The Ottoman Ceremony of the RoyalPurse

SYED TANVIR WASTI

Unlike more utilitarian systems of government, empires possess a panoply of pompand ceremony, and various observances, stemming often from simple events, whichmay crystallize over the centuries into highly meaningful and honoured traditions.1

The Ottoman Empire officially spanned a period of over 600 years and, spread as itwas over the heartlands of Islam, possessed, adopted, created and celebrated, inaddition to the religious festivals of the faith, more socially and politically orientedrites and usages as part of its paternalistic and generous approach towards itscitizenry. Information on many of these ceremonies may be found in specializedsources on Ottoman history, such as Pakalın2 and Abdulaziz Bey.3 The weeklyselamlık4 ceremony, especially during the long reign of the sultan Abdulhamid II,used to attract crowds of guests as well as visitors from within Turkey andelsewhere.5 In the month of Ramadan, the ceremony of the Hırka – yı Saadet6 was atypical example of a devotional festival and this ceremony continues today. Amongother feasts frequently referred to in Ottoman accounts may be included the KılıcAlayı7 and also the Baklava Alayı.8 The Surre Alayı,9 which is the subject of thepresent article, was an annual colourful procession centred round the transportationof the surre – the large leather purse or pouch containing gifts of gold in coin andbullion from the Ottoman sultan to the Emirate of Mecca and, as such, wasconsidered an important event in the official calendar. In addition to the gold, it wascustomary for the Sultan (and his household members) to send gifts such ashandwritten copies of the Qur’an, silk carpets, furs and velvet, chandeliers,silverware, prayer beads, incense burners, articles of dress embroidered with pearlsand precious stones and even parcels of comestibles. The surre caravan thus formedthe official and most prominent component of the vast numbers of other caravansthat transported pilgrims on the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the Hijaz. The OttomanSultan who, since 1517, also held the title of Caliph, sent the surre in his capacity asthe Servitor of the Haremeyn.10

According to historical accounts, the tradition of sending the surre to Mecca andMedina commenced in Baghdad during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Mehdi.Subsequent Caliphs continued with the practice, which was occasionally interruptedby war. In later years, the Fatimids and the Ayyubids also sent cash, presents andeven loads of grain to the Hijaz as part of the surre. Turkish sultans began to sendcaravans carrying presents to the Hijaz starting with Celebi Sultan Mehmet.11 Here itmay also be mentioned that Farooqi12 has a comprehensive chapter mentioning thefinancial patronage accorded over centuries to the Sharifs of Mecca by Muslim

Middle Eastern Studies,Vol. 41, No. 2, 193 – 200, March 2005

ISSN 0026-3206 Print/1743-7881 Online/05/020193-08 # 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd

DOI: 10.1080/00263200500035116

Indian rulers not only from the Mughal dynasty but also from among the Bahmanisultans of the Deccan and the Muzaffarids of Gujerat. Accounts indicate that, as apious duty, the last of the Great Mughals, Aurengzebe, sent copies of the Qur’anhandwritten by himself to the sacred sites in Mecca and Medina. The surreprocession should not be confused with the Mahmil13 procession, another ceremonydating back several centuries. A comprehensive account of the institution of the surrehas been compiled by Atalar.14 In addition to historical details, Atalar has given acompendium of terms and titles pertaining directly to the surre. He mentions thatinformation relating to the surre was included by D’Ohsson15 in his several volumetreatise16 on the Ottoman empire.

After the Ottoman capital was moved to Istanbul in 1453, the surre processionalong with the caravans of Hajj pilgrims would leave the city customarily on the 12thof the month of Recep.17 The heavy cloth covering of the Ka‘ba18 used to be wovenand embroidered in Cairo and sent separately from Egypt to Mecca as part of theEgyptian Mahmil, but after the invasion of Egypt in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte,the practice was discontinued and the covering began to be woven in Istanbul byspecialized weavers in the courtyard of the Sultanahmet mosque.19 However, theembroidery of the Quranic calligraphy that formed and still forms part of the Ka‘bacovering was, by tradition, carried out in Cairo and so during the Ottoman Empirethis cover was sent to Mecca every year by way of Cairo.20 The year old Ka‘bacovering was brought back to Istanbul and delivered to the Mabeyn,21 after which itwas cut up into small pieces of cloth and distributed to palace visitors, pilgrims andothers. These pious souvenirs were recycled by their owners into containers for theQur’an, used as prayer mats, for covering sarcophagi22 or even as objets d’art. Thesilver and gold calligraphy that once hung on the walls of the house23 of Allah nowgraces the tiled wall of many an Istanbul mosque.

