The Brothers Murad and Mesih

After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II, he took two young male potential Byzantine heirs, converted them to Islam, and made them important figures in the new administration.

We don't know their original names, or their exact parentage (they were reported by some Ottoman historians to be nephews of the deposed Byzantine Emperor Constantine), but they were converted to Islam and renamed Hass Murad Pasha and Mesih Pasha. Both had powerful career positions.

Hass—a title meaning "private" or "personal"—was also very wealthy. He had accrued a significant amount of wealth by 1465/66 when he began the construction of a new mosque, called the Murat Pasha Mosque in Istanbul (still in use; see illustration).

In 1468, the current Grand Vizier and beylerbey ("lord of lords") was dismissed, and Hass replaced him as beylerbey, the commander-in-chief of the Balkans. Life in the Balkans was not peaceful. In 1473, he led a troop of 20,000 against an uprising. When the enemy retreated, Hass Murad intended to follow.

One of the men under his command, Mahmud Pasha, warned him that this particular enemy employed the tactic of "feigned retreats": pretending to flee in disarray and yet prepared to turn and fight when pursued. Murad did not listen. He crossed the Euphrates, his army was ambushed and many captured, and Hass Murad Pasha was killed.

The other brother, Mesih Pasha, was first mentioned in the records as military and administrative commander of Gelibolu (Gallipoli). Gallipoli was a chief Ottoman naval base, and so Mesih had control of a large part of the navy. There was an Ottoman-Venetian War in 1463 - 1479 in which Mesih conquered Euboea, the second-largest Greek island. 

Venetian records of the time claim that Mesih was willing to surrender Gallipoli to Venice for 40,000 gold ducats, but this arrangement never came to fruition, so may have been a Venetian plan to stir up unrest among the Ottomans, and discredit a successful enemy leader.

A new sultan came to the throne, Bayezid II (1481 - 1512). There were some problems with a rival claim, and when Bayezid imprisoned the Grand Vizier who was sympathetic to Bayezid's rival, the Janissaries revolted and invaded the palace (the Grand Vizier, like the Janissaries, was a devşirme). Mesih was sent to negotiate, which he did successfully.

In January 1485 he fell out of favor with Beyazid. This was not the end of his story, however. I'll continue it next time.

Mehmed II

Mehmed II, also called Mehmed the Conqueror, accomplished one of the most damaging counters to Christianity and Europe and conquered an enormous number of kingdoms. He also succeeded his father as sultan, for all practical purposes returned it to him, and succeeded his father a second time. All this happened before the age of 50!

Born in 1432 to Murad II, he was sent at 11 years old to Amasya in northern Turkey with his mother (supposedly a low-born woman), teachers, and advisors to learn how to govern. He also had a particular mentor, Molla Gürâni, who was a scholar, philosopher, and jurist who had a high position in Murad's and Mehmed's administrations. Another influence was Akshamsaddin, a Sunni Muslim scholar, poet, and mystic.

When Mehmed was 12, his father abdicated, leaving Mehmed in charge. Why would he do this? It was June 1444, and Murad had just made peace with Hungary after defeating the Crusade of Varna, an attempt by several European Christian countries to check the growing power of the Ottomans. He had several other victories under his belt, and perhaps wanted a life of leisure.

Hungary under John Hunyadi broke the treaty a few months later—the papal legate, Julian Cesarini, had convinced Hunyadi that breaking a truce with Muslims was not a sin–and Mehmed prepared to fight.

There was a problem: the Janissaries. Although loyal to the sultan, they were uncertain of this pre-teen who was now their commander. Their unrest caused Mehmed to ask his 40-year-old father to return and lead the armies. Murad's response was "You are the sultan; you lead the army." Mehmed's reply: "If you are the sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the sultan, I hereby order you to come and lead my armies."

Mehmed retained the title of sultan and continued to govern, but Murad returned as commander of the military, defeating Hunyadi (again) and retaining authority until his death in 1451, when Mehmed became sole ruler for the second time. He was almost 20 years old, however, had much more experience, and was ready to take on the world.

