to consume his army before Baghdad, and left behind him the provinces of the burning Empire. The Prince of the Druses, the Pasha of Erzurum, the Pasha of Aleppo, and that of Diarbekir, all accomplices of the same revolt, called the Persian to Asia in a loud voice, in order to pay homage to him and to put their governments under his authority.

Page 487: The young Prince was accustomed to the order which his prime minister had established at Constantinople. He was often indignant at the mistakes that were made in front of his eyes. He often showed his dissatisfaction with the viziers or Pachas of the bench, when they had misused their powers; then he struck his Captain Pasha, his brother-in-law, with his own hand, because some Cossack Corsairs had come to insult the Porte of Constantinople with impunity, and had taken two boats, and sank another, under the cannon of two lighthouses. Another time he had strangled in his presence the Kislar Aga, or Chief of the Black Eunuchs, who had not been able to return to the Divan an exact account of the treasure of the Mosques, although this officer alleged, for his justification, that the Sultana Validé had disposed of what was missing from the sacred treasure. (This is what is called the treasure of the Mosques.)

Page 504: The noise of this march having reached Constantinople, the Emperor wish to know this Prince, of whom he had heard many things, more particularly, in view of the immense distance which the Ottoman Emperors put between themselves and their vassals. Amulet with the retinue and exterior markings of a Pasha, advanced into Asia about two days from Scutari. Having met Facardin, the Emperor gave himself for a Pasha of the bench, or to see those who compose the Divan. He invited the Prince of the Druses to tell him the story of his fall, promising him his good offices with Amurat.

Page 506: When the old Emir attended a Divan, according to the right he had received from Amurat, he heard with astonishment a Pasha from the bench read aloud several accusations against him, all of which related to a single chief, one who had alternately professed Islamism and Christianity. The Emir arose to begin his justification; the Mufti present at this Divan closed his mouth by pronouncing a fetfa decree condemning to death any relapsed or hypocritical person professing a religion, externally, while keeping another in the background of his heart. It was useless for old Facardin to deny that he was a Christian, or to contradict the sacred word of the Emperor, who had drawn him to Constantinople, with a foolish promise of life and liberty. The Great Lord or Sultan did not attend the Divan. Although with much repugnance, he confirmed the Mufti’s will with the seal of his authority. Old Facardin was strangled and his son, who had scarcely emerged from childhood, was brought up among the Icoglans (pages of the Sultan). Pachas ruled from the province of the Druses.

Page 509: The pretexts never fail to declare war on this nation, which in the Divan was described only as treacherous and usurping. The hurry of the Persians to attack the Ottoman Empire, when it was internally torn by revolts, allowed Amurat enough time to make them test his strength as soon as he thought they had passed.

Page 515: The Count de Cesy, who favored that these goods were expected, had had the precaution of obtaining a decree from the Council of King Louis XIII, and a judgment of the Divan, which enabled him to seize all that he could find belonging to these bad debtors. By virtue of these two respectable titles, the Count de Cesy had all the ships coming from Provence placed under the control of the Chiaoux, who made Constantinople the function which the Usher of the Council of the King exercises in France. M. de Marcheville, who pretended to protect these merchants against the Count de Cesy, whom he hated, wished to obtain the levy of this seizure, under the pretext of the urgent necessity for the commodities contain in these vessels. There was only one order of the Caimacan who could interpret a judgment of the Divan; the Minister refused to give this order, unless he was given a formal consent of Count de Cesy.

0 notes

nnikkoss · 7 years ago

Link

Defterdar Mosque - Kos this Mosque do not operate today but remain the historical and architectural landmark of the Ottoman past of the island - Kos City - Island of Kos - Greece

#Pinterest #Travel

0 notes

mkarim · 7 years ago

Photo

#Istanbul #Mosque (at Defterdar Ibrahim Pasa Camii)

#mosque #istanbul

0 notes

reallifesultanas · 4 years ago

Text

Portrait of Canfeda Hatun / Canfeda Hatun portréja

Origin and post

Canfeda Hatun was probably a woman of Circassian origin who, according to some sources, had a brother named Ibrahim who lived his life as a moderately influential statesman. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but Canfeda was roughly similar in age to Nurbanu, so there is also the possibility that the two women may have known each other since childhood. Nurbanu then left the Old Palace as Prince Selim's concubine, while Canfeda remained there and rose higher and higher on the ranks of the harem servants. Nurbanu, soon after Selim's accession to the throne asked made Canfeda tha head of the harem. With this Canfeda became one of the highest ranked harem servants in the harem. In fact, later she became the first woman to manage the harem after moving to Topkapi during Murad III's reign. Her responsibilities included assigning the jobs of the harem, overseeing the education of young girls, selecting girls, overseeing the households of all women living in the harem, and teaching servants of the personal service of the Valide and the Sultan.

The kethüda hatun

As the right-hand of Nurbanu, Canfeda gained immense influence and recognition and certainly helped the Valide in everything she needed. Thus, perhaps indirectly, she may have been part of the fierce struggle between Nurbanu and Safiye. When the health of the Valide began to deteriorate in 1583 and she left the Topkapi Palace, Canfeda took control of the harem. Then in December of this year, the health of Nurbanu was finally shaken. On the deathbed of the valide, she made her son to swore that he will entrust the leadership of the harem to Canfeda. On the one hand, Nurbanu wanted to leave her son and the harem in good hands, but she also had the undisguised aim of limiting Murad's Haseki, Safiye, from gaining excessive power.

With the death of Nurbanu, Canfeda became the first kethüda hatun, the servant to control the harem, who essentially completely took over the duties of the deceased Valide Sultan, thus acting as a defacto Valide Sultan. According to some sources, Canfeda tried to send beautiful concubines to Murad, but he soon recalled and probably also married Safiye, who was exiled by Nurbanu. Although Canfeda continued to control the harem, and although she was a highly influential figure, she still had a lower rank than Safiye Sultan. No concrete evidence remained about the relationship between the two women, however, the fact that Canfeda openly supported one of Murad’s sons, Mustusta and his mother, presumably suggest that Safiye and Canfeda were not too close together. Canfeda’s support and special commitment to Prince Mustafa may suggest that the little prince’s mother may have been gifted to Murad by her. But is it also possible that the prince was an orphan, so Canfeda took special care of him? We will probably never know the answer, but in any case, although Canfeda was not close to Safiye, there were no open enemity between them, their relationship could have been respectful.

Charity and clash with the janissaries

Canfeda was a particularly intelligent woman, thanks to which she was able to be a part of the intrigues inside the palace's harem. Thanks to her influence, many concubines sought her favors, which Canfeda cleverly exploited and amassed a huge wealth by accepting bribes and expensive gifts. However, she did not use her vast wealth arbitrarily. She donated a great deal, setting up several foundations, through which she established, among other things, a mosque and a fountain in Istanbul in 1584. There was also a school in her mosque complex. Then in 1593 she also established a mosque and a bath in the village of Beykoz. In addition to these outstanding architectural projects, she also received permission from the Sultan to renovate and expand a water supply canal that transported water to her mosque in Istanbul and a nearby spa.

Although she never used her vast wealth in a selfish manner, the displeasure of the Janissaries was nevertheless provoked by her wealth. In 1593, during one of the janissary mutinies caused by a delay in the payment of the salaries, the discontented soldiers demanded the heads of the Grand Vizier, the head Defterdar, and the loathsome Canfeda. Canfeda presumably came into the view of the Janissaries not only because of her great fortune, but also because of the actions of her brother (Crazy) Ibrahim Pasha. Ibrahim Pasha served as a beylerbey of Diyarbekir, but was imprisoned for his numerous abuses. Canfeda, using her influence, rescued his brother from prison and reached to put him back in his position. Maybe the Janissaries didn't like it either. Only with great efforts did Murad manage to calm the mutineers and save the lives of his associates.

Later life

The fall of Canfeda was brought by Murad’s death, for Canfeda tried to smuggle one of Murad’s sons, Mustasta, out of the palace to save him from fratricide. The fact that Canfeda also risked her own life, wealth, and influence for the prince raises the possibility that perhaps she could indeed have been close to the prince or had a close bond with his mother. However, she failed to accomplish her deed, so the ten-year-old prince was executed by the new Sultan Mehmed, and Canfeda was immediately retired, thus moved to the Old Palace. Witnesses reported in detail about Murad’s harem moving to the Old Palace, highlighting how many chariots were needed to carry Canfeda’s belongings. Canfeda received 100 aspers as a daily salary after her retirement. When her salary proved insufficient to continue her construction projects and charity, Mehmed immediately raised the salary to 200 aspers. This clearly shows that although Canfeda’s action annoyed the new valide and the Sultan, the Sultan did not want to make Canfeda’s charitable actions impossible.

Canfeda presumably died around 1600, during the reign of Mehmed, probably due to natural causes.

Used sources: L. Peirce - The imperial harem; R. Ekrem Koçu - “Canfeda Hatun”; Kayaalp-Aktan - The Atik Valide Mosque Complex: A testament of Nurbanu’s prestige, power and piety; Ömer Düzbakar, Charitable Women And Their Pious Foundations In The Ottoman Empire: The Hospital of The Senior Mother, Nurbanu Valide Sultan; B. Tezcan - The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World

* * *

Eredete és beosztása

Canfeda Hatun valószínűleg cserkesz származású nő volt, akinek egyes források szerint volt egy Ibrahim nevű bátyja, aki közepesen befolyásos államférfiként élte életét. Pontos születési ideje nem ismert, de Canfeda nagyjából Nurbanuval hasonló korú volt, így felmerül annak eshetősége is, hogy a két nő talán gyermekkoruktól ismerte egymást. Nurbanu aztán Szelim herceg ágyasaként elhagyta a Régi Palotát, míg Canfeda ott maradt és a háremszolgálók ranglétráján emelkedett egyre feljebb. Innen kérette magához aztán Nurbanu szultána, II. Szelim trónralépése után. Canfeda lett a hárem egyik legmagasabb beosztású háremszolgálója. Tulajdonképpen ő volt az első asszony, aki a Murad trónralépése után, Topkapiba költöző háremet igazgathatta. Feladatai közé tartozott a háremen belüli munkák beosztása és kiadása, a fiatal lányok oktatásának felügyelése, a lányok kiválogatása, a háremben lakó minden nő háztartásának felügyelete, valamint a valide és szultán személyes szolgálatában álló szolgálók kitanítása.

A kethüda hatun

Canfeda Nurbanu jobbkezeként hatalmas befolyásra és elismerésre tett szert és minden bizonnyal igyekezett a valide szultána segítségére lenni mindenben, amiben csak kellett. Így talán közvetve része lehetett a Nurbanu és Safiye szultánák közötti kiélezett harcnak is. Amikor a valide szultána egészsége 1583-ban romlani kezdett és elhagyta a palotát, Canfeda vette át a hárem irányítását. Ez év decemberében aztán Nurbanu szultána egészsége végleg megrendült. A valide halálos ágyán megeskette fiát, hogy az halála után Canfedára bízza a hárem vezetését. Nurbanu ezzel egyrészt jó kezekben akarta tudni fiát és a háremet is, azonban nem titkolt célja volt az is, hogy korlátozza Murad Haszekijét, Safiyét a túlzott hatalomszerzéstől.

Nurbanu szultána halálával, Canfeda lett az első kethüda hatun, a háremet irányító szolgáló, aki lényegében teljesen átvette az elhunyt valide szultána feladatköreit, ezzel mintegy defacto valide szultánaként működve. Egyes források szerint Canfeda igyekezett szebbnél szebb háremhölgyeket küldeni Muradnak, ő azonban hamarosan visszahívta, sőt valószínűleg hites feleségévé tette a Nurbanu által száműzött Safiyét, aki így visszatérhetett a hárembe. Bár Canfeda irányította a háremet továbbra is, és bár kiemelten befolyásos személy volt, rangban akkor is Safiye szultána alatt állt. A két nő viszonyáról nem maradt fent konkrét bizonyíték, azonban az, hogy Canfeda nyíltan támogatta Murad egyik fiát, Musztafát és annak anyját, feltehetőleg nem álltak túl közel egymáshoz. Canfeda támogatása és különös elkötelezettsége Mustafa herceg iránt arra utalhat, hogy a kisherceg anyját talán ő ajándékozta Muradnak és az ő nevelése volt. De az is lehetséges, hogy a herceg árva volt, így Canfeda különös gondot fordított nevelésére? A választ valószínűleg sosem fogjuk megtudni. Mindenesetre bár Canfeda nem állt közel Safiyéhez, ellenségek sem voltak, viszonyuk tiszteletteljes lehetett.

Jótékonykodás és összeütközés a janicsárokkal

Canfeda különösen intelligens nő volt, melynek köszönhetően remekül tudott belefolyni a palotán belüli intrikákba. Befolyásának köszönhetően sok ágyas kereste a kegyeit, melyet Canfeda okosan kihasznált és hatalmas vagyont gyűjtött a megvesztegetések és drága ajándékok elfogadásával. Hatalmas vagyonát azonban nem önkényesen használta. Nagyon sokat adakozott, több alapítványt is létrehozott, melyeken keresztül többek között egy mecsetet és egy kutat is létrehozott Isztambulban, 1584-ben. Mecsetkompexumában helyt kapott egy iskola is. 1593-ban aztán Beykoz faluban is létrehozott egy mecsetet és egy fürdőt. Ezen kiemelt építészeti projektjei mellett pedig a szultántól engedélyt kapott arra is, hogy rendbehozasson és kibővíthessen egy vízszállító csatornát is, mely a vizet szállította isztambuli mecsetjéhez és egy közeli fürdőhöz.

