384 years ago today (9 February 1640), there was a huge crowd in front of the Blue Mosque. Those in the square were in great sorrow. The body of Sultan Murad IV, who had given them a feast just two years ago by recapturing Baghdad, lay on the musalla stone in front of them. Şeyhülislam Yahya Efendi took the position of imam. The muezzins from all four sides shouted, “For the sake of the man”. The funeral prayer was performed amidst the tears of Muslims.
After the funeral prayer, Murad IV’s three horses, on which he rode in battles, saddled upside down and moved in front of the coffin. The space between the musalla stone and the burial place was too short. Soon after, the body of the sultan was buried in the tomb of his father Sultan Ahmed I with prayers.
The fact that the Sultan was only twenty-eight years old added to the sorrow. Everyone was curious about the cause of his death and his last states. It’s crowded around one of the palace aghas . After the burial, a curious group surrounded him and asked the reason for the sultan’s death. The agha was very sad. He narrated as follows:
“Our Sultan had kidney disease on his return from the Baghdad Expedition. The treatments and measures taken by the physicians did not help and his illness increased even more. Last night (8 February) after sunset, imam Yusuf Efendi was reciting Yasin-i Şerif at his bedside. Bıyıklı Hüseyin Pasha used to sit at his feet and repeat the declaration of faith every now and then. The sultan of the world opened his eyes for a while and said to Hüseyin Pasha:
– If I had known that the sherbet of death was so bitter, I would not have hurt a weak ant in my time of government,’ he said and surrendered his soul by saying the word of martyrdom.
Listening to these words, a young man about 16 years old said, ‘It is rumoured that the sultan was very cruel’. After looking at the young man for a while, the Agha said, ‘You do not know the first years of the sultan. You don’t know Saka Mehmed, Georgian Rıdvan, Cin Ali, Deli İlahi, Bozkırlı Halil, Cadı Osman and other such villains. The situation of the nation and the state at that time, the interference of tyrants in state affairs and the atrocities committed against the people have been forgotten… Ask your elders about what happened in Ramadan in 1632, before the Sultan took the reins of the state. Using the coming of Ramadan as an excuse, the tyrants organised processions of mascots and started to demand taxes by going from house to house. If anyone resisted, they would set fire to the balconies of the houses with torches in their hands. Their behaviour against decency and morality had become outrageous. Violating the rape of Muslims, shedding blood, raiding houses and palaces, and especially behaving inappropriately in coffeehouses and taverns had become commonplace… In this way, for two months Istanbul experienced the most disastrous scenes of military anarchy. These horrible scenes of tyrant brutality were met with utter hatred by everyone and they looked to Sultan Murad Khan, who was in the sultanate, for salvation. Did you think it was easy for the sultan to re-establish the state order?
“Bad man, do ablution!”
One of them asked, ‘And how did the sultan bring the soldiers to their senses?
It was as if the Agha was reliving those days. After taking a deep breath, the Sultan had followed the events for a long time. He realised that all these rebellion movements had originated from the head of Grand Vizier Recep Pasha. He decided to finish him off first. But this was not easy. With his determination and marvellous oratory, he managed to restrain and control the soldiers…
One day after the Eid al-Fitr (18 May 1632), Veziriazam Recep Pasha invited him to the palace. Recep Pasha came to the palace with some sipahi bullies in his entourage as was his custom. After leaving them in front of the outer gate of the palace, he appeared before the sultan.
When Recep Pasha was about to kiss the hem of Sultan’s garment, Sultan Murad Khan thundered like the sky. He called out to the Grand Vizier: “Come here, lame tyrant leader! Recep Pasha used to walk with a limp because he was suffering from nicris. Pasha, who was extremely frightened, said: ‘Hâşâ sultan. I have not done an iota of action against the consent of my sultan,’ but the sultan shouted: ‘Bad man, do ablution’. Because Recep Pasha had previously tried to imply that there was a possibility that Sultan Murad might be killed by saying ‘My sultan, take ablution and then go out’ when the sultan was going out for the council. When Sultan Murad shouted: ‘Strangle this traitor quickly’, the axe-men threw a lasso and finished him off… They took his dead body out and threw it in front of his men waiting in front of the Bab-ı Hümayun. When Recep Pasha’s corpse fell in front of them, the tyrants lost their minds. A great fear fell into their hearts and they disappeared…
The Sultan had reached the age of twenty. He had learnt a great lesson from the events that had taken place over the years and from the councils. He was very strong in body, had iron claws, was bold and influential. After beating Recep Pasha, he had told his Veziriazam Tabanıyassı Mehmed Pasha, whom he had replaced, not to tolerate tyrants at all…
Upon this incident, the Sipahis gathered in Okmeydanı and again made some demands according to their old habits. The Sultan, on the other hand, did not want to give them an opportunity anymore. He ordered a council at Sinan Pasha Mansion in Sarayburnu and invited the viziriazam, sheikhulislâm, kazaskerler, ulema, janissary corps chiefs and the chiefs of the six divisions.