His first goal? Constantinople. See you tomorrow.

The Janissaries

Although Alaeddin's idea to create a group ready to be called up to military service at a moment's notice failed due to their lack of training, the Ottoman Empire a generation later tried again, but this time with trained men. They were called the Janissaries—a Turkish term meaning "new soldier"—elite infantry who were part of the sultan's personal guard. They were also the first infantry in history to be equipped with firearms (but that did not take place until the 15th century).

They were established in 1363, a mere 30 years after Alaeddin's death and owing nothing to his original plans. As a standing army, they obviously could not be involved in their own careers, nor were they allowed to marry before they were 40 years old. Consequently, they were salaried. They were to have no attachments to anything other than protection and support of the sultan.

Rather than entice citizens away from their chosen professions, members of the Janissaries were drawn from other sources, and that is where the story becomes extremely uncomfortable. The Muslim world happily employed slavery, and the first Janissaries were prisoners, and prisoners of war. A sultan would take a customary one-fifth of the spoils of any conquest, and would often take it "in kind," so he would take a section of the captured population as slaves.

In fact, the Ottomans had a practice called devşirme, defined literally as "collecting"; historically, it is referred to as "blood tax" or "child levy." This was the Ottoman policy of taking children as young as seven years old—usually from the Balkan Christians they subjugated—converting them to Islam (which meant forced circumcision), and turning them into soldiers. This gave the sultan an army loyal to him and not connected to any other Turkish noble family that might have designs on the throne. (The illustration is a 16th-century painting that shows a tribute of Christian boys being presented to the sultan.)

In later centuries, free-born Muslims were allowed to join the Janissaries. This had two advantages: for the army, it allowed faster recruitment and training, and no need for religious conversion and education; for the citizens, the salary and the prestige that came with being part of an elite force was a desirable career path.

The Ottoman Empire lasted for centuries, but we will go back and see their actions in the Late Middle Ages and a few links to other posts in this blog. See you tomorrow.

The Real Aladdin

Well, not the "real" Aladdin in the sense that he was a man with a magic lamp, but a man who did perform "wonders" in this context.

When Osman Ghazi died in 1323, he left two sons, one of whom would take on the role of continuing Osman's work in creating the Ottoman Empire. There are plenty of examples of princes fighting with each other over the succession, but that did not happen in this case. Prince Orhan became the natural leader, but his brother provided valuable aid.

Alaeddin Erden Ali Pasha (c 1281 - 1331) not only did not clash with Orhan (some scholars think Alaeddin may even have been the elder of the two), but he supported his brother with ideas and projects that advanced the cause of the Ottomans in ways that mere military conquest would not.

There are three innovations for which Alaeddin gets credit during this period, while Orhan led the military and held the title of sultan. It was after a particular conquest in 1328 that Alaeddin visited his brother to congratulate him and to make three suggestions.

The first was to establish their own monetary system to enhance trade and add an air of legitimacy and independence to the Ottomans. Silver coins dating to that year have Orhan's name on one side and "May Allah make his reign eternal" on the other (see illustration).

His next suggestion was to distinguish Orhan's Ottomans from other Turks and Muslims by developing distinctive style of dress. Inspired by the Byzantines, Ottoman government and military officials took on specific clothing styles. Also, based on an Arabic saying that 'the best garment is a white one,' everyday wear was suggested to include a simple white cap to distinguish followers from non-Ottomans.

Alaeddin's most significant contribution may have been in Orhan's wheelhouse: the military. Rather than the previous method of a leader trying to maneuver a vast array of men to do his bidding, the army was divided into separate contingents, each with its own leader who would report to and gain orders from higher up. This hierarchical style of military affairs is so efficient and common that it is difficult to believe that it was not always the case, but charismatic and successful (and unsuccessful) leaders did not always delegate.

Part of the military re-organization involved designating citizens as foot soldiers who could be called up when necessary. Since they had no formal training, however, they were ineffective. Decades after Alaeddin's failed idea, however, something vaguely similar was proposed. Tomorrow I'll tell you the horrifying story of the Janissaries.