Hatalmas vagyonát bár sosem önző módon használta, a janicsárok nemtetszését mégis kiváltotta gazdagsága. 1593-ban a janicsárok fizetésével megkésett az állam, akik erre fellázadtak és több fejet is követeltek, többek között a nagyvezírét, a fő jegyzőét és Canfedáét. Canfeda feltehetőleg nem csupán nagy vagyona miatt került a janicsárok látószögébe, hanem testvére (Őrült) Ibrahim Pasa tettei miatt is. Ibrahim Pasa Diyarbekir helytartójaként tevékenykedett, azonban számtalan visszaélése miatt börtönbe került. Canfeda pedig befolyását kihasználva kimentette testvérét a börtönből és elérte, hogy újra pozíciót kapjon. Talán ez sem tetszett a janicsároknak. Murad végül nagy nehézségek árán képes volt megnyugtatni a lázongó katonákat ezzel pedig megmentenie emberei életét.

Kései évek

Canfeda bukását Murad halála hozta el, ugyanis Murad halálakor Canfeda megpróbálta Murad egyik fiát, Musztafát kicsempészni a palotából, hogy ezzel mentse meg a kivégzéstől. Az, hogy Canfeda kockára tette a saját életét, vagyonát és befolyását is a hercegért, felveti annak a lehetőségét, hogy talán valóban ő nevelhette a herceget, vagy annak anyjához fűzte szoros kötelék. Tettét azonban nem sikerült kiviteleznie, a tíz éves herceget az új szultán Mehmed kivégeztette, Canfedát pedig azonnal nyugdíjazták, aki így visszavonult a Régi Palotába. A szemtanúk részletesen beszámoltak Murad háremének Régi Palotába költözéséről, kiemelve Canfeda rengeteg szekéren utazó vagyontárgyait. Canfeda 100 asperes napi fizetést kapott visszavonulása után. Amikor napi 100 asperes fizetése nem bizonyult elégnek, hogy folytathassa építési projektjeit és jótékonykodását, Mehmed azonnal megemelte a fizetését 200 asperre. Ez egyértelműen mutatja, hogy bár Canfeda cselekedetével bosszantotta az új validét és a szultánt, a szultán nem akarta ellehetetleníteni Canfeda jótékonysági akcióit.

Canfeda feltehetőleg 1600 körül, Mehmed uralkodása alatt halt meg, valószínűleg természetes okok következtében.

Felhasznált források: L. Peirce - The imperial harem; R. Ekrem Koçu - “Canfeda Hatun”; Kayaalp-Aktan - The Atik Valide Mosque Complex: A testament of Nurbanu’s prestige, power and piety; Ömer Düzbakar, Charitable Women And Their Pious Foundations In The Ottoman Empire: The Hospital of The Senior Mother, Nurbanu Valide Sultan; B. Tezcan - The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World.

#Selim II #Murad III #Nurbanu Sultan #canfeda hatun #janfeda #canfeda #safiye sultan

31 notes · View notes

ottomanladies · 6 years ago

Note

Hi,I was wondering if you describe the celebrations for a birth of a child in the Ottoman Empire,also if Ottoman princesses couldn't marry non-muslims then why did Princess Niloufer Khanum Sultana Farhar marry Edward Julius Pope.

Hello! I was actually going to post more quotes about royal births but it’s fine.

Royal births were a complicated affair, especially from the 17th century onwards. There wes a lot of preparation, protocol to maintain, celebrations to give… it was a grand-scale event, basically, because it showed the strength of the dynasty.

There were differences between the birth of a prince and that of a princess but they were both heavily celebrated either way. When Mustafa III’s daughter Hibetullah Sultan was born on 14 March on 1759, the celebrations lasted ten days instead of the customary three/four. Hibetullah’s birth was an even bigger event because Mustafa III’s two predecessor had had no children. The historian Vasif described what happened:

“Thirty or forty days prior to the princess’s birth, the stewards of the bedesten [part of the Covered Bazaar where fabrics and other valuables were sold] were informed so that they could make ready. In the shops artisans prepared chandeliers and other equipment needed for the festivities. The dignitaries and janissary commanders who were to participate in the festivities made their preparations secretly, ears pricked to hear the good nevvs. When tidings of the birth came, rich and poor alike decorated their doors to the best of their ability, and lit torches and lamps by night. İn every comer the sound of drums and zuma [woodwind instrument like an oboe] were heard, and on every side the strains of the çenk [a type of harp] and the şeştar [a string instrument vvith a leather soundbox] gave joy to the heart. Jugglers and dancers displayed their skills and entertained the crovvds. Every household seemed as if celebrating a wedding, every shop was a place of entertainment. In the Imperial Palace the Privy Chamber, the Chamber of the Pantlers and Campaign Chamber and pavilions vvere illuminated vvith chandeliers. From the Imperial Gate to the Gate of Felicity four hundred torches were lit. The doorways were adomed vvith crystal chandeliers and lamps, and to the left and right of each door a hundred small and large long mirrors with candlesticks were hung. The Süblime Porte (Bab-ı Âli) was adomed vvith coloured lamps, curious sculptures and fascinating pictures and embellished with chandeliers. Most wonderful of all a delightful mosque was built, decorated inside and out vvith lamps of every colour. On the last day of the festivities guild processions were held and every group of artisans demonstrated their craft. After that there was a water-borne display on rafts, creating many different images of the sea, spray and spiralling wheels, and rockets were fired. Every company displayed their art that one night and so the celebrations drew to an end.“

Gun salutes were also fired, seven for a prince and three for a princess, five times a day.

Poets, scholars and even statesmen would compose chronograms in honour of the new prince or princess. For the birth of Hibetullah Sultan, the Grand Vizier wrote: “Only one in a thousand is such a sweetheart born / Hibetullah Sultan has brought joy into the world”

The sultan would scatter gold coins to the people in palace service and expensive gifts to important statesmen or members of the ulema: “At another ceremony commemorating a royal birth in 1878 the sultan presented costly sable furs to the şeyhülislâm, the kaymakam paşa, the supreme judges of Anatolia and Rumelıa, the commander of the light infantry, the nakîbüleşrâf (marshall of the descendents of the prophet), defterdar, (minister of finance) and reîsülküttâb (minister of foreign affairs)”

In the harem, it was the valide sultan who presented gifts to the staff, members of the royal family and the sultan as well, consorts of the sultans (their gifts were meticulously prepared based on their rank; the Senior Imperial Consort would get the most expensive and so on), to the new mother and to the baby, of course.

“The valide sultan’s gifts for the new mother consisted of a fur and several gowns with matching shoes. The ankle-length sable fur was covered with velvet embroidered with pearls, gold thread, sequins and chenille, and it was wrapped in an embroidered satin cloth. The dresses and shoes included six in different colours, some of velvet and some of satin, embroidered with gold thread, sequins and chenille, and three more gowns made of moire silk with velvet stems. In addition large storage bags embroidered in a lattice pattern with gold thread, cloth wrappers made of canfes (a type of plain silk fabric) and heavy isfâki fabric brocaded in metal thread in a medallion pattern, and wooden chests lined with gilded paper were made for storing the new clothes.”

The midwife and nursemaids present at the birth also received sets of clothes: “the midwife received a fur of sable nâfe (fur from the belly of the animal) covered with satin embroidered with gilded thread, sequins and chenille, three satin gowns and matching shoes embroidered with gilded thread, sequins and chenille, and a gown and matching shoes made of moire silk embroidered in silk in many colours. The nursemaid was given six matching dresses and shoes in different colours with multicoloured silk embroidery, a print head scarf, silk needle lace edging for the scarf, a muslin ferace (light overcoat), yashmak, shoes and patent leather slippers.”

What is more interesting, in my opinion, is that the bedroom of the new mother was changed too? The wallpaper was changed into one more expensive, pillows and curtains were embroidered in gold threads, the window handles (!!) were changed with gold-plated ones… she also would get new bed covers, blankets, cotton sheets, etc etc.

For the baby: “a small Koran in a velvet pouch embroidered with a rose-cut diamond, pearls, sequins and chenille, with a fringe of pearls. A chandelier encrusted with brilliants and emeralds adomed the room. A charm inscribed with the word maşallah (may God protect) and studded with brilliants, and a “cockspur” charm set studded with brilliants, rubies, emeralds and turquoises were made to protect the infant from the evil eye. There was a silver gilt cradle adorned with a rose-cut diamond, and besides this three carved and gilded cradles made of walnut wood. The handle of the cradle was made of gold brocaded isfâki fabric with a medallion pattern, and the coverlet was of cashmere. There were six cradle mattresses made of dark red satin lined with muslin. The quilt and quilt cover were made of moire silk embroidered with gold thread, sequins and chenille, and the cover was edged with needle lace and a fringe of gold thread. There were four other quilts, two of cashmere and two of Marpuca shawl fabric. The sheets for the quilt were made from cotton embroidered with klapdan (gold or silver wire wrapped around silk thread) in a design of stems, and the side flounces were made of white cotton muslin. The swaddling rods matched the cradle. There were also cotton muslin cloths, dresses, underclothes, cloths for wrapping the arms and feet, caps made of plain cashmere and fermayiş (finest quality cashmere), pantaloons made of plain şalâki, a bakırdak (broad sash tied across a cradle to prevent the infant falling out) made of moire silk embroidered with pearls, gold thread, sequins and chenille, a second bakırdak made of dark red silk embroidered in silk or klapdan and edged with braid, and a third bakırdak made of Marpucu shawl fabric. Other items were a silver hamam tası (bath bowl used for pouring water over when rinsing), a sübek (potty), an unidentified object made of tortoiseshell, and a gold-plated copper ewer and basin.”

On the fifth day after the birth, invitations would be sent to guests for the Cradle Procession, the most important ceremony at a royal birth. Organised by the Grand Vizier and the Valide Sultan, an actual cradle and the baby’s trousseau would be carried to Topkapi Palace for all the guests to see.

sources:- Merve Çakir, Royal Births at the Ottoman Palace

Princess Nilufer was able to marry a non-muslim man because when she did the empire had collapsed. She married Pope only in 1963 and he was her second husband, she had already made a “dynastic” marriage. I mean, she wasn’t a princess anymore, she could marry anyone she wanted

#anon #ask post #ask: ottoman history #ottoman harem #royal births #hibetullah sultan daughter of mustafa iii

40 notes · View notes

divanquotes · 5 years ago

Text

Alexander W. Hidden, The Ottoman Dynasty: A History of the Sultans of Turkey, 1912

Page xv: Janissaries: 1. Tchohadar or Footman of the Grand Vizier. 2. Divan Tchaoushi or Usher of the Divan. 3. Yassakdji or Body-guard of the Foreign Ambassadors.

Page 9: The Divan was the great national council of which the Sultan was president; he often listened from a latticed window when the ministers discussed. In his absence the Grand Vizier presided. On the right of the presiding officer were the Pashas and the Kadiaskers or judges; on the left were the Defterdars and the Nishandjis or secretaries of state; directly in front of him stood the Teskeredjis or officers who reported on the condition of the various departments of state. It was always attended by a number of court officers, by the Grand Marshal, the Grand Chamberlain, and the Reis Effendi. Whenever it was necessary, the Grand Vizier had the power to call a special meeting of the Divan at his own residence, and the Imperial seal is always intrusted to his care, for its use is essential on all documents of state.

Page 26: The murder of all princes of royal blood henceforth became the safeguard of the Ottoman dynasty. The Koran says: "Sedition is worse than slaughter," and brothers of Sultans are ever seditious. On this account all princes are usually kept in strict seclusion in the palace. Since the foundation of the empire by Osman I in 1299 till the reign of Achmet I the throne passed from father to sons. But in 1617 Moustapha succeeded his brother Achmet I, and after his death the Divan convoked a special session in which a custom was established by a fetva, that thereafter the successor of the Sultan should as a rule be the oldest male relative, whether uncle, brother or nephew, and not his eldest son, as in other European countries.

Page 42: The month of Ramazan is followed by Sheker Bairam or Candy Easter, which lasts three days. On that day his Imperial Majesty goes to the Mosque in a court carriage drawn by four magnificent Arabian horses, accompanied by a brilliant retinue of marshals, generals and superior functionaries in full uniform emblazoned with gold embroidery and decoration, and by the Caftan Aghassi or the Grand Master of the Wardrobe, whose duties are in all processions to throw silver coins to the people; there the Sultan is received by the Grand Vizier, the Sheikh-ul-Islam and other dignitaries, and is greeted with three cheers of “Long live the Sultan!” The religious service lasts about an hour, and at its close the Sultan rides on a richly caparisoned white charger to the Dolma Baghtcheh Palace with his suite, where he withdraws to his private apartments to rest. Meanwhile the civil, military and religious dignitaries take their places in the Divan Khaneh or reception room, which is of immense dimensions. This throne room is embellished with great oriental splendor; the walls are decorated with immense mirrors, and from the beautifully ornamented high ceiling hang colossal crystal chandeliers. His Imperial Majesty enters and takes his seat on the throne, and the ceremony begins. The first in rank are their highnesses the Princes Imperial; they are followed by the Grand Vizier, who approaches the throne, bows low to kiss the hem of his imperial garment, which is now discontinued and a scarf attached to the throne is substituted for that purpose; the Sheik-ul-Islam, dressed in his white caftan, and turban of white, crossed in front by a band of gold, comes next and attempts to do the same, but is prevented by the Sultan, as there is but little difference in their religious rank; next come the Chief Justices, the Kadi-al-Askers of Roumeli, Europe, and Anadoli, Asia; the Istambol Kadisi, etc. During this ceremony the imperial band continues to play, the cannons are thundering, after which the people leave the palace.

Page 114: The Imperial Ottoman Divan or Council assembled four times a week, on Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, under the presidency of the Sultan; Friday was observed as a day of prayer, Wednesday and Thursday were days of rest.

Page 169: In October of the same year, 1579, while the Grand Vizier Mehemet Sokolli was presiding at the council, a man disguised as a dervish approached him to present a petition, and, as he did so, stabbed him mortally ; the murderer, a Bosnian, was condemned to death. The Grand Vizier was succeeded by Achmet Pasha, an Albanian who died six months after and was succeeded by Sinan Pasha, an Albanian who disliked the Austrians.

In the Divan he asked their ambassador, Pezzen, who had given authority to the King of Austria to appoint a common clerk as his representative. "My sovereign," he replied, "is as free to appoint a clerk to be his Ambassador as the Sultan is to make a swineherd his Grand Vizier." Sinan Pasha turned to the other pashas and said, "I am paid in a good coin by this giaour."

