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When Khair Bey (above), the governor of Mecca, banned coffee in 1511 because he feared it might encourage resistance to his rule, the Ottoman sultan executed him on the grounds that coffee was actually “blessed.”

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HISTORY MEME: (4/10) people ➵ Mihrimah Sultan

Mihrimah Sultan (21 March 1522 – 25 January 1578) was the daughter of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I and his wife Hürrem Sultan.

Mihrimah traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire with her father as he surveyed the lands and conquered new ones. It is written in Persian literature that she traveled into battle with her father on an Arabian stallion called Batal at the Battle of Gizah in northern Egypt outside Alexandria.

In Constantinople on 26 November 1539, at the age of seventeen, Mihrimah was married off to Rüstem Pasha, the Grand Vizier under Suleiman. Though the union was unhappy, Mihrimah flourished as a patroness of the arts and continued her travels with her father until her husband’s death. The fact that Mihrimah encouraged her father to launch the campaign against Malta, promising to build 400 galleys at her own expense; that like her mother she wrote letters to Sigismund II the King of Poland; and that on her father’s death she lent 50,000 gold sovereigns to her brother Sultan Selim to meet his immediate needs, illustrate the political power which she wielded.

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ramadan mubarak to all our muslim followers!

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All the universe, one mighty sign, is shown; God hath myriads of creative acts unknown: None hath seen them, of the races jinn and men, None hath news brought from that realm far off from ken. Never shall thy mind or reason reach that strand, Nor can tongue the King's name utter of that land. Since 'tis his each nothingness with life to vest, Trouble is there ne'er at all to his behest. Eighteen thousand worlds, from end to end, Do not with him one atom's worth transcend.

The oldest Turkish poem, a selection from The Divan of the Lover

"[Attempts to organize Turkish poetry in a chronological order must begin with] their first poet, Ashiq, who died in 1332 and whose very name is forgotten, since ashiq means merely 'the lover'. In other words, Turkish poetry begins with the passion of an unknown lover, not apparently for [a] woman, but for life and God. The collected poems of Ashiq are called a 'divan,' the usual Persian and Turkish word for such collections; but very little of the divan of Ashiq has survived." (x)

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Top: Suleiman’s wife, Roxelana (1500-1558), oil on canvas by an anonymous Venetian painter (18th c.)  BL: Portrait of the Sultan Roxelana, engraving by Johann Theodor de Bry (1596); BR: Roxelane und der Sultan, oil on canvas by Anton Hickel (1780); source: x

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To what extent do Ottoman sources substantiate this emphasis on family in the cases involving conversion of minors? In the eyes of Islamic law the validity of a child’s conversion depended upon the evaluation of his or her mental capacity at the time of conversion. Since the age of reaching the mental ability to discern the implication of conversion and understand the tenets of the Muslim faith was not fixed by Islamic law (unlike that of sexual maturity), cases had to be reviewed on an individual basis. As Eyal Ginio’s research on the Ottoman court records (siciller) from Selanik shows, the most problematic group included children age seven to ten. The judge would have to present the child with the basic articles of faith (telkin-i iman) and assess the child’s comprehension of them (ta’akkul-i din). On this basis the judge would decide whether the child should become a Muslim or not. In some cases, such as those of Onofrii, a Bulgarian boy who converted to Islam as an eight year-old to spite his parents, or a Jewish boy of the same age who converted to Islam in seventeenth-century Jerusalem, the child was returned to his parents despite the great protest of the Muslim community.

from Tijana Krstić’s Contested Conversions to Islam: Narratives of Religious Change in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire, 2011. (via rumelia)

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A Mamluk nobleman from Aleppo, Syria, painted between 1816 and 1824 by William Page (source). 

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Women of the Palace, 16th century Turkey

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Mehmed (Vahideddin) VI 36th, and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire,  r. 1918-1922; no date recorded on image caption (US Library of Congress archives)

The most momentous event of Mehmed's reign by far was the Ottoman Empire's disastrous involvement in WWI, a resounding defeat culminating in the crippling 1920 Treaty of Sèvres in which the Sultanate lost political and/or economic control over much of Anatolia. The severity of these concessions fueled much of the nationalist fervor that ultimately resulted in the abolition of the sultanate in 1922, the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 under first President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. (Source: 1 2)

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Janissary Recruitment in the Balkans (16th century), illlustration from the Süleymanname

