The Ottoman Empire dominated southeastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East for 400 years
from the time of their establishment to the peak of their power in the 17th and 18th centuries.
However, underneath such magnificence was the foundation made of dark and messed-up practices
that would besmirch their legacy and eventually resulted in their fall. Welcome to Nutty History,
and today let's find out what creepy things were normal in the Ottoman Empire.
We all fight, prank, and tease our siblings. The reason behind such attention-seeking is the
unconditional love we have for our brothers and sisters. Despite giving each other a hard time,
siblings are also the first to stand up for their siblings when in need. Even though some horrible
things happen as an exception such as fratricide, at least we can be content knowing that we don’t
have it as bad as the Ottoman empire. Unlike their tradition, people today don’t grow up preparing to
kill all of their brothers before their brothers can kill them. In the early generations of the
Ottoman Empire, the practice of primogeniture wasn’t strictly followed. Primogeniture was or
is the practice of a firstborn legitimate child, preferably male, inheriting the belongings of his
father after his passing. The Ottoman Empire did things differently back then. When Mehmed
the Conqueror besieged Constantinople, his own uncle was fighting against him from the walls.
In typical Ottoman fashion, Mehmed dealt with his uncle offering no mercy and after he took
the throne he had a message for future generations of Ottomans. He began rounding up all of his male
relatives and executing them. His ruthlessness didn’t even have an exception for his younger
brother who was just an infant in the crib. Mehmet had him asphyxiated without batting an
eye. Once Mehmet was done disposing all his possible competitors for the throne, he proclaimed
“And to whomsoever of my sons the Sultanate shall pass, it is fitting that for the order
of the world he shall kill his brothers. Most of the Ulema allow this. So let them act on this.”
Thus began a series of generational civil wars where every next sultan successor of
the Ottoman Empire had to soak their hands in their own brothers’, cousins’, and uncles’ blood
to secure the throne for themself. It is said that another Mehmed, Mehmed the III was so heartbroken
that he tore his beard off in agony as his younger brother begged for mercy and swore,
again and again, to never raise a weapon against him. Yet, bound by the family tradition,
Mehmed the III turned away without speaking a word and the loyalists killed the young boy
along with the rest of the eighteen brothers of Mehmed the III. Bodies of all 19 siblings were
thrown out on the streets of Istanbul and it is said that the whole city cried for their souls
that night. Mind you, the murders would not just stop after the new Sultan would secure the throne.
The hunt for all of the Royal family’s relatives would be carried on relentlessly.
Even Suleiman the Magnificent’s hands weren’t clean as he had his son asphyxiated on the streets
with a bowstring just because his popularity had become a matter of paranoia for the most
acclaimed Sultan of the Ottomans. However, when Ahmed, first of his name, abruptly died in 1617,
a general agreement was struck between the relatives and the family he left behind.
Instead of drenching the streets of Istanbul with royal blood this time, the clergy quietly
established the practice of primogeniture and announced his younger brother Mustafa the first
as the new emperor because Ahmed’s sons were too young to rule. Mustafa himself was spared by his
brother Ahmed I as the twelve-year-old and thirteen-year-old brothers were too
close to order death toward one another. Since then, the policy of killing relatives changed
to incarcerating them. Potential heirs to the throne would be confined in the Top Kapi Palace.
In Istanbul these special apartments would be referred to as the kafes, however in English this
translates to the cages. A prince of the Ottoman Empire would have to possibly spend his whole life
imprisoned in the kafe while being monitored day and night by guards. These princes were
given all sorts of luxury and they were able to live a lavish lifestyle fit for royal kin
but the restrictions of house arrest were enforced strictly. This caused many of the princes to go
mad from boredom or become heavily debauched. When a new sultan would be taken to the Gate of
Felicity to receive the allegiance of the viziers, that very well would be the first time for him to
be outside in decades! Not an ideal preparation for a man who is about to become the ruler,
was it? And even though the ritualistic civil wars were put to an end, the royal relatives
would still live their lives in constant fear of losing their heads at any second.
Now we know you might be feeling pity for those young princes and other relatives
which Sultans of the Ottoman empire incarcerated for the simple crime of being related to them.
However, do not curse the Sultan for being a heartless monarch, as their life was no better.
It might come as a shock to you but being a Sultan of the Ottoman empire meant next to no freedom.
Life in Top Kapi was suffocating , no matter if you were Sultan or his potential heir. According
to the clergy and viziers, a Sultan must have the wisdom of speaking only when necessary to convey
the core message. The quieter a Sultan would be, the wiser and more regal he might appear.
But, the truth of the matter was that clergy, eunuchs, and Viziers liked Sultans to stay quiet
so they could make his decisions for him. A particular sign language was developed for
the sultans to convey their needs and decisions, therefore having Sultans spending most of their
days in utter silence. The palace was filled with viziers, courtiers, eunuchs, and concubines
who were hungry for gossip. They would smother the Sultan in an attempt to gather more power in
their favor. Ahmed III was so exasperated that he had to occasionally force pages
and orderlies out of his room so he could have a private moment to put his pants on. Even then the
population in his private chamber would be about half a dozen people, including the sword-bearers
who were tasked with throwing extra people out for him. A sultan had many struggles. This included
the internal tug of war between factions and personnel, creepy quiet halls of a huge palace,
bottling up the anxiety, depression, paranoia, and the guilt of imprisoning and killing your own kin.