Page 170: During the reign of Mourad corruption and favoritism prevailed. Every appointment, civil, military or judicial, was bought, as the Sultan was spending large sums on his musicians, the parasites, dwarfs and buffoons with whom he spent the most of his time; he humiliated himself by partaking of a part of the bribes his courtiers received for such appointments. Incompetent men were appointed as generals or officers in the army; this brought insubordination on, and at last, in 1589, the Janissaries, being agitated by the debased coinage they received for their pay, attacked the Seraglio, where the Divan was assembled, and demanded the head of Mohammed Pasha Beylerbey of Roumania, and that of the treasurer, who was entirely innocent. Mourad was obliged to comply with their demands.

Page 179: Safiye, the Valideh Sultan, was an important factor in the imperial court and exercised a strong influence over her weak, impetuous and irascible son Mohammed. The Sultan's advisers were very anxious that he should join his army and command it in person. The Valideh, who feared the loss of her influence over her son, strenuously opposed his departure for the scene of action, and kept him infatuated with the beauties and pleasures of the harem. Public opinion and the announcement of further losses finally aroused the Sultan. He summoned the Mufti, who with rare good sense advised Mohammed by adroitly giving him a poem of Ali Tchelebi to read, which depicted strikingly the victories of the Hungarians, and the consequently pitiable condition of the Ottoman dominions.

This had the desired effect, and Mohammed immediately ordered a three-days' service of prayer at the Ok Meidan. Meanwhile all the Turks, including the historian Saadeddin, his tutor, the Mufti and the Grand Vizier, urged the Sultan to engage personally in the war against the infidels, while the Janissaries added to the pressure upon him by refusing to march in defense of their country without their ruler. This enthusiasm overruled the influence of the Valideh; in her indignation she forgot her Christian birth and the ties of early kindred, and proposed a massacre of the Christians in Constantinople, in which she was seconded by the fanatics in the Divan. Wiser councils finally prevailed, and the banishment of all unmarried Greeks in the capital was the result of the fury of this powerful woman.

Page 200: The change of rulers made no improvement in the condition of affairs in Turkey; after Ibrahim's accession to power matters grew worse. His earlier years had been passed in forced seclusion and in constant dread of the executioner's sword; it was almost a natural sequence, therefore, that the fostered immaturity of youth, combined with the strength and passion of untrained manhood, should form a character weak, voluptuous, selfish, cruel and despotic in the extreme. He was regardless of the welfare of his subjects, amused by his buffoons, and controlled by the beautiful and capricious women in his harem, whose desires were excessive and extravagant, and whose whims, however slight, were instantly gratified. One of the extravagant favors demanded by a lady of the Seraglio was, that Ibrahim bedeck his beard with jewels. He immediately complied with her wish, appearing in public thus adorned. He was exceedingly fond of perfumes and amber; he had also a mania for costly sable furs, and not only wore them, but used them as upholstery covering for sofas and divans, and as carpets.

Page 217: Of course this forced the Divan to open negotiations with the Russians, but Kara Moustapha Pasha opposed this course so emphatically, that he was allowed to take command of a new army thoroughly equipped to regain control of Poland. This expedition was joined by 30,000 Tartars sent by the Khan of the Crimea and the total army then besieged Cehryn, which fell after a long and painful siege (1678).

The return of the Turkish army through the wild fastnesses of the mountains was taken advantage of by the Russians, who attacked them unawares and slaughtered the soldiers and captured the baggage and artillery. Eventually this horrible war came to an end in 1681.

Page 236: A messenger was sent to Charles proposing a safe return to his kingdom, through either Poland or Germany, but Charles in reply threatened to hang him as he did not wish to listen to his propositions. The Sultan thought it advisable to send him a complimentary letter in which, after styling him the most powerful among the kings who worship Jesus, brilliant in majesty, and a lover of honor and glory, he requested him to depart in care of Providence, and promising that he should be accompanied by a noble escort, supplied with money and every other necessity. Charles accepted the 1,200 purses, but was in no haste to depart. The Sultan perceived that only force could compel him to return to his country. A decision of the Divan to force him to leave Turkey was sent to the Pasha of Bender, who at once waited upon the King of Sweden and made him acquainted with it. "Obey your master if you dare!" said Charles " and leave my presence instantly!" Charles proceeded to plan a defense, erecting intrenchments and other works. Shortly after this his camp was surrounded by a large number of Turkish troops.

Page 248: The Sarratch Khaneh or Saddlers' Bazaar is a small quarter by itself adjoining one of the principal streets of Stamboul, the Divan Yol. The rich bestow the greatest possible attention upon the trappings and equipments of the animals they use, and the workmen who produce these objects constitute a special guild. In this bazaar may be seen elaborate saddles covered with leather or stuffs or velvet decorated with ornamental hand-sewing with silver and gold and with selected pearls sewed on to it; some of these valuable saddles are to be seen at the imperial treasury. Saddlebags of all descriptions are also made here. They are of all shapes and sizes, and useful for the long journeys on horseback into Asia, which are often undertaken from Constantinople. In this Bazaar in 1853 by orders of Abdul Medjid a saddle of great value was made of cloth and leather decorated with valuable jewels and sent to Pope Pius IX.; also Hamid I presented a saddle in gold to Empress Catherine II, which was made in the same place. The Sarratch Khaneh was formerly entirely in the hands of the Greeks, but as soon as the Turks learned the art, the Greeks were obliged to quit.

Page 253: During these reverses the Mufti Pirizade Osman Effendi tried to persuade the Sultan at the Divan to massacre all the Christians of the empire. Previous to this proposition he issued a fetva commanding the slaughter of all Moldavians and Wallachians, and their wives and children to be taken in slavery; but as the Mufti found no seconders the project was rejected.

Page 254: Captan Hassan Pasha was a native of Persia, where he was kidnapped when a boy by the Turks, and sold to another person, from whose service he freed himself by the assistance of a Greek. He escaped to Smyrna, thence to Algeria, where he enlisted in the army, promoted for his ability and courage and at last was appointed governor to some province. He became very wealthy, and being suspected by the Divan of Algeria, was obliged to escape in order to save himself and his accumulated wealth. On his way he was captured by a Spanish vessel, and was detained six years in Madrid; he was sent to Naples in exchange for Christian prisoners. From Naples he passed to France, and sailed in a Danish ship for Constantinople. On his arrival there he had a private interview with the Grand Vizier Kaghip Pasha, through whom Hassan obtained an opportunity of appearing before the Padishah Moustapha, who, being convinced of his intelligence and characteristic vigor, appointed him captain of Turkish man-of-war. He afterwards became Admiral, and at last he was promoted to the highest rank of Grand Vizier. He died at the age of seventy years, and it is supposed that he was poisoned.

Page 266: About four hundred and seventy of these Mamelukes, under the command of Saim Bey, wholly unsuspicious of the treacherous design of Mehemet Ali, accepted the invitation. They were received and treated cordially at the Divan (hall of audience) on the 1st of May, 1811, and offered to Mehemet Ali their hearty congratulations. As they were passing at their departure through a narrow defile between high walls, all mounted, with their attendants who usually served on foot, armed and attired in gorgeous robes forming a brilliant procession, they were swept down by Albanian troops with cannon and a hail of bullets from the tops of the walls and in all directions, which threw the unprepared Mamelukes and their horses in a confused mass. Death passed over them like a whirlwind, not sparing one of them. The lifeless body of the brave Saim Bey was dragged by a rope around his neck through various parts of the city. The heads of the principal officers were embalmed and sent to the Sultan at Constantinople. Only one of the Mamelukes, named Emin Bey, escaped this horrible massacre in Cairo. Being detained on business and not able to attend the festival, he arrived there when the Mamelukes were entering the narrow defile. He waited until all passed and would have followed them, but the gates were shut at once and immediately after he heard the reports of the firearms. He surmised the result and at once galloped out of the city. He afterwards with a small party retired to Syria.

Page 280: Mahmoud had been determined for a long time to humiliate and destroy this audacious man, and the opportunity finally presented itself February, 1820. Two men were arrested in the mosque of St. Sophia, in the act of firing upon Ismail Pasha Bey, who, having fled from Ali Pasha, had taken refuge in the imperial court. These two assassins were hired by Ali Pasha, but the attempt failed, and they were compelled to confess the name of their employer. The Sultan issued an order immediately declaring Ali Pasha to be a Fermanli or an outlaw, and all his loyal subjects were commanded to fight the rebel. A series of engagements between the two parties took place, with varying success, and he was able to stop the bribes which Ali had used freely among the members of the Divan, and which were only prolonging the conflict. At last Ali Pasha, after a brave resistance, not being able to defend his capital any longer, took refuge in a castle which he had built on an abrupt peninsula jutting into a lake. He was well fortified there and threatened to blow himself up unless the Sultan's pardon was granted him. At last, Khurshid Pasha, who was in command of the besiegers, succeeded, on the pretense of offered capitulation, in getting Ali Pasha into his power.

Page 284: The commerce of Russia on the Black Sea had to be completely discontinued on account of the blockading of the Bosporus. The ultimatum of the ambassador was not answered, and as a result, on July 18th, Baron Straganoff decided to cease all diplomatic relations whatever with the Reis Effendi. On the 31st of July he sailed for Odessa, having first declared to the Divan that if the Porte did not at once better the situation Russia would give to the Greeks refuge, protection and assistance. The Reis Effendi replied to St. Petersburg, too late, however, and the most atrocious cruelties were committed by the Janissaries and troops from Asia Minor before the foreign ambassadors, particularly Lord Stangford, the British ambassador, could succeed in persuading the Grand Seignior to recall his command to arm all Mussulmans.

Page 299: This defeat enraged the Sultan and the Divan; and on no condition would they make any terms, or accept the Treaty of London, which the foreign Ministers, especially the representative of Russia, urged more peremptorily. In the meantime the Porte seized all of the ships of the Franks in Constantinople, detained them for some time, and stopped all communication with the allied powers till indemnity should be made for the destruction of the fleet. This gross offense caused the departure of the ambassadors; but the Ottoman Government endeavored to induce them to remain and offered complete amnesty to the Greeks, with other insincere promises, but positively refused to recognize their independence; the only reply made by the ambassadors was to leave Constantinople on the 8th of December.

Page 324: Mahmoud abolished the power of a Turkish governor to condemn to death for a simple cause either a Christian or a Turk unless authorized by a legal sentence, pronounced and signed by the Kadi; he also prohibited the confiscation of his property, as heretofore was the custom. Instead of holding himself aloof from the cares of state, Mahmoud always attended the Divan. By thus keeping himself informed in the affairs of the Government, he was able to redress many of the worst of the wrongs connected with the Vacoufs by placing the revenues under the administrations of the state. However, he did not undertake applying this vast resource of wealth to the uses of the Government. The military fiefs, Ziamets and Timars, he handled more boldly. Since they had for some time ceased to serve their purpose, that of furnishing effective military service. Mahmoud attached them to the public domains, and in this manner essentially strengthened the resources of the state, at the same time putting an end to a host of corruptions.

Page 338: Nicholas I. of Russia, after mustering a fleet at Sebastopol and an army of 30,000 men, sent Prince Menschikoff as a special messenger to Constantinople. He demanded the protection of all members of the Greek Church in Turkey and the settlement of the question regarding the Holy Places of Jerusalem in such a manner as to leave the supremacy to the Greeks. On May 5, 1853, Menschikoff, appearing before the full Divan in his top coat and muddy boots, delivered his message with ill-concealed disdain and contempt. At the time Lord Stradford de Radcliff and M. de la Cour, the English and French ambassadors, were absent. On their return, however, they assured the Sultan of their entire support, and the Russian demands were at once refused. Menschikoff delivered an ultimatum that was disregarded, and started for Russia.

Page 342: The Divan by this time perceived the impossibility of properly defending, unaided, the coast of the Black Sea against the Russians, and called for the assistance of the allied powers whose fleet occupied the Bosporus, and these vessels entered the Black Sea January 2, 1854.

Page 376: Except on special occasions the Sultan eats alone. His meals are prepared in his private kitchen. The Aktchi Bashi or chief cook officiates under the ever watchful eye of the Kelardji Bashi, controller of the cellars, one of the most weighty functionaries in Yildiz Palace, for the health, the very life even, of the ruler is at his mercy. When cooked, his meals are served in silver vessels and each one is closely sealed with the red wax bearing the official seal of the Kelardji Bashi. Scores of people from the kitchen follow the meals in procession into the imperial chamber. The Kelardji Bashi breaks the seal before it is given to the Sultan, and often he is requested to taste some particular dish before the Sultan partakes of it; this is done as a precaution against poison, and it is eaten from the dish in which it is served; the Sultan partakes sitting on a divan in a loose robe with the sleeves turned up. The repast is wound up with coffee and a cigarette, formerly the tchibouk, which is made, as previously mentioned, of cherry wood or jasmine. The precious amber piece was encircled with rings of gold, enameled and often enriched with diamonds or rubies. The Sultan's drinking water is brought to the palace in casks under special precautions from a certain spring in the suburbs of Constantinople.

1 note · View note

divanquotes · 5 years ago

Text

Hammer, History of the Ottoman Empire v1, 1840

Page 135: The maneuvers of Timur to sow division among the enemies were favored by a spirit of discontent which reigned in the army of Bajezid, because of the rigors of the Sultan and the irregularity of the payment of the soldiers. In vain during the council of war, a divan on foot, had vizier Ali-Pascha and his son Ibrahim tried to repress his temerity and correct his parsimony; in vain had they represented to him that the superiority of the enemy was to prevent a pitched battle in the open country, and rather to search for the woods and canyons or ravines.