"This scene depicts the "levying of children" or devşirme process used to recruit non-Muslim boys for service in the Ottoman army and bureacracy. The boys dessed in red will become part of the Janissary class of elite slave state personnel and soldiers (kapıkulu). While some Christian families sought to have their children placed in the devşirme because of the power and opportunities enjoyed by these kapıkulus, in this image we see mothers asking about their boys and expressing their distress over their conscription. The boys are registered by the devşirme officer and alotted a certian amount of money for travel expenses. On their backs, the boys carry small packs filled with their possessions for the long journey to the capital. Once they arrive, they will be circumcised and commence training for different administrative and military posts. They are dressed in red in order to be easily identified should they escape. As the accompanying text indicates, boys could only be taken from families with more than one son. The boys were chosen on the basis of their intelligence and physical appearance and beauty, with ugly boys and orphans being deemed unfit for state service." (x)

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"The siege of Rhodes in 1522… .while Ottoman sappers excavate mines, Janissary marksmen shoot at the Knights Hospitaller manning the walls. Other Janissaries with shields and hooked pole-arms stand ready to mount an assault." (source)

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“Nusret Çolpan (October 1, 1952 – May 31, 2008) was a Turkish painter, architect and miniaturist, renowned for his paintings in Ottoman miniature style depicting cities around the world, particularly Istanbul. He painted over 300 miniatures in his 30 year career…The harmony of spirals in clouds and general forms created his unique style. He avoided repainting old miniatures and managed to paint present time in the main concepts of miniature. He implemented miniatures on tiles [for the] first time. He continued on the way of his teacher Suheyl Unver and after centuries of neglect reapproched people with the art of miniature.”  (x)

His “700 Years of Ottoman History” series is so unbelievably beautiful/intricate as well, everyone should check that one out!!

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The reform edict of 1856, which granted equality to non Muslims in all aspects of life, provided a more solid legal basis for the promotion of the new official ideology—much to the dismay of conservative Muslims, who reacted to its promulgation with anguish: “For Muslims this is a day to weep and mourn.” The edict also weakened the privileged status of the Greek Patriarchate vis-à-vis the other non-Muslim religious institutions. A typical Greek reaction to the reform edict was: “the state has made us equal with the Jews. We were satisfied with Muslim superiority.” Particularly revealing was the insistence of all Ottoman religious communities that the relationship between each community and the center remain a bilateral one; millet leaders insisted that any new privileges must be conferred upon them as a distinct community, not as Ottomans. Thus, far from encouraging the dissolution of barriers between the various communities, millet representatives fought for their preservation.

on Tanzimat era reforms, from Hanioğlu, M. Şükrü. A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire. Princeton, Oxford, 2008, page 75. (via rumelia)

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The Tomb of Mehmet I_6989 by hkoons on Flickr.

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15th-century French miniature depicting the Battle of Manzikert, the combatants are clad in contemporary Western European armour The Battle of Manzikert was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuq Turks on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and the capture of the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes played an important role in undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Armenia, and allowed for the gradual Turkification of Anatolia.

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one interesting fact concerning Hagia Sophia/Ayasofya's rich history is that when Mehmet converted the church into a mosque (choosing to simply adopt the structure's Turkish name, Ayasofya, rather than rename it), many Christian sacred icons were actually simply modified, concealed, or even left wholly unmolested where the finest mosaics and adornments were concerned. nevertheless, subsequent sultans would prove less heterodox and all Christian symbols would eventually be plastered over and/or removed. whether or not such pre-Ottoman Christian relics can be restored without compromising important Islamic art/cultural history is a point of contention in already shaky restoration efforts today, especially since many feel that, excluding Hagia Sophia, much of Istanbul's pre-Ottoman Byzantine history has been neglected elsewhere. 

Ayasofya was a fully functioning mosque until 1934 when the first president of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, converted it into a public museum as part of a nation-wide secularizing effort. however, a recent resurgence of Islamic fervor in the country, in both politics and private practice, has resulted in many Turkish citizens embracing Ayasofya as an important symbol of a new, non-secular Turkish nationalism and a consequential demand for its return to functioning purely as a mosque. 

The Hagia Sophia, one of the historical architectural wonders that still remains standing today, has an important place in the art world with its architecture, grandness, size and functionality.