Did we mention they had to keep their food hole shut for the majority of the day?
No wonder a lot of them became insane or gravely ill in such an intoxicating atmosphere.
One of the most infamous elements of the Ottoman empires was the Harem. In the
early generations of the Ottoman empire, royal marriages were coveted for forging alliances,
rendering them mere diplomatic negotiations and nothing more. However, Ottomans soon realized that
concubines were easier to maintain and thus Harems emerged as the keep for the Sultan's concubines.
Interestingly, the harem was managed by the Sultan’s mother! Technically the harem was
a women’s only place in the royal ottoman home. Men were not allowed to enter Harem except the
bedroom to spend the night with one of the wives or concubines. The mother would also act as
the procurer of fine lays for her son and make sure he would not spend too much time with one
wife or concubine so that none of the women could influence the Sultan too much and become powerful
on her own. Also, after bearing a son, a concubine was forbidden from sleeping with the Sultan again,
you know so others can have their shot. Between the years 1533 and 1656, the harem gained too
much control and influence over the royal court and practically ran the empire from behind their
screens and curtains. This period of one hundred and thirty years is now known as the sultanate of
women. Any number of concubines were allowed in the palace at one time and all of the sons born
from a slave concubine were considered legitimate if the sultan wished for it. However, to earn the
right to sleep with the Sultan, a concubine had to get clearance from the Sultan’s mother. When Murad
III spent too much time with his favorite wife, Safiye, his mother Nurbanu Sultan convinced him
to sleep with other women in the harem and his sister even presented him with more concubines.
Ottomans were also known for their fierce justice. Well, calling it justice would be downplaying
the situation. Let’s just say, their punishment system liked to distribute beheadings. The first
court of Topkapi Palace featured two pillars on which executioners would hang the severed heads;
the pillars were also accompanied by a fountain so the executioners could clean themselves after
the beheadings. During the palace purge, mounds of tongues might be piled up in the first court
like seasonal decorations while a special cannon fired every time a body was thrown into the sea.
One might assume Ottomans hired a whole corps of executioners for executing such a laborious job
of multiple death sentences and all. Yeah that wasn’t the case though. Apparently,
Sultans and Viziers found the gardeners of the royal palace qualified enough for the job.
Seriously, did they think clipping branches and clipping necks were the same thing?
In the early days of the empire, the sultan’s officials prided themselves on their obedience
to his whims and it was customary for them to face execution with quiet grace.
Also, it was forbidden to spill the blood of royalty and high-ranking officials,
so they had to be asphyxiated instead. That is why head gardeners were chosen for executioner duties;
not because of their troweling skills but based on how huge and muscular they were.
While most Viziers accepted their punishment with grace and dignity, that was not always the case.
During the late 18th century, Viziers were granted a second chance if they could literally escape the
punishment. Yes the sultans turned the officer’s execution into a sport! Hunger Games anyone? The
official would be summoned to a meeting with the head gardener and after exchanging greetings,
the vizier would be handed a cup of iced sherbet. If it was white,
the sultan had granted him a reprieve. If it was red, he was to be executed. As soon as the Vizier
saw the red sherbet, he would start sprinting towards the exit. The goal was to make his way
to the Fish Market gate before the head gardener could catch him. The path wasn’t short or easy.
The vizier would have to make his way through the palace gardens, find his way between shady
cypress trees and rows of tulips, run across the grated harem windows where women would
watch in amusement as Vizier would dash towards the gate for his life. If the vizier made it,
his life would be pardoned, reducing his sentence to exile, if the gardener caught him… well…
Usually, the façade was nothing more than a source of entertainment for the Sultan.
The rest of the palace Viziers were frail, old, or middle-aged men. Some were obviously out of
shape to outrun a much fitter and stronger head gardener. Still, interestingly there were a few
winners! Haci Salih Pasha was the last vizier to face the death race and survive. He was widely
congratulated by the Sultan and the rest of the attendees and later became a provincial governor.
One of the most notorious features of early Ottoman rule was the devsirme, also known as Blood
Tax among Europeans. Now this blood tax was the collection of 20 percent of children ages between
12 to 14 from every Christian city, village, or country under the rule of the Ottomans.
These kids would be circumcised and forcefully converted to Islam and most of them would enroll
in the Janissary Corps. The Janissary corps was an elite infantry unit of the Ottomans who were
tasked to guard the Sultan and his palace. This was the first modern standing army in Europe.
Ottoman officials would visit the Christian villages and summon all the boys to check their
names against the baptismal records from the local church. The kids would then be ranked based on
their strength, agility, and endurance. On average they took one boy from every 40 households.
These boys, now deemed slaves, would then be grouped and taken to Istanbul. The Ottomans
didn’t care if the weaker ones dropped dead on their March to Istanbul. The Ottomans also kept
a detailed description of these young slaves so that they could be tracked down in case they
successfully managed to escape. In Istanbul further training and conditioning awaited,
turning these kids into faithful Muslims and loyal soldiers before they joined the Janissary.
The most handsome and intelligent ones found their place in the imperial elite by the side
of the Sultan. As horrible and devastating as taming and abducting Christians was,
Ottomans had one rule about it. It was forbidden to take a family’s sole child or children of men
who already served in the Ottoman military. Orphans and Hungarians were off-limits due
to trust issues. So, what do you think? Were Ottomans that great history sometimes portrays
them or not? Tell us in the comments. And as always, thanks for watching Nutty History.