Page 169: The day after his accident, the Sultan again showed himself to his army, which received him with the accustomed cries and cheers (alkisch); but the next day he suffered a second attack, which paralyzed his tongue, and in the evening he died. Ibrahim and Bajesid-Pascha, both viziers, resolved to hold the death of the sultan a secret, until the eldest son Murad was informed, and after he had taken possession of the throne at Brusa. Elwan-Bey, the first Esquire, was hastily dispatched to Amasia to inform him of the death of his father. The Divan, however, continued to be held regularly, and in order the separation in Europe of the army which might have been divided into parties for the various sons of Mohammed, in case the rumor of the sultan’s death should spread, and to strengthen within that corps the new sovereign in Asia, it was proclaimed in the name of the Sultan that an Asian campaign had been determined, and that the point of assembly of the troops had been fixed at Bigha (capital of Karasi).

Page 301: 2. The Divan of Dschem, in the Royal Library of Berlin, under no. 129 of the manuscripts of Diez.

Page 334: Before the door of the empire are encamped the guards who protect it; it is near the sublime door through which the vizier enters. The door of happiness leads to the sanctuary of bliss, inside the courtyard, in the women's apartment. In the interior of the house is the room where the treasure is kept; the administration of the finances is in charge of keeping the house, and in the room is the sofa (the divan), on which sit the high dignitaries of the state; finally, the most distant apartments are assigned to the courty itself.

Page 335: Neglecting the funeral feasts of husein and the newrus, or the celebration of the renewal of the Persian year, the Ottomans halved the solemnized days in the Persian calendar; but he added a new splendor to the two bairam festivals, surrounding them, with the pomp of the court. "It is my imperial will," said he, "that for the feasts of the bairam a throne be set up in the public square, in front of the Divan room, and that the hand-kissing ceremony be performed. My viziers, my kadiaskers, and my defterdars must stand behind me; my chodscha (preceptor) is standing in front of the viziers, the kadiaskers and the defterdars; the tschauschs kiss my hand, as well as sandschakbegs and mute-ferrikas, whether they are soldiers or not, etc."

Page 336: The first columns of the empire and the support of the Divan are the viziers, that is to say the porters, so called because on their shoulders rests the weight of the state. First, there was only one; then there were two; then three under the first sultans. The conqueror brought their number to four, of which the first, the grand vizier, raised much above the others by rank and power, invested with unlimited power, is the visible image of the Sultan, his representative, the supreme leader of all branches of administration, center and levier or taxer of the whole government.

Page 337: When, at the end of a year, the sultan appointed a new grand vizier, he confided to him only the conduct of the army, as to the generalissimo, but he himself presided over the Divan in person; it was only under the administration of Keduk-Ahmed-Pascha, the conqueror of Kaffa, Karamania, and Otranto, that one day a Turkman, covered with rags, appeared in the Divan room, and asked, in the rude language of his compatriots: Which of you is the blessed emperor? Mohammed was inflamed with anger, and the grand vizier took this opportunity to represent to the Sultan that, in order not to expose in the future his sacred person to such a mistake, it would be better to abandon the care of the affairs of the Divan to the viziers. The conqueror welcomed the proposal; and from that moment on, the administration remained exclusively with the viziers, and particularly in the hands of the first of them. For four consecutive days, on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the grand vizier, preceded by other viziers, kadiaskers, defterdars, and nischandschis, went to the Divan room, at the seraglio: to the entrance to the council chamber, where the first comers stopped, the others did the same, all crossing their arms on their chests, and carefully hiding their hands in their sleeves; the grand vizier then crossed their double ranks, and entered the room first; the other members of the Divan then entered two by two, so that the first to arrive at the door crossed the threshold last; as they pass the ranks of the councilors, the grand vizier gives them a salute, which they render to him in return. Upon the sofa where he sits, on his right, sit the other viziers and kadiaskers, on his left, the defterdars and the nischandschis; before him stand the masters of the petitioners, who present their affairs; the reis-effendi, or secretary of state, is at the foott of the sofa; the grand chamberlain and the marshal of the court, with their procession of chamberlains and lower tschauschs, add to the pomp of these sittings, and the tschaucsch-baschi, or marshal of the court, who maintains the order, is called the bey of the Divan.

Page 337: The insignia of the dignity of vizier are the three ponytails, of which the beglerbegs wear only two; a single tail distinguishes sandschak-begs. To viziers alone belongs the salvation of blessing (alkisch), which completely replaced the Byzantine salvation of long years. In the summer, they wear velvet overcoats, with buttons and gold piping; in the winter, this calf is lined with furs. The annual revenues of the viziers were at first 100,000 asperes; then they were raised to 200,000; the fiefs with which they were besides invested produced five or six times this sum. An immense distance between the viziers or paschas with three tails and the great vizier is marked by prerogatives exclusively reserved for this high dignitary: 1. the guard of the imperial seal, with which, on days of the Divan, are sealing the doors of the treasury and Chancery; 2, the right to hold a particular Divan in the afternoon, in his palace, which is called the high door; 3. the escort of the marshal of the court and all the tschauschs, from his palace to the seraglio, and the imperial palace at his house, and Fridays when he goes to the mosque; 4. the visit of the kadiaskers and defterdars every Wednesday, wearing the turban of ceremonies, with whom he goes to the court; 5. the appearance of the officers of the imperial elector, every Monday, in the divan; 6. the solemn procession, when he goes to pray at the mosque on Friday, under the escort of tschauschs (messengers of state), tschaschnegirs (sharp squires), and muteferrikas (couriers of the court), with their ceremonial hats;

Page 338: The second columns of the empire and the Divan, are the kadiaskrs, or judges of the army. From the founding of the Ottoman Empire to the madness of Mohammed's kingdom, a single judge of the army had been tasked with resolving the disputed issues in Turkey and Asia; in the last year of the conqueror, when Mesih-Pascha, after the unhappy departure from Rhodes's headquarters, upon his return to Constantinople, was deposed of his expected dignity, with which the judge of the Magnesia-Tschelebisi army was invested, and while Molla-Kastelani replaced the latter, the grand vizier Mohammd-Pascha-Karamani, under whom most of the provisions of the kanunname were arrested, and who was Kastelani's personal enemy, represented to the sultan that, since there were four viziers on the Divan In the future, it could well establish two military judges, one of whom would decide on European affairs, while the other would be given those of Asia. His proposal was adopted, and Hadschi-Hasansade became Kastelani's colleague, as Anatolia’s first army judge.

Page 338: These dignitaries then had the right to be admitted to the sultan's audience on the days of the Divan, immediately after the vows, and to present to him directly their report of affairs; on Tuesdays and Wednesdays excepted, every afternoon they held a special Divan in their own home, where the judges and rectors of the colleges went. They appointed all of the offices of the Kadis and the Muderris, in their respective departments, with the exception of the places of kadis whose daily product was above 150 Aspres, and of muderris with a revenue of 40 asperes, as at Constantinople, Adrianople, and Brusa, the grand vizier had reserved to occupy or fill these posts.

Page 339: Finally, the fourth column of the empire is the nischandschis, or secretaries for the signature of the sultan, who were originally true secretaries of state, and as such members of the Divan. Then the reis-ul-kutlab, or chief of scribes, had no place in this council; it was only a long time after that he succeeded in occupying that rank superior to nischandschi, whose place, nowadays without any action in the course of affairs, is no longer anything but a purely honorary title. The nischandschi was first obliged to affix himself the tughra, or the figure of the Sultan, at the head of the firmans and documents; now it is his assistants who are doing this. This formality is still called today, as under the caliphs, tewkii, that is, sanction of the fact; at the time of the caliphate, this was filled by the vizier; later, this was left to the care of the Secretary of State, who was named Secretary of State for the expediting. In accordance with the first dispositions of the Ottoman kanun, the nischandschi revised and confirmed the plans and orders prepared by the chancellors; he has, he has the sultan's signature stamped on it, after the draftsman (the mumejis), the referendary or mediator (beghkdschi), and the chancellor (reis) put their visa on them (ssahh).

Page 341: The kapidschilerkiajasi and the tschausch-baschi, on the days of divan and solemn hearings, march forward, carrying sticks garnished with silver, which they make resounding by striking on the ground. The first has kapidschibaschis under his orders; the other orders tschauschs (state quartermasters and messengers); bostandschi-baschi still exercises his authority over the numerous garden guards who are responsible for cultivating and maintaining the imperial gardens, and who train the crews of the sultan's galleys and boats. The harem is the stay of women; he is placed under the supervision of the black eunuchs, whose chief, the kislar-agasi (aga of the girls), is often shown by his most powerful influence of all agas from outside, from inside and from outside. Such was the organization of justice, treasury, army, city, and court. The provinces were administered by begs, paschas of a tail, and beglerbegs, paschas with two tails, chiefs of the feudal cavaliers who gather under their banners (sandschaks).

Page 351: When Keduk-Ahmed-Pascha, launched in pursuit of Dschem, had arrived at Heraclea, he received the order of the Sultan to bring back the army, to leave four banners to Prince Abdallah, and to go to Constantinople, where he sat in the Divan as a vizier. By his indocile and arrogant humor, by the too lively memories of his former power, as a great coming and victorious lieutenant of the conqueror, he had fallen into the disgrace of Bajezid, and he was shut up in the apartment of the guards of the door of the seraglio from which one is ordinarily led to the place of executions. At the urging of the great coming Ishak-Pascha, Bajezid set him free, received him in grace, and restored him to the place of vizier; for he needed his vigorous arm to contain Karamania.

Page 377: This first dignitary was then Hersek Ahmed-Pascha, brother of the Duke Ulrich of Herzogevina, formerly Christian and noble Venetian, now brother-in-law of the Sultan. The other paschas, columns of the divan and the empire, were Ibrahim, an old man of seventy-five, Jakub-Pascha, son-in-law of the sultan, conqueror of Derencseny, and Iskender-Pascha, who was to awaken the memory of terror from which he had struck Venice twenty-four years before, when his ravages had reached the Tagliamento. The couch was held on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, in the presence of the sultan; Wednesday and Thursday were spent resting; On Fridays, there was prayer in the mosque.]

Page 385: Members of the Divan

Page 392: The Sultan, no longer confiding in the walls of his palace, stood for ten days in the garden, under a tent planted in the open air. Then they escaped the ruins of Constantinople, and fled to the second capital of the empire. But soon after his arrival, the land was violently shaken also at Adrianople, and six days later a furious storm broke out [November 16]. The Tundscha overflowed its bed, and covered the heaped ruins with waves and mud. Then the Sultan summoned a Divan on foot, that is to say, a council whose members had their feet on the ground; he attended it himself. It was a question of deliberating on the means of restoring the walls of Constantinople. The sovereign opened the council with the following words, addressed to the vows: "Your injustices and your cruelties have brought up to heaven the sighs of the oppressed, and the divine wrath has fallen on the city and the country.

Page 395: Elegy of Metchi, on his Divan.

Page 399: The fleet was usually strong with seventy galleys; the revenues of the governments of princes amounted to 80,000 livres; the revenues of the viziers to 2,000,000 ducats; the emoluments of the Beglerbegs of Asia and Enropé were fixed at 30,000, of the two judges of the army at 5,000, of the two defterdars at 4,000, of the two kapidschibaschis at 1,000 ducats. Three viziers with three tails, with the two kadiaskers, two defterdars, and the secretary of state for the signature of the sultan, formed the Divan, which opened on Saturday, continued the following three days, in the morning, in the palace of the sultan; twenty-five scribes, who were afterwards the presidents of so many offices of the chancery, kept the registers, and fifty persons in charge of the scales weighed the gold and the money brought to the treasury. After the opinions had been expounded, the viziers took their meals, and then successively reported their affairs.

Page 400: After the opinions had been expounded, the viziers took their meals, and afterwards successively reported their respective affairs to the Sultan's audience. Sixty tschauchs or messengers of state, submitted to the marshal of the court (tschauschbaschi), awaiting, at the doors of the Divan, the orders of the council, to dispatch couriers, or to bring the persons called, or to transmit the sums ordered or to return the objects claimed; three hundred kapidschis guarded the doors of the palace. Six cavalry generals of the spahis, desilihdars of the mercenaries, and foreigners, of the right wing and the left wing, the aga of the Janissaries and turks, four lieutenants generals, and the aga of the artillery, formed the state command of the army. The three thousand horses of the stables of the palace and their horsemen were under the orders of the grand equerry of the court. When the Sultan went out on horseback, he was surrounded by two hundred archers (ssolak) and three hundred valets; in the field, his people stood beside him, encamped near his person, while the tents of the janissaries formed a circle around the sovereign's pavilion.

Page 401: Under this abundant dew were the sciences to bear fruit; some of the leading jurists were employed in the most important embassies and negotiations: thus, Ssarigurs brought proposals from Bajesid to Selim; Imam Ali was first sent to Kaitbai in Egypt, and the second to Sultan Korkud. To others was entrusted the direction of the libraries attached to the mosques, and whose treasures grew daily, as it happened to the chronicler Nigisari and Jusuf Schuneid. Some who, in the exercise of the first offices of the magistracy, had acquired great wealth, consecrated them to the acquisition of collections of books. Thus Muejeddin, the judge of the army, the friend of the poets, to whom the great poet Nedschati dedicated his Divan, and who maintained a love trade with Mihri, famous for his verses, left a library larger than any of those which exist today at Constantinople: for it contained seven thousand volumes.

Page 402: The other princes of the blood did not give themselves up to the commerce of the muses; but they gladly surrounded themselves with friends. Thus Sekai was secretary to Prince Aalem-Schah-Sehini, defterdar of Prince Mohammed-Schah; Fighani, author of an epic on the exploits of Alexander, was the panegyrist of Prince Abdullah; Afitabi and Muniri were engaged in the service of Prince Ahmed, as well as Nedschati, the greatest poet of his time, famous for his lyrical and romantic compositions, and for his translations of Persian works into Turkish. After the death of Prince Abdallah, Nedschati and Fighani entered the service of Prince Mahmud, and formed part of his house with the poets Ssanii, Thalii, and Andelibi; Thalil, as defterdar, Ssanii, as secretary of the divan, and Nedschati, as nischandschi; Fighani and Andelibi practiced as panegyrists and novelists. With Fighani and Nedschati competing in the romantic epic, two poets decorated with the title of divine: Bihischtl, the first Ottoman poet who, like the Persians, published a collection of five romantic poems; and Firdwesi, nicknamed Long, to distinguish him from the great Persian poet, whose epic contains sixty thousand couplets.