The Hagia Sophia, the biggest church constructed by the East Roman Empire in Istanbul, has been constructed three times in the same location. When it was first built, it was named Megale Ekklesia (Big Church); however, after the fifth century, it was referred to as the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). The church was the place in which rulers were crowned, and it was also the biggest operational cathedral in the city throughout the Byzantine period.

The first church was constructed by Emperor Konstantios (337-361) in 360. The first church was covered with a wooden roof and expanded vertically (basilica) yet was burned down after the public riot that took place in 404 as a result of the disagreements between Emperor Arkadios’ (395-408) wife empress Eudoksia and Istanbul’s patriarch Ioannes Chrysostomos, who was exiled. The patriarch’s mosaic portrait can still be viewed at the tymphanon wall located in the northern part of the church. No remains have been recovered from the first church; however, the bricks found in the museum storage branded ‘Megale Ekklesia’ are predicted to belong to the first construction.

The second church was reconstructed by Emperor Theodosios II (408-450) in 415. This basilical structure is known to contain five naves and a monumental entrance; it is also covered by a wooden roof.

The church was demolished in January 13, 532, after the public riot (Nika revolts) that took place during the fifth year of Emperor Justinianos’ reign (527-565), when the ‘blues’ who represented the aristocrats, and the ‘greens’ who represented the tradesman and merchants in the society, collaborated against the Empire.

Remains found during the excavations led by A. M Scheinder of the Istanbul German Archeology Institute, 2 meters below ground level, include steps belonging to the Propylon (monumental door), column bases and pieces with lamb embossings that represent the 12 apostles. In addition, other architectural pieces that belong to the monumental entrance can be seen in the west garden. The current structure was constructed by Isidoros (Milet) and Anthemios (Tralles), who were renowned architects of their time, by Emperor Justinianos’s (527-565) orders. Information from historian Prokopios states that the construction that began on February 23, 532, was completed in a short period of five years and the church was opened to worship with a ceremony on December 27, 537. Resources show that on the opening day of the Hagia Sophia, Emperor Justinianos entered the temple and said, “My Lord, thank you for giving me chance to create such a worshipping place,” and followed with the words “Süleyman, I beat you,” referring to Süleyman’s temple in Jerusalem.

The third Hagia Sophia construction combined the three traditional basilical plans with the central dome plan in design. The structure has three nefi, one apsi, and two narthex, internal and external. The length from the apsis to the outer narthex is 100 m, and the width is 69.5 m. The height of the dome from the ground level is 55.60 m and the radius is 31.87 m in the North to South direction and 30.86 in the East to West direction.

Emperor Justinianos ordered all provinces under his reign to send the best architectural pieces to be used in the construction so that the Hagia Sophia could be bigger and grander. The columns and marbles used in the structure have been taken from ancient cities in and around Anatolia and Syria, such as, Aspendus Ephessus, Baalbeek and Tarsa.

The white marbles used in the structure came from the Marmara Island, the green porphyry from Eğriboz Island, the pink marbles from Afyon and the yellow from North Africa. The decorative interior wall coatings were established by dividing single marble blocks into two and combining them in order to create symmetrical shapes. In addition, the structure includes columns brought in from the Temple of Artemis in Ephessus to be used in the naves, as well as 8 columns brought from Egypt that support the domes. The structure has a total of 104 columns, 40 in the lower and 64 in the upper gallery.

All the walls of the Hagia Sophia except the ones covered by marble have been decorated with exceptionally beautiful mosaics. Gold, silver, glass, terra cotta and colorful stones have been used to make the mosaics. The plant-based and geometric mosaics are from the 6th century, whereas the figured mosaics date back to the Iconoclast period.

During the East Roman period, the Hagia Sophia was the Empire Church and, as a result, was the place in which the emperors were crowned. The area that is on the right of the naos, where the flooring is covered with colorful stones creating an intertwining circular design (omphalion), is the section in which the Eastern Roman Emperors were crowned.

Istanbul was occupied by Latins between 1204 and 1261, during the Holy Crusades, when both the city and the church were damaged. The Hagia Sophia was known to be in bad condition in 1261, when Eastern Rome took over the city again. Following Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s (1451-1481) conquer in 1453, Hagia Sophia was renovated into a mosque. The structure was fortified and was well protected after this period, and remained as a mosque. Additional supporting pillars were installed during the East Roman and Ottoman periods as a result of the damage that the structure experienced due to earthquakes in the region. The minarets designed and implemented by Mimar Sinan have also served to this purpose.