The sultan first addressed the Janissary Agha, the elders of the hearth and the soup makers and read and commented on the âyat-i kerîma, which reads: “Obey Allah and the Prophet and your orders who are bound by them!” Then he commented on the hadîth, which reads: “Even if the ruler is an Abyssinian slave, obey him as long as he obeys Allah. Then he told about his ancestors’ wars and the obedience of the soldiers to them. He asked them to show loyalty to him like his ancestors and asked whether they would remain obedient in this matter.
A janissary agha said, ‘My Sultan! You are our sultan, you are Zıllullah! We cannot be disobedient to you! We will be a friend to your friend and an enemy to your enemy. All of us would be sacrificed for your sake and in the way of the religion of Muhammad. After the Sultan expressed his satisfaction with these words;
‘That is what I expect and will expect from you, but some miscreants are in your midst and they are both abusing you and causing harm to the religion and the state. Will you swear to me that you will not patronise such people and that you will hand over the disobedient ones?
The Janissary Agha said: ‘All of us are loyal to our blessed Sultan, we would not patronise bandits. We would swear an oath for this.
Then they brought the Qur’ân al-kerim. Murad IV Han personally performed the oath ceremony. He asked each of them separately; ‘Wallahi, billahi or tallahi? Everyone pressed their hands on the Mushaf and said ‘Vallahi, billahi, tallahi’.
Among those present, there were many who wept and cried because of the magnificence of the event. In this way the oath was registered…
“Throw the rascals out!”
After this, the Sultan addressed the elders of the sipahi and repeated his first question. They declared that they were friends to the Sultan’s friends and enemies to his enemies.
Thereupon, the Sultan said angrily: ‘O people! What strange creatures are you? Your mischief has weakened the state-sultanate. Words and advice do not profit and you do not give up sedition. Today you say, “We are the servants of the Sultan, we are at his command. Most of the time, you do not want to recognise and listen to the word of the sultan, the rule of law and Sharia. You are filled with unruly bandits. You are ruining the property and destroying the people… You are forty thousand men. Each one of you is trying to have a will and an official position. However, the total number of civil servants is only five hundred, not forty thousand. All of you, those who have public office and those who do not have public office, are united in robbing the people. Nothing can escape your greed. Will you put an end to all this? Will you be content with only your salary and come to obedience as in the times of my ancestors?
A sipahi elder said: ‘Hasha, we sipahi servants are not rebels. We do not accept the name of rebel. Those who do not know their manners, harass our sultan and make excessive demands are not from us. They are tyrants who came later. It is not in our power to restrain them. But we do not consent and participate in their misdemeanours.
The sultan said: “Will you swear on the Kitabullah that you will not accept those mufsits into your midst from now on and that you will hand them over when I demand it? ‘ The sipahi counsellors in the front row said that they were ready to take the oath without hesitation. However, when five or ten ruffians in the back row uttered words of complaint and opposition, the janissaries threw them out on their hands like a ball upon the word ‘Throw these rascals out! Thereupon, the sipahis were also given an oath on the Qur’an and a separate memorandum was written and registered for this…
When this news reached Sultanahmet Square, the sipahi society immediately dispersed and the tyrants went into hiding. Now the sultan took the reins and the end of the tyrants had come.
The movement that had shaken the whole state until an hour ago seemed to have disappeared in an instant. This was a new manifestation of the word of truth, which signalled that oppression would disappear in the face of the emergence of truth.
Having established state power, the Sultan will take Revan and Baghdad from the Safavids in this way. He will again make the world states obey the Ottoman Empire.
The eyes of the palace agha were filled with tears again. As he said goodbye and left for the palace, the young people started to recite once more for the soul of the great sultan…”
REFLECTION
Sultan Murad says: Now is the time
The world is no left for me either, gentlemen, goodbye
My stance bent, like a bow
Farewell to the provinces I travelled and saw
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Şimşirgil
9th February 2024
Türkiye Gazetesi