Page 405: Finding few charms in the harem, disdaining the pleasures of the table, but loving movement and hunting, he spent the day exercising arms or pursuing wild beasts; he often spent nights reading stories and poems, especially in Persian, and even left a divan of Persian odes. When Giovio assures of this prince, as of Mohammed II, that he had read in Turkish the lives of Caesar and Alexander, it is not necessary to hear by that the commentaries of Caesar and Pansa, nor the stories of Quintus-Curtius and Arrian, but only the books written about the ancient Caesars, or Persian emperors, and the Persian and Turkish poems known as the life of Alexander, true romances of chivalry, like the poems of the Round Table and the exploits of Roland.

Page 406: The execution of the grand vizier was only the prelude to a bloody tragedy. Unsamedi, when the Divan was resumed after four days of suspension, Selim presided over the council on horseback, then passed the review of his troops united under arms. Five captains of the janissaries were ordered to remove the five nephews of the sultan from Brusa and bring them to the palace: they were the three sons of Mahmud, the son of Aslem-Schall, Osman, and the son of Schehiti. Sehāh Mohammed; the latter was only seven years old, the others were aged fourteen to one-year-old.

Page 410: Ismail gave the Diarbekr's government to his most valiant Muhammad Ustadschlu, and Baghdad's to a eunuch, instituted by him to issue from the Divan and clothed with the title of the caliph of caliphs, as if to insult the memory of the ancient rulers of Baghdad. In 1509 he crossed Farsistati and Aserbeidshan, depicting the shores of the Persian Gulf as far as the shores of the Caspian Sea from Schusler in the Chusistan. as far as Baku, in the Schirwan, where he spent the winter, subjecting the castles of these places.

Page 414: After having made the sword fall upon the unarmed heretics in the interior of the empire, it was time to turn it outside; for Scbab-Ismail advanced as avenger of his co-religionists and protector of the fugitive prince Murad. In an extraordinarily convoked Divan, the Sultan announced his resolution, and pointed out the plain of the Janissary as a place of memento for the army. Three times already the Sultan had repeated these words, without one of the trembling slaves before his eyes daring to raise his voice, when a simple Janissary Abdallah advanced, prostrated his face to the ground, and, after the accustomed vows for the long life of the master, expressed to him the gratitude of his companions in arms, “I can finally be led by their padishah against Ismail.”

Page 420: The next morning [August 24, 1514], in a solemn Divan, Selim received the congratulations of the viziers and the army; the rest of the day was devoted to rest; and, on the 25th, they set out for Tebris, where Selim did not arrive until after thirteen days, because he had deliberately taken long detours.

Page 426: The Sultan savored Piri's advice, and followed him into the Divan. On leaving the assembly, the viziers, with Piri at the head, went to the site of the current arsenal, on the other side of the port, where there had been yards during the time of the Byzantines. Since the conquest, it was a common cemetery. At the moment, the viziers began the clearing on the edge of the sea; several hundred tombs were searched, and the bones were deposited in a large mass grave. The arsenal and the galleys were set in motion, and Piri's prediction was partly fulfilled; for, before the expiration of the year, Naples and Venice renewed the capitulations; Hungary and Wallachia imitated this example.

Page 441: The Divan was summoned on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If the Sultan went out on horseback, he was given a silk parasol over his head, and the ends of his turban, on which his titles were embroidered in gold, floated behind him.

Page 445: All of these respects of Selim are explained by hypocrisy, and more by his penchant for the mysticism he held of his father. The Divan of his own Persian poetry contains scarcely anything but mystic compositions; and, in this respect, it is a singular phenomenon in literary history, not only of the Ottomans, but of all the peoples who counted writers among their kings. Selim would have also shown great respect to distinguished scholars in his new conquests; but then neither Syria nor Egypt had great men to quote from the empire of intelligence.

Page 446: During the winter Selim made preparations for the march through the desert that separates Syria from Egypt. Several thousand camels were bought to carry bottles full of water, and two million aspres were distributed as a reward among the soldiers. Sinan-Pascha was commissioned to march with five thousand men to Ghasa, to support the pascha of this place. A saim, possessor of one of the great fiefs of cavalry, Tscherkes-Murad, and another personage, go, as sent to the new sultan of the Mamelukes, to offer him peace by means of the recognition of the Ottoman suzerainty. Tuman-Beg received the two envoys with honors due to their rank, but as they left the audience, they found themselves in front of'Alan-Beg, who, transported with fury at their appearance, shot down their heads. then endeavored, in the Divan, to justify his action, by the indignation he felt at this humiliating proposal of subjection, and by his contempt for the Ottomans, who, far inferior in courage to the Mamelukes, had not, as at the artillery, their triumph of Merdschdabik.

Page 460: Hasandschan was master enough of himself to run after the great treasurer who would publish the death of the sultan, and to determine the great chamberlain to keep the secret, and to summon the viziers in the Divan at the usual time. Then he began to pray all night with the treasurer, and to recite the Sura-Jes. At daybreak came the great Piri-Pascha, Mustapha-Pascha, and the beglerbeg Ahmed-Pascha, the former great sultan's squire. Piri-Pascha shed tears, and thanked Hasandschan for his actions; without these precautions, the clamor of the eunuchs would have provoked the movements of the janissaries, and the empire would have been precipitated in the greatest perils.

Page 461: If he does not want to give up such a practice, is his extermination legitimate? Such were the words of the mulfti. In spite of the fanaticism which breaks out in these three answers, the love of the equity of Dschemali stopped, more than once, the acts of bloody tyranny, which the fierce Selim liked. One day, the sultan had ordered the execution of one hundred and fifty employees of the treasury; Dschemali went to the Divan, although his quality of mufti did not permit him to enter, and asked to be introduced to the sultan. The duty of the mufti, he says, is to watch over the future life of the sultan of Islam; I therefore come to solicit from you the grace of the employees of the treasury, condemned to an unjust death. "The ulemas," replied the Sultan, "must not meddle in the affairs of the government; the masses are only contained by rigor.”

Page 462: The grand vizier, surprised by this sanguinary order, consulted with the mufti, whose fetwa had just given a pretext for such acts. They secretly transmitted to the patriarch the council to solicit an audience of the sultan; and Selim, after some difficulty, agreed on the representations of the vizier and the mufti. The patriarch, accompanied by all the clergy, appeared before the Divan at Andrinoplc, and invoked the solemn engagement of Mohammed II, who had promised, at the time of the conquest of the city, not to transform the churches into mosques, to put no obstacle to the exercise of worship, and to let the feast of Easter be publicly celebrated, besides, the violent conversion was condemned by the Koran, which assures the toleration of the non-Moslem peoples, by payment capitation.

Page 474: The next day the grand master went to the camp with Suleiman; for two days after the signing of the capitulation, Ahmed Pascha had come on horseback to the Spanish breach, and had told him, among other things, that the Sultan wished to see him and speak to him. The men of Isle Adam began with repugnance at daybreak, and it was necessary for him to wait a long time, exposed to rain and snow, before the tent of the victor; because it was Friday and Divan day.

Page 484: All things being well disposed, Suleiman left Constantinople on Monday, April 25, Chisr's day, with more than a hundred thousand men and three hundred cannons (April 13, 1526). The march was settled with the greatest order; the most severe discipline prevailed; it was forbidden under pain of death to tread the sown fields, to let go of the horses, to bring the inhabitants. Offenders were beheaded or hanged; even judges were struck by the last punishment. On halting days the troops were reviewed, or a Divan was held; at one of these councils appeared the Moldavian envoys with the tribute; in another, the son of Achi-Tschelebi, last physician of Selim I, Seifullah was admitted as a doctor of the court, with 60 asperes of daily treatment.

Page 485: Three hundred of the defenders were taken prisoner; five hundred heads were cut in the rest of the garrison. Preceded by these trophies, the grand vizier went to meet the Sultan, who had already given 1000 pieces of gold to the messenger carrying the news of the conquest; now, in an extraordinary Divan, Suleiman rewarded the feuding begs; those who enjoyed an income of more than 400,000 aspresen, received in present 300,000; to others was given half of this sum. At the same time the rumor spread that the Bosnian begs had conquered the castles of Syrmium.

Page 487: The grand vizier repeated the request of the Sultan. The veteran replied, with the old Turkish rudeness, "My Emperor, take care that the sow does not chastise his little ones." Suleiman laughed, and gave him some ducats. The next day Suleiman held a solemn Divan under a red tent, seated on the throne of gold brought from Constantinople, and there he received the congratulations of the viziers and beglerbegs. With his own hand he placed on the head of the grand vizier a heron feather adorned with diamonds, and the others received the garments of honor. Two thousand heads, among which were those of seven bishops and many Hungarian magnates, were planted like trophies in front of the tent of the Divan.

Page 490: The head of this chief and that of Weli-dumdar, of the noble house of Sulkadr, were suspended from the saddles of the conquerors. Then the grand vizier called the beglerbeg of Anatoli and the beys to a Divan, to instruct the trial of the cowards who fleeing had previously caused the shame and defeat of the army. Addressing the beglerbeg: Why, he said to him, full of indignation, did you escape to a party of half-naked derwischs, wretches without confession? The beglerbeg remained silent. He asked the beys, who, entering into long quarrels, rejected the fault of each other. The grand vizier had already made a sign to the executioners to approach, when the son of the last grand vizier Mohammed-Beg, sandschakbeg of Itschil, who had hitherto remained silent, spoke abruptly: "Nosaieux," he says, " such circumstances were used to put their trust in God, and to take counsel of the aged, we did neither; pride and blindness have drawn upon us these misfortunes: we must punish these faults, here is the sword and our heads!”

Page 490: Three months after the return of the grand vizier, a religious question was agitated, which occupied the attention of the sultan and soon of the whole town. A well-known lawyer, Kabis, had been brought before the couch under the accusation of having recognized the preeminence of the prophet Jesus over the prophet Mohammed. The two army judges, Fcnarisade-Mohijeddin Tschelebi and Karidi-Tschelebi, felt helpless in their fight against Kabis' arguments in support of his heresy, and found it easier and more expeditious to sentence him to death. The gland vizier forbade them to be carried away by anger, and enjoined them to triumph over the heretic by reasoning, instead of striking him with a capital punishment dictated by resentment. These dignitaries only knowing how to oppose this declaration, the viziers sent away the accused and accusers from the Divan.

Page 491: The judge of Constantinople Seadeddin and the learned mufti Kemal-Paschasade sat the next day in the Divan; instead of the judges of the army, they disputed with Kabis, and if they could not refute him, at least they fought him, and pronounced the capital punishment with all the calm and formalities which are proper to the organs of the law; Kabis suffered his pain without faltering, without abjuring his belief, and died as a martyr of Christian doctrine. The rigor of Suleiman, which had sacrificed an isolated heretic to the maintenance of orthodoxy, was soon exalted to fury when it came to taking atrocious measures for the preservation of repose and inner tranquility.

Page 491: Soon Suleiman forgot his anger at the success of Chosrew-Beg, governor of Bosnia and Iahja-Oghli de Semendra, against the castles of Bosnia and Dalmatia. In the last winter, at each Divan, so to speak, was brought the bulletin of the taking of a Bosnian place or a happy race in the Syrmium. Jaicsa could not long resist the combined forces of the governors of Semendra and Bosnia, and surrendered on the condition that the cowardly commander, Stephen Gorbonogh, could withdraw freely; as for the brave warrior Blas Chery, he was absent, and Jean Hobordansky was still suffering from an injury received in a duel with the waiwode Kasim.

Page 494: Suleiman's answer to Ferdinand was an ironic challenge; for, three days before, had been solemnly notified, in the public Divan, the document which affected to the great vizier Ibrahim with the unprecedented treatment of 60,000 ducats, and appointed him serasker or general-in-chief for the coming war. Here is how this remarkable piece ended: "I hereby order that, from this day and forever, you will be my great vizier, instituted as such by my majesty in all my states. My viziers, beglierbegs, army judges, legislators, judges, minions, sheikhs, court dignitaries and supporters of the empire, sandschak-begs, generals of cavalry or infantry, alaibegs (colonels of feudatories' troops) , subaschis, tscheribaschis (officers of the feudatories' troops), all my victorious soldiers, great and small, all the high or low servants, all the inhabitants of my states and provinces, cities or countryside, rich and poor, all finally that they may be, must recognize my said grand vizier as serasker, respect and honor him in this quality, go to meet him to pay homage, consider his thoughts and words as orders from my own mouth, to listen to his words with all possible attention, to receive them with a submissive countenance, and, in all the affairs of the State, not to deviate in any way from his recommendations.”

Page 495: At Mohacs, Jean Zapolya came to present his homage to the Sultan, accompanied by his ambassador Lasczky, and followed only by six thousand horses. The grand vizier went to meet him with five hundred horsemen of his suite and as many janissaries, mounted on horseback. The next day was fixed for the solemn audience of Zapolya, as king of Hungary, recognized by Suleiman. In the tent of the Divan were the agas of the court and the army; behind them the bodyguards (ssolak), having in their hands their bows and arrows, then the cups and the quartermasters; outside, the tent was surrounded by janissaries: on the right, behind the janissaries, were the spahis, then the troops of Rumili; on the left, the silihdares, then the soldiers of Anatolia.

Page 498: At Ofen, King Janusch (name which the Turks gave to Zapolya) came to meet him, and he himself saw all the peasants coming forward to receive him [October 29]. Three days later, Zapolya, in a solemn Divan, kissing the Sultan's hand, congratulated him on his victorious campaign, and received ten kaftans and three horses covered with gold harnesses. The next day 2,000 ducats were given to Gritti. Due to a lack of guides, and ignorance of the terrain, we lost a lot of luggage every day and even that of the grand vizier in the middle of bridges and marshes. In punishment for this abandonment, six thousand warriors were deprived of their pay, many saw their fiefs diminished; previously the Sultan, having seen no alai-beg appear in the assembled escort to render him honor, had arrested thirty of these officers.

0 notes

divanquotes · 5 years ago

Text

E. Palla, Abreviated History of the Ottoman Empire, 1825

Page xix: Almost all the authority of the sultan is delegated to the grand vizier. He commands, in his place, the armies, dismisses the officers, convokes the Divan whose proceedings he directs, establishes the taxes, and signs the treaties. His investiture consists in being handing the seals he never leaves and that he kisses religiously whenever he uses them. But he is at the same time more exposed than any other to the caprices of the monarch and the multitude, and often he exchanges the seals against the snare. The most influential after him are the chiseler aga and the Bostangi pacha, great intriguers in the seraglio; the defterdar; the aga of the janissaries, who commands the most formidable militia of the empire; the reis effendi; the captain-pasha, and the caimacan.

Page xx: Most of these officers are members of the Divan, or council of state, which meets in a room of the seraglio contiguous to the apartment of the grand seignior (sultan). The mufti also attends these extraordinary sessions.

The pashas are responsible for the provincial government. They raise the taxes and recruit the troops they command. Their power is very analogous to that of viziers in the capital. They have a particular divan. If they do not interfere with the ulema, and send the tribute exactly to the Porte, they live very independently; but as soon as they are enriched, the grand seigneur (sultan) usually has them strangled.

Page 43: When Mohammed died, Bajazet was at Constantinople; Zizim, sent by his father to Syria, at the head of a powerful army, was engaged in war against the Sudanese of Egypt. Zizim had a considerable party, and seemed, by his character and his brilliant qualities, more worthy than Bajazet to ascend the throne. But this one, at the same time due to his birthright, and the absence of his brother and the protection of the Janissaries, was proclaimed Sultan. This prince, born superstitious, wished to sanctify his accession to the throne by a pilgrimage. He proposed to the Divan to hand over the scepter, during his absence, to one of his sons, still a child, and set out immediately for Mecca.

Page 61: The caïmacan did not fail to send the patriarch's response to the Grand Vizier. The vizir and the mufti, after having read it, took it to the Sultan; they told him that the patriarch refused to obey the order which had been served on him, and that he asked to be informed in advance of his reasons, because it was a trial to be decided between the Emperor and himself. "I think," added the mufti, "it is the justice of your highness that the patriarch be heard in his complaints, and that he receive a suitable answer. Selim seeing that the use of force would be against the opinion of the mufti, replied: "I want that; so be it.” Thus the patriarch was ordered to follow the emperor to Adrianople, and to bring with him the metropolitans and some elders of the clergy. When they were admitted to the Divan, the patriarch explained that the emperor’s command, besides being offensive to the government itself, was a violation and trampled upon the solemn treaty which had been sworn to by the ancestors of his highness.

Page 78: The education of Soliman, the moderation he showed in his early youth, the noble use he made of power by ascending the throne, the wisdom of his regulations, to which the Divan still bears great respect today, had given hopes that he did not always realize later. He too often recalled the ferocious nature of his predecessors. The pleasures of the seraglio had a great influence over him, although he could associate these with the fatigues of war; and we have seen that the seductions of a courtesan made her the executioner of her family. Violent and absolute in his will, any resistance would put him out of sorts: besides his death, which was the result, this was a trait that gives an idea of its irascible character.

Page 90: Persia was at first the theater of war, and it was still religion which served as a motive for this new enterprise. A fierce preacher against the heresy which had been formed in this country, came to declare to the Sultan that he had dreamed that his arms triumphed over the sophi, and that he had seen the same prediction written in characters of fire above the door of the Divan. On the faith of this dream, an army was sent to face the desert, the famine and the plague. Three consecutive campaigns yielded no other result than the conclusion of a treaty by which Turkey retained the possession of Tauris. The armies sent there were almost entirely destroyed. At every turn they suffered, and Amurat, to avoid the upheavals of Constantinople, contented himself with publishing a victory, and sent a new pasha.

Page 100: But the fire was rekindled in Constantinople itself.The spahis, deprived of their timars of Asia, demanded compensation. At times they wanted the sultan to grant them an extraordinary payment from his treasury, at other times they would turn to the mufti to obtain the riches of the mosques; and finally they demanded permission to plunder the Jews and the Christians, which required a little less difficulty. However, not satisfied with having put to use the richest shops of the city, they ran to the great mosque of Hagia Sophia, to strip it. The mufti and Cicala-Pasha went there at once to endeavor to return them to duty, or at least to appease them; but the murmuring became more and more violent, and the mosque was several times about to be bloodied. Emboldened by their first successes, the Spahis wanted to speak to the Sultan himself. Mahomet refused at first, and was soon obliged to yield. He appeared in the Divan room, surrounded by all the imperial pomp, hoping that this brilliant apparatus would impose on the rebels. The door of the hall was scarcely open, and they rushed in crowds; and one of them, charged with speaking, expounded the unhappy state in which the empire was, and especially the body of the Spahis, which, by the events of Asia, had lost its means of existence; he said that all the gold passed into the seraglio to feed women's intrigues and satisfy the avarice of the eunuchs; finally he concluded by asking for the heads of the principal ministers, of the capi-aga, and of the valid sultana. At this last name, Mahomet, troubled, declared that he would renounce the scepter rather than sacrifice his mother. The Spahis exclaimed that they would be satisfied with his return to the old seraglio; as to the capi-aga, the sultan replied that he did not see what crime was guilty of this favorite, who on the contrary had rendered great services to the state.

Page 105: In the state of the empire, it was more important than ever to conceal the death of the monarch, and measures were taken to ensure that the troops were not instructed until his successor was seen already on the throne. This successor was Achmet, the young son of Mahomet, who was thirteen years old, and it was thought unnecessary to wait for age fifteen, in order to inspire more confidence in the nation. There was something imposing in the ceremony of his coronation. The Divan was solemnly summoned on the pretext of an audience granted to the Persian ambassador, and when the door of the great hall was opened, the first sight that struck the eyes was the young Achmet in mourning, seated on the throne of the sultans, with Osman's sword at his side and his father's body at his feet.

Page 143: The mufti, taking advantage of the disposition of the spirits, proposed a new fetfa to oblige the Sultan to come to justify himself before the assembly. This fetfa was written at once; the aga of the janissaries and the two cadileskiers wre going to carry this to Ibrahim, who, as violent as ever, tore it in front of their eyes. However, he was dragged into the Divan room. There his anger subsided and gave way to dread; he prayed, he made threatens, he reminded of his benefactions, but the mufti reproached him for his outrages. Buried under the weight of this eloquent voice, he was finally reduced to silence; the icoglans were ordered to take him to the prison of the seraglio, and suddenly he disappeared. No sooner was this order executed than someone proclaimed Sultan Muhammad, who was about seven years of age. Immediately he was placed on a litter, and transported to the mosque of Job, where he touched the saber of Osman which his little hands could not yet hold.

Page 146: The night when the conspiracy was to break out, he retreatd to the seraglio, had the doors barricaded, and ordered preparations for a vigorous defense. After arming and setting up all the capidjis, baltagis, and icoglans, he went to awaken Muhammad, while the Kislar aga ran to look for the valid Sultana. The sultana and her son, in the midst of this tumult, thinking that they were going to die, abandoned themselves to the most frightful despair. Sciaus reassured them, presenting them to the troops ranged in battle in the courtyard, and then led them into the great hall of the Divan, where, at his invitation, the mufti, several pashas, the Cadileskiers, and other officers of the empire were already assembled. As soon as the young emperor was seated on the throne, the grand vizier, who spoke, expounded the details of the plot, administered the evidence, and concluded that Sultana Kiosem should be executed. A white eunuch dared to raise his voice in favor of his protector: his head fell instantly under the scimitar of a baltagi, and his blood splashing on Muhammad, he rushed full of terror into the arms of his grand vizier.

Page 152: Meanwhile Kiuproli was deceived in his hopes; all the bravery which the Turks showed on this occasion failed against the skill of Montecuculli. Their loss was 25,000 men, and might have been even greater if 30,99 had remained on the other side of the river. When the news of this rout reached Adrianople, the city was illuminated to celebrate the victory that the vizier had foretold. The festivities were suspended. The Divan hastened to advise Mahomet to make peace with Leopold, and soon the articles of the treaty were signed (1665), which stipulated a truce of twenty years. The Prince of Transylvania whom the Porte had appointed was recognized by Leopold. Varadin and Neuhausel remained with the Turks. The Western emperor recovered the provinces of Satmar and Saboli, and had the right to leave garrisons in the cities of Hungary where he had placed during the war.

Page 166: If we take a look back on what has been happening in the interior since the beginning of the Polish war, we shall see the Sultan continuing to give almost all his time to the hunt, to plunder the lands of his subjects, and to remove whole populations for the useful works to make fall in his nets some pieces of game; we shall see him celebrate, with a pomp unknown hitherto, the circumcision of his sons and the marriage of his daughters; to restore his residence in Constantinople; to grant new prerogatives to the French ambassador, either in the interest of commerce or in the interest of religion; to concede, at the appeal of this ambassador, the safekeeping of the holy places of Jerusalem to the religious of the Latin church, and then to declare in full Divan that this belongs to the religious people of the Greek rite; we will see Mustafa display insolence and vanity in diplomatic receptions; to refuse to the envoy of Louis XIV a seat on the carpet of the Divan; to withdraw from the hands of the English ambassador the original of a treaty which the traders of his nation were then obliged to redeem at the price of money; Finally, we shall see this minister, after being disqualified, cause uprisings in the capital, by authorizing, in order to satisfy his avarice, the flow of certain fermented liquors, upon which the mufti soon pronounces prohibition.

Page 170: Ashamed of his defeat, the grand vizier wanted to reject the blame and the responsibility of those who had opposed with the greatest heat this fatal enterprise; he had them strangled in secret, eight in number, and sent word to the Sultan that he had punished the guilty; but Tekeli, on whom he had also raised suspicions, having gone to Constantinople to justify his conduct, disclosed the cowardly artifice of Mustapha. The hatred which this minister had inspired for a long time awoke with a new force; the Divan, the ulemas, and the janissaries demanded his head; and as the sultan feared the shadow of a sedition, he did not hesitate to sign the fatal judgment. At the very moment that Muhammad performed this act of justice, he received a letter from the vizier which asked him permission to kill ten more officers of his army: this was a new reason to press the departure of the icoglans, and the head the real culprit, reported soon in the seraglio, completed the calm of the spirits.

Page 179: When Soliman saw the negotiation broken up, he ordered public prayers, in order to attract the blessing of heaven on the Ottoman weapons. In spite of his inexperience, and the infirmities with which he was already afflicted, he did not hesitate to set out to join the army. He did not pretend to command it, but he hoped that his presence would animate the zeal of the soldiers; thus, in the absence of talent, this conscientious monarch proved at least his good intentions. Having arrived in Bulgaria, he placed at the head of his troops the seraskier Rejeb, former chief of the band, who had carried the terror in Asia, and whom the Divan had indicated to him as a skilful captain. Rejeb, after having received the blessing of the Sultan, marched to meet the Prince of Baden, who, already master of Sigeth, advanced in Serbia with a well-disciplined army. Two consecutive battles lost by the seraskier proved to the Turks that one could be an excellent leader of brigands and a very bad general. This double victory of the Prince of Baden opened the gates of Nissa, Widin, Orsowa, and Pirote. Rejeb returned by fleeing to Sophie where he was strangled. Soliman would certainly not have punished him for having been conquered; but he had joined impiety with incapacity, by indulging himself in this campaign at the discretion of a magician who served him as counsel, and this sacrilegious confidence armed the severity of the monarch.

Page 193: The vizier, the mufti, and some of their followers were already assembled in the Divan, and deliberating on the measures to be taken for the installation of the young Ibrahim, when two emissaries presented themselves in the midst of the assembly, and invited him to pass into the throne room, where the mighty Emperor Mustapha was ready to receive them. This invitation was a thunderbolt for the vizier and the mufti, but they tried to hide their confusion and went to the feet of the monarch. Mustapha, glad to see them respectfully bowing their foreheads before him, provisionally confirmed them in their dignities. He announced, during this first sitting, according to what rules he pretended to govern the empire of the sultans. Having had the treasure brought to him, which contained only a very moderate sum, he said that he would be well able to find a way of filling it by rendering the throats of those who had squandered it.

Page 195: Soon the captain-pasha was also deposed, and replaced by a pirate of Tunis, named Mezzo-Morto, who, after having advised an expedition to recover the island of Chio, recently removed by the Venetians, had executed the plan he himself had conceived. Note 1: This Mezzo-Morto, who was only a junior sailor, dared to speak in an assembly of the Divan, where there was a discussion of maritime operations, to propose the recovery of Chio, which he said he wished to accomplish if he were confided with four ships and eight galleys.

Page 196: The captain-pasha commanded him to be silent. The pirate had raised his voice, and thus attracted the attention of the Sultan, who, having opened the curtain of the window, called dangerous, said that he shared the opinion of Mezzo Morto, and ordered that the vessels he asked for be placed at his disposal. This dangerous window, of which we have not yet spoken, is placed in the wall which separates the Diva room from the apartments of the Emperor. It is placed at the back so that the Emperor can take part in all deliberations without being seen. If he hears something that does not suit him, he draws the curtain, and calls to order those who have departed from his will. This disposition is observed even in the camps, where the tent of the council of war touches that of the grand seigneur (sultan). We see what freedom must prevail in these discussions. Such an invention would do honor to our modern censors.

Page 207: A letter addressed to the Divan from the Khan of the Tartars, added to this incipient agitation. This chief announced that the Czar Peter was taking advantage of the truce to make preparations for war; that he had raised troops from the land, armed ships, and built fortresses beyond the Borysthenes.

Page 210: Indeed, their mufti authorizes them by a fetfa; the new vizier Borojan placee himself at their head, and f50,000 seditious armed men appeared before Adrianople. The sultan assembled the leaders of the Divan and gave orders to march against the mutineers; 45,000 men were directed against them. This bold demonstration did not produce the effect expected. The new mufti having advanced in the midst of the two armies, the Koran in his hand, made a speech to the soldiers of Adrianople, which attracted a large number of them to the ranks of the rebels, the saviors of the empire, as he Called them. Soon the new caimacan and Caracack, one of the leaders of the sedition, entered the city with 400 spahis, and penetrating into the apartment of the grand-seignior (sultan), asked for the heads of Rami and Mavrocordato, who were on the run, which he obtained from the old mufti Fezula, and forced Mustapha to resign the sovereign power.This fallen monarch himself went to announce to his brother Achmet that the soldiers had appointed him for his successor; he gave him wise advice as to the conduct he was to take, and the two brothers, after embracing each other with tenderness, parted, one to live in peace in his prison, to experience, in his turn, all the agitations of the throne.

Page 214: Achmet, as soon as he had been hailed with the title of Sultan, remembered his dear Sarai, and demanded it of a complaisant effendi, which obtained the use of cadileskiers for the price of his fidelity. But the valid Sultana, in charge of the administration of the seraglio, objected to the slave returning, invoking in this respect the severity of the regulations and the dangers of the scandal. The monarch respected the authority of his mother; he confined himself to seeking a new guardian for Sarai, who, under the name of a husband, would leave to him all the rights. His choice fell on Mehemet-Baltagi who had rendered him important services during his retirement. Mehemet, thought by the credit of Sarai, to become Pasha, and then it was soon seen, if one believes the same historians, the new spectacle of a sultan going in good fortune ito the house of his prime minister, and taking advice, no longer in the Divan, but in the apartment of the women of this favorite.

Page 224: The Vizier Jussuf, who succeeded Mehemet, was only the docile creature of the young Selictar Ali Coumourgi, favorite of the grand seigneur (sultan). But this Coumourgi meditated the project of taking back from the Venetians the Morea, and seizing Hungary: he had therefore more need to be the ally than the enemy of the Czar, and all his efforts turned to the side of the peace. As his influence extended at once on the Sultan, to the VizierJussuf, and even to the Mufti, he had no difficulty in making his views triumph in the Divan. As a result, the ambassadors were set free, where the ponytails disappeared, and the treaty of Pruth was ratified again.

Page 225: At this last point the sultan could not restrain his indignation. He summoned a Divan-extraordinary, and pronounced the following speech, which then had a great publicity, like everything connected with this strange adventure. "I have," he said, "almost known the King of Sweden only by the defeat of Pultawa, and by the prayer he made me to grant him an asylum in my empire; I have no need of him, and I have no reason to love him or to fear him. However, without consulting other motives than the hospitality of a Moslem, and my generosity which spreads the dew of his favors on the large as on the small ones, on the foreigners as on my subjects, I received him and rescued from all, he, his ministers, his officers, his soldiers, and never ceased for three years and a half, to overwhelm him with gifts.

Page 226: This speech was too reasonable not to be strongly applauded: the whole Divan exclaimed that his highness had already done too much for the King of Sweden. As a result, the order arrived at Bender to use force against Charles if he refused to obey. It was then that this monarch tok the most extraordinary resolution, the most perilous, the craziest one ever conceived, that of fortifying himself in his house of Varnitza, of supporting a siege, with only some officers, three hundred Swedes and some servants, to brave the attack of 20,000 Tartars and 6,000 Turks, with ten pieces of cannon and two mortars at their disposal. Those who wish to know or re-read all the details of this siege will be able to resort to the excellent history of Voltaire, of which we have transcribed a passage.

Page 232: The resident of Austria and the Divan could not agree; a numerous army was ready in the plains of Adrianople; the captain-pasha had already received the order to lead the fleet to conquer Corfu. The presumptuous Coumourgi, swollen with his success in the Morea, thought himself a great general, and was burning to measure himself with Prince Eugene; the corps alone of the effendis, a rigorous observer of the precepts of the Koran, was of the opinion that the treaty of Carlowitz should be respected; the omnipotence of the vizier prevailed, and the war was declared. Such, however, is the authority of religion in Turkey, that Coumourgi, fearing the influence of the ulema, did not dare to go to the field before having spread to the provinces a proclamation in which he sought to establish that the Germans were the first offenders of the treaty.

Page 236: Four years had passed since the Treaty of Passarowitz, when Persia again became the theater of war. The Sophi Shah-Hussein, having been besieged in Isfahan, and dethroned by the rebel Mir-Mahmut chief of the Agvans of Candahar, Peter the Great took advantage of the trouble of this revolution to subjugate some provinces neighboring the Caspian Sea, which he invaded under the pretext of rescuing the captive monarch. The khan of the Tartars warned the Porte and added that the Czar had already spared intelligence in Georgia, and that he sought to expand at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. On the advice of the Divan, it was decided that instead of declaring war on Russia, one would come to an understanding with her to dismember Persia, and to share the best part of her territory. While they were busy raising the troops which were to carry out this conquest, the Turkish emperor and the Czar began by fixing the part which would be devolved on each of them, and that which was upon the son of Hussein, Schah-Thamas, whom they agreed to recognize as King of Persia. This anticipated sharing was done by the mediation of the Marquis de Bonac.

Page 245: The Effendi Zadi, who had not been a stranger to all this conspiracy, entered the seraglio, and told the pashas he found there that the people were already warned of Mahmud's elevation; that such was the will of the conspirators; that there was no hope of resisting them, since they were masters of all the issues of the palace; that consequently it was necessary to invite Achmet to yield the power. The opportunity to inform him of this wish immediately arose. When Achmet had summoned all his officers to the Divan room to ask them news of the revolt, the effendi, who had gone there with the pashas, spoke and said, "Lord, your reign is finished; your subjects no longer want you as master; they ask for your nephew Mahmoud.” Achmet, troubled, saw that nothing remained but to obey. He went with all his followers to Mahmoud's prison, and brought the prince back to the Divan room, installed him himself in his place, and ended his life as he had begun (1730).

Page 248: Mahmoud then confirmed an aga from the faction of Patrona. Shortly afterwards, having paid the gratuity due to the Janissaries and Spahis, on the occasion of his accession, the Emperor consented, at the request of the rebel, to extend this favor to the newly enlisted, who were excluded by custom, and also to men of the populace who had momentarily placed themselves under the banner of the rebels. Patrona also granted the title of Prince of Moldavia to a butcher of his friends. His credit, or rather his power, was more real than that of the vizier. He was seen in the habit of a simple janissary, bare-legged, with a scimitar on his side, presenting himself daily to the Divan, sitting familiarly among the ministers. to take part in the deliberations, to give orders without anyone daring to resist him. His two companions Muslu and Ali were shoed similar behavior, although not because of the same influence.

Page 249: Patrona replied that he could not read, and that he was unable to take up this job. But the noise having spread soon after he mediated the new changes to place his creatures, the grand vizier and the principal officers of the empire, threatened with losing their dignities, met to discuss how to get the monarch out of this unworthy guardianship, and how to get rid of the three seditious ones who compromised the safety of the state. Mahmoud was easily persuaded; It was agreed that Patrona, Muslu, and Ali should be murdered in the room of the Divan as soon as a favorable opportunity arose. What made the execution of this project difficult was the presence of a kind of clientele who usually escorted them to the meeting place.

At last Patrona himself offered the opportunity which was expected, by indicating a Divan, where he ordered that few persons should be summoned, with the intention of proposing some of those measures against which he feared the opposition of the majority. On the appointed day, the three factious men having gone to the seraglio, thirty of their acolytes, who had served as their retinue, were detained in the first courtyard, under the pretext of conforming to the intentions of their chief. Patrona, seeing himself separated from his family, asked why they had been prevented from entering according to custom: and was told that, according to orders, it had been thought that he had wanted to admit to the Divan that day only the pashas of the bench, and the effendis he had himself designated. Patrona was at that time on the threshold of the great hall; and he was, moreover, without distrust; he did not think it necessary to insist.

Page 257: While all these events were going on, the intrigues of diplomacy prepared others. France, at war with Russia and Germany, was trying to prove to the Porte that it was in their interest to fight against these two powers as well. The Divan showed itself disposed to that; but wanted (which was right, and yet it was refused) that France, after having engaged the grand seignior (sultan) in this double war, could not lay down its arms before he himself had made the peace. A little later, the differences of Austria and Louis XV being arranged, the French ambassador came to prove to his highness that he had every reason to maintain the treaties with the Emperor of Germany. Thus the language varied with the interests; such was almost always the good faith of governments.

Page 268: Meanwhile Catherine II, who had reached the throne of the Czars, had sent a corps of troops into Poland under the pretext of coming to the aid of the persecuted Protestants. Soon in charge of the deliberations of the diet, she had given the crown to Count Stanislas Poniatowski, who was attached to her for more than one reason. Mustapha, convinced of the importance of this election, which he regarded as the routing of the Russians to seize Poland, wished at once to declare war on the Czarina; the khan of the Tartars, Crim-Guéray, was on the other hand burning to begin the hostilities; but the scholars and the Divan diverted the sultan from this enterprise, for which they were not sufficiently prepared. Mustafa contented himself with the promise which Catherine gave him of withdrawing his troops from Poland, and of giving the diet all its independence. Crim-Guéray was exiled according to the wish of the ulema.

Page 281: It was stipulated that the independence of the Tartars of Crimea, Budjack, and Couban would be recognized by the Turks, to whom Bessarabia, Moldavia, and Wallachia would be restored; that the Czarine would retain Azof, whose fortifications she had raised; that she should join the citadel of Kilhourn; that his ships would have the free navigation of all the seas of the Ottoman Empire; that, finally, the Porte would guarantee the partition of Poland. This peace, which deprived the Turks of the invaluable support of the Tartars, and which opened the route from Constantinople to the fleets of Russia, could not last long. While waiting for the moment to break it, the divan took care of his revenge against the rebels who had tried to shake the yoke of the Porte during the war. The head of the hospodar of Moldavia was the first one to be exposed to the door of the seraglio; that of the Sheik Daher, who declared himself independent in Palestine, appeared afterwards; many others were successively placed there.

Page 298: It was the chief of brigade Dupuy who first took possession of it, at the head of two hundred grenadiers; Bonaparte entered it only the next day; the flotilla arrived in the afternoon, in the suburb of Boulag; Bonaparte immediately published the following proclamation: "People of Cairo, I am pleased with your conduct; you have done well not to take sides against me. I came to destroy the race of the Mamelukes, and to protect the trade and the natives of the country. May all those who are afraid be tranquilized; that all those who are far away, return to their homes; that prayer should take place today as usual, as I want it to always continue: fear nothing for your families, your houses, your properties, and especially for the religion of the prophet, whom I love. As it is urgent that tranquility not be disturbed, there will be a Divan of nine persons that will gather at the great mosque; there will always be two members of this Divan near the commandant of the place, and four will be busy keeping order and watching over the police.

Page 333: At the news of the insurrection, Constantinople was at first dismayed, but fury and rage soon burst forth: what the pashas had planned, Mahmoud ordered to be executed. Even the Divan was agitated that the sentence should not be extended to all the Christians who live in the empire; and the grand seigneur (sultan) no doubt believed himself to be lenient, confining himself to the total extermination of the Greeks. While sending troops and sending orders to the provinces, popular massacres were carried out within the capital city. He had several princes of the Phanal executed in his presence, a crowd of bishops, bankers, and merchants; he did not attend the execution of the partriarch Gregory and his synod, but he wanted at least to see their corpses pass.

0 notes

divanquotes · 5 years ago

Text

Salaberry, History of the Ottoman Empire v2, 1813

Page 22: In those stormy times the hall of the Divan was a shaky ground, where ministers of the empire only set for in fear. Attempt, as intrepid in his master’s palace as on the field of battle, entered it with his usual confidence the very day after Roxelane had pronounced his death sentence. “The sultan wants you to die instantly,” said a chiaoux. Attempt look and listen without moving: “I will die,” he answered coldly.

Page 91: The conqueror of Sinan-Pacha, a slave to the Sultans, felt that freedom was appropriate only to the people he had just subjugated. In despotism, he threw out those enduring convictions of a self-governing free state, which still exists today. To complement this extraordinary thought, these republican laws were passed unopposed by the divan of Constantinople, and sanctions by Selim.

Page 100: As early as 1576, the same credulity led him to wage the Persian war, which he pursued for twelve years. He began it on the faith of an man who came to assure him that, during his sleep, he had seen on the door of the Divan, this inscription: “Amurath, conqueror of Persia.” In vain did Mehemed say that this war, always renewed, had always been fatal to the Empire. The old Mehemed did not have, under Amurath, the credit that he had enjoyed under Soliman and under Selim. The sultan, like all weak princes, feared to appear to be governed; if it had been the pashas who formed the Divan, the Empire would have lost nothing in glory or in power. The elderly Mehemed, Piali, Mustapha and Sinan, the conquerors of Zibeth, Gerbes, Cyprus and Tunis, wanted to inspire their master only with great designs and vigorous resolutions.

Page 103: He had just perished, on a divan, murdered by a spahi. The circumstances of this murder must be collected by the historian, since they know the protector which merinos to the oppressed within Ottoman despotism, and what a spirit of justice often directs the sultans.

Page 193: The Caymacan had persuaded the stupid Sultan to leave Constantinople, and had held him for five days at a hunting party. The janissaries returned in crowds to the city; the mufti consecrated by a fete the deposition of Mustapha; the defterdar publicly accused the Sultan of having dissipated immense sums for the last three months of his reign; the Kislar-aga, administrator of the wacoufs, declared that he had diverted the revenues of the mosque, which can only be taken during the wars of religion; the janissaries, the spahis, and the entire military joined forces, tumutuously demanding one of Achmet’s sons as emperor. Prince Othman, twelve years old, appeared among the people. Already he had girded the imperial scimitar in the mosque of Ejuh; he had already received in the hazed the homage of the seraglio and the Divan; Mustapha had not yet heard of the return of the soldiers, nor the revolution wrought in Constantinople. A detachment of Palus was sent to meet him. No one defended him; and he himself made no resistance. Content to see no one was blocking his path, he allowed himself to be ld into one of the towers of the seraglio, where he vegetated stupidly as he had lived on the throne. His reign was only a four-month dream, and Mustapha seemed forgotten the very next day.

Page 195: Opinions were divided in the Divan as to the question of which enemies could be attacked. On the one hand, the Cossacks of Borysthenes, subjects of the crown of Poland, infested the Black Sea, in retaliation for the incursions made, as far as Podolia, by the Tartars of Crimea. They had just beaten Memin Pasha, sent to repress their insults; they had forced the Ottoman galleys to flee; their boats had come to plunder the villages located along the coast of Romelie; they had thrown terror into Constantinople.

Page 221: The ephemeral successor of Daoud-Pacha was an old white eunuch named Mehemed Jorjy. The caprice of the soldiery did not last long. Cussein was recalled by her; his gold moved all these secret springs to the profit of his ambition, but the Valid Sultana, who did not like this minister, sent the seals of the empire to Calil, Pacha of the sea, who by piety or terror, meditating to become a dervish, refused the dangerous honor which was offered to him in such difficult moments. All the other Viziers also resisted it; the seal of the Empire was sent three times from the Divan to the seraglio, and from the seraglio to the Divan. The necessity or the fear of irritating the soldiers made him fall back into Cussein’s hands.

Page 390: This rapid succession of viziers, under a prince entirely null, did not change anything about the politics of the Divan; he was influenced by the advice and money of France; and the state of war continued without the belligerent powers being removed from making peace. But they did not agree on the main point.

0 notes

divanquotes · 5 years ago

Text

Elias Habesci, The Present State of the Ottoman Empire, 1784

Page xiv: Teskerejis-Effendis, two secretaries or assistants to the Grand Vizir, in the Divan.

Page 85: It must have been foreseen that the Russian minister, without instructions from his court, could not comply with such a requisition; yet, contrary to the law of nations, upon his refusal, he was arrested by order of the Divan, and with all his attendants sent prisoner to the Seven Towers. This extraordinary event happened the beginning of the month of October 1768, and on the 30th of the same month, the formal declaration of the Turks against the Russians took place; and the Empress on her part, after publishing a manifesto full of reproaches against the conduct of the Divan, in arresting her minister, declared war against the Porte. The progress and the event of this rupture are so recent and so well known, that it is needless to dwell upon a subject so very uninteresting and sterile; it is sufficient to observe that the Turks having suffered every disgrace, by continual defeats both by sea and land, were reduced to the necessity of making peace upon very dishonorable terms, in the year 1774.

Page 177: The Vizir still retains the right of appeal to him from all the other tribunals of justice; and for this purpose he comes to the Divan twice a week, attended by all his own officers, and by those belonging to the other tribunals: he likewise holds a Divan, and administers justice, at his own house; in the general Divans, where he is present, no magistrate or judge is allowed to sit down, except the Cadilashirs of Romelia and Natolia. These two have a new power to pass their own sentences, in presence of the Vizir, but he has likewise a power to annul them as soon as passed. All petitions presented to the Grand Signor must be given to th Vizir, but those which complain of his administration are presented to the Sultan, as he goes to or comes from the Mosque; the method is, for the petitioner to place his petition upon his head, and to raise himself as much above the crowd as possible, so that the monarch may see him, who immediately sends an officer to take it and bring it to him.

Page 180: The Defterdar is the High Treasurer of the empire, an office totally distinct from that of Treasurer of the Seraglio. The Deftrdar collects all the revenues of the empire, by his proper officers, of whom he has a numerous train, and he is obliged to supply all the demands of the state, as well in time of war as in time of peace; his utmost attention, therefore,is directed to the improvement of the revenues, and the diminution of the expenses of the empire. Upon all public occasions, he takes place of the Grand Chancellor, and in the Divan he is seated opposite the Nissangi. His usual residence, and his office for transacting business, are in apartments adjoining to the Divan.

Page 197: The ancient Dace, which always had the highest reputation, for the courage and valor of its people, consists of the three provinces of Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia. All the three provinces were overrun by the Germans, Polonese, and Turks, and not being able to hold out against such powerful neighboring enemies, they were forced to buy the protection of the Ottoman Porte, by means of an annual tribute. Transylvania, from the advantage of its situation, upon the frontiers of the territories of the House of Austria, settled with the Germans by an annual tribute of 6000 gold ducats. At present it is incorporated with the other hereditary domains of the German empire, and the Transylvanians are very happy in comparison of the inhabitants of Moldavia and Wallachia. The other two provinces remain subject at present to the Porte, which sends them governors elected by the Grand Signor from amongst the ancient Greek families residing at Fanari: this election, as one may easily believe, never falls upon the most worthy, but certainly upon him who is most liberal to the ministers of the Divan, and most prodigal in promises, which, when not executed, cause the ruin of the governor who has made them. To these governors the Porte grans the title of Vayvodes, and of Beys, and the honor of two tails, which are carried before them, when they come out of the Divan of the Grand Vizir, after their appointment, and pass through the great street of the Divan, with a numerous and splendid retinue, on their way to the capitals of their respective principalities. Their principal occupation in their government is collecting the tribute which is paid annually to the Porte.

Wallachia formerly paid no more than 60,000 piastres a year, But, after the rebellion of the inhabitants of this province in 1665, against the Porte, a rebellion which was suppressed only by a bloody victory, the annual tribute was terribly augmented. We will distinguish what they pay to the sovereign, from the sums paid to the ministers of the Divan.

Page 198: These are the taxes upon Wallachia, that the Vayvode should collect with diligence, and sent to Constantinople. For this province it is a very adequate sum, and the inhabitants would be very happy if they could enjoy tranquility upon paying ben double or treble the amount. But the extraordinaries which they oblige them to pay, saber in hand, are exorbitant. The Vayvode always keeps a grand court, and a magnificent retinue. To obtain the government he has unavoidably contracted great debts, which he must draw from the province; on the same account, he must, also, have promised sums of money to all who have the least interest in the Divan, and they must be satisfied: to answer all these obligations must require enormous taxes; but this is not all; in order to keep himself in place, by the favor of his protectors at Constantinople, h must make them annual presents; his agent at the Porte has likewise a large salary; ad he will take care to amass sufficient treasures apart for himself, against a removal from his government, if he is so fortunate as to leave it without losing his had; to compass all the ends the most horrible cruelties and extortions are constantly practiced. The inhabitants are reduced to the utmost misery, and not being able to live any longer under such a yoke, seek for refuge in some more humane country. This humanity they experience in the territories of the House of Austria.

Page 201: The sum paid to obtain the government, and for the investiture, cannot be ascertained; for it depends more or less upon the number and character of the candidates; and upon the honesty of the members of the Divan. If these two provinces are governed as they should be, instead of being deserted, they would be well peopled and very rich; no soil being more fertile; for at present, though the ground is almost uncultivated, yet it yields, even in those years that are not the most plentiful, 100 for one in wheat, and all other sorts of grain.

Page 339: On the day appointed for the royal audience, the ambassador embarked, in the same manner as before, at the break of day; and on his landing he was received by the Chiaux Bachi, dressed in robes of gold, with a superb pelisse over them, and having with him a number of horses from the Imperial stud. After taking the usual refreshments in the little summer house, the procession set forward for the Seraglio. Having entered the Sublime Porte, in the first square, an immense number of guards were drawn up, through the middle of whom, as they fell back, his excellency passed on horseback to the gate of the second square, where he alighted; no person, except the Sovereign, being permitted to pass that gate on horseback. There he was met by the dragoman of the Porte, and after a few minutes passed in the second square, his excellency ascended the flight of steps leading to the Divan-chamber, preceded by the Chiaux Bachi, and the master of the ceremonies, who was very richly dressed, and both carried silver maces, which they struck against the ground like walking sticks.

Page 340: The Divan chamber greatly resembles Westminster hall, but is neither so long nor so lofty: the breadth appeared to me to be nearly the same. It is badly lighted by a large dome in the center, and at the upper end are the tribunals of the Grand Vizir, exactly in the same position, and raised in the same manner above the hall, as the passage between the courts of Chancery and King’s Bench, leading to the House of Commons. Behind the Vizir’s sophia, and no great height above his head, there is a small window grated with iron bars double gilt, within which the Grand Signor is seated, and hears the causes tried, and the decisions of his ministers and judges; he cannot be distinguished, but it is known when he is there by the brilliancy of the large diamonds in his turban.

Page 341: But the poor ambassador has a great deal to suffer in the Divan chamber, before he proceeds any farther. The audience of an ambassador is the time of all others chosen to present publicly and freely a great number of petitions and memorials to the Vizir, purposely to show his authority. While this business goes forward, the Vizir sends the dragoman to his excellency, to full up the time. The next trial of his patience is the ceremony of issuing the money for the payment of the military establishment for six months. And, as a proof of their ostentation, it must be observed, that it will often happen that the day of giving audience to an ambassador cannot be put off till the exact time that the pay is due; in which case, to the great joy of the military, it must be paid in advance, for they will not omit this display of their riches.

Page 342: The colonel of the oldest regiment of the Janissaries appears first at the door of the Divan chamber, when he is called in, and as many bags as will pay him and his men are flung out of the door down the steps; upon which he retires, bowing all the way, and constantly facing the tribunals, so that he walks out backwards. The colonel of every regiment does the same; but before the second entry, the money belonging to the first must be cleared away, which is done by throwing the bags through an aperture like a window into the square below; where the Janissaries of his regiment count the money again, and they they carry it off as fast as possible to their chambers, or quarters: he who carries most is most esteemed by his officers. This absurd ceremony lasts three hours, and it requires the patience of a Stoic to sit it out.

Page 350: The Turks are not at present the same kind of people they were formerly. It is impossible to assign the true cause of this change in their character. It is, however, said to be owing, first, to the great change in their fortune; the diminution of their power and national strength has lowered their pride. The second is, the great number of Christians who have embraced Mahometanism, and have contributed to soften their manners. Be this as it may, it is certain that the Ottomans are not so stupid, so ignorant, nor so brutal as they were in former times. For this reason then, it is requisite that the foreign ministers at the Porte should be men of distinguished abilities, who have been well educated, and are versed in the science of courts. They should not only be well acquainted with the personal character of their own sovereign, but likewise with that of the Grand Signor. They should attentively study the humors and interests of the several members composing the Turkish administration, but more especially they should endeavor to discover the passions and foibles of any one minister who has particular influence in the Divan, or who enjoys the confidence of the Sultan.

Page 352: It is a well-known fact, that the supreme direction of public affairs in Turkey is in the hands of those who are in private, the greatest favorite of the monarch; but nothing demands so much skill and delicacy as the attainment of a perfect knowledge whether the reigning favorite is a member of the external administration, or of the interior cabinet; that is to say, whether he belongs to the Divan, or to the Seraglio. If he belongs to the government without doors, a foreign minister may cultivate his friendship openly; but if he is in the Seraglio, it will require the greatest nicety to be well with him; and the utmost secrecy and precaution must be observed, that any private intimacy subsisting between such a favorite and a foreign minister does not come to the knowledge of the other ministers of the Porte; whose jealousy would be excited to such a degree by this partial attachment, that they would set every engine to work to ruin the foreign minister, by setting him at variance with the Porte, and with the other foreign ministers.

Page 366: Great numbers of Greeks likewise embrace the ecclesiastical life, and, by means of patronage at the Porte, obtain benefices in the Greek church, and the dignities of bishops and patriarchs. The patriarch still exercises a kind of despotic power over that people. He holds a Divan once a week, to decide causes between individuals; he is assisted by twelve bishops, and with their concurrence he can inflict pains and penalties; but, in other respects, the Turks have considerably diminished the privileges of the patriarchship. Formerly they had a seat in the Turkish Divan, and they hold their places for life; at present they are removed, by banishment, to the isle of Princes, six leagues from Constantinople, as soon as a competitor offers to gratify the Grand Vizir with a larger present, or annual tribute, than the possessor.

Page 375: It rains to speak of the administration of justice. The Divan is a tribunal open to everybody, and on fixed days. The grand Divan is held once a week, always on a Tuesday evening, in the Seraglio of the Grand Signor, who assists without showing himself, for he is at a latticed window, over the Grand Vizir, who is said opposite to the door of the Divan, by which the supplicants and the clients enter. In this manner the monarch listens, hears, and observes the orders of the Grand Vizir, and of the other ministers, without being seen. On each side of the Grand Vizir are the two Judges General of Romania and of Natolia; and, according to their rank, the other private judges; but they do not sit.

Page 376: All causes relative to religion and public manners the Grand Vizir leaves to the decision of the two Judges General, without appeal, Monday sand Fridays are vacation days; but on all other days the Divan is open, either at the Seraglio, or at the Grand Vizir’s. Nothing can be more astonishing, than to see a Grand Vizir, who sometimes scarcely has had any education, or time to study, direct so vast an empire as the Ottoman, and govern it perfectly well; though it is impossible for him to provide for everything. And especially as he is so situated, that sometimes he is obliged to carry himself fairly to persons who have it in their power to ruin him, and to shut his eyes to their dark designs, without being able to make use of his power.

Page 379: The Bashaws of the provinces were so tyrannical, that the people removed their persons and effects to the capital in such numbers, that it was impossible to find room for them and the old inhabitants: the Divan, therefore, published an order, that all the families that had not been established twenty years in the city should leave it, and guards were placed at the gates, to prevent the arrival of any more subjects from the provinces.

Page 401: Being come before him, the Vizir asked the wife, if she would remain a Mahometan, or return to Christianity, to which she replied, that she would live and die a Christian. The Vizir upon this decreed that Sergio should take away the woman: the husband was quite distracted, and the more so as his wife was with child. As his last resource, he insisted that the child should not be removed out of the Ottoman empire, “For it is mine (said he) and it belongs to the sacred family of Mahomet, wearing green turbans,” Sergio had the courage to reply in full Divan — “If the child is born with a green rag upon his head, it will be a certain proof that it is a descendant from Mahomet, if not, Mahomt has nothing to do with it, and it belongs to Christ.” The was no standing against the force of this argument; the woman was given up, and sent him to her Russian friends.

0 notes