The Surre Alayı also formed an integral part of the many pious entertainments ofthe Ottoman sultan’s household. Ayse Osmanoglu, the daughter of the sultanAbdulhamid, recalls this event in her memoirs:24

A special feature of the Berat Kandili25 was the arrival and departure of thecamel litter carrying the annual gifts in gold and kind from the Sultan toMecca and Medina. The Chief Eunuch with his staff of gold and ivory withhis retinue would bring the camel litter into the garden of the Harem withdevotional songs and cries of Allahu Ekber.26 All the ladies of the haremwould visit the litter and contribute cloth for the covering of the litter, whichwas prepared by a couple of women skilled in sewing and embroidery. Thenext day the Surre Alayı, or Procession of the Royal Purse, would beorganized. The womenfolk of the palace also contributed money and presentsin leather pouches to be sent to families in Mecca and Medina as charity.These pouches would be sealed with a special seal bearing the inscription‘come and go in safety’. . . The Surre Emini27 would prepare the procession andcamel caravan, the Sultan would emerge surrounded by pashas at the windowsof the Yıldız palace, and we too would watch the procession leave, precededby hakkams28 who beat large drums and performed folk dances. As soon asthe news of the caravan having crossed to Uskudar29 arrived, cannon werefired by way of farewell.

194 S. T. Wasti

From the Yıldız palace, the surre caravan would congregate near the Dolmabahcemosque, and then move towards the sea front of the Topkapı palace at Sirkeci forthe crossing to Uskudar. The jetty on the Asian end receiving the caravan was calledthe Harem pier as there was an uninterrupted stretch of land under Ottomansuzerainty between the Asian shores of the Bosphorus and the ‘Haremeyn’ – thecities of Mecca and Medina. Uskudar also possesses as a landmark the famousParting Fountain.30

The main traditional Hajj caravan routes used to bifurcate shortly after arrival atUskudar, with one set of caravans following the itinerary Uskudar–Eskisehir–Aksehir–Konya–Adana–Antakya–Halep (Aleppo) – Sam (Damascus), and anothervia Uskudar–Gebze–Iznik–Sapanca–Geyve–Hendek–Ayas–Duzce–Bolu–Merzifon–Amasya–Turhal–Tokat–Sivas–Malatya–Diyarbakır–Sam (Damascus). Thus it wascustomary for all the Hajj caravans, including those that came from other parts ofthe Ottoman dominions, to team up at Damascus, celebrate the feast of SekerBayramı and then move on for the 60-day camel journey between Damascus andMecca. This was conducted under the supervision of the Pasha of Damascus, witheither the Pasha himself or one of his colleagues being appointed as the Hac Emini31

for that year. It was the responsibility of this high-placed official to ensure that thepilgrimage took place in safe and uneventful fashion.

The administrative workings of a large empire like the Ottoman had, perforce, tobe kept under constant supervision. Annual registers for the surre were compiled,giving details of the donors as well as recipients of all charitable items. It waspossible for the recipients of surre largesse to opt out of the system if they were nolonger needy, and other persons were chosen in their place. Apart from the gold andcostly presents that had Mecca and Medina as their destination, there were also goldliras, gifts and parcels to be distributed to needy and not so needy persons over thehundreds of kilometres en route. Particularly in the desert regions, the Bedouin whocatered for the food and water needs of the pilgrims had to be compensated.Spreading the wealth of a prosperous Islamic empire was one of the obligations ofthe rulers and the aristocracy, and the surre was one of many methods by which thiscould be achieved. Be that as it may, the Ottomans were scrupulous managers, andthe Turkish State Archives hold today apparently all the original Surre Registers forthe years 1600–1909, excluding some five or six years when the processions for theHajj and the surre were interrupted by some force majeure.

The caravans for the pilgrimage, as well as the procession for the surre, werecomprised of camels, horses and mules till 1864, when an alternative route came intooperation. This consisted of a sea trip from Istanbul to Beirut, followed by joiningthe caravan at Damascus. After the operation of the Hijaz Railway,32 the surre andpilgrim caravans would cross from Sirkeci directly to the Haydarpasa terminus ofthe railway.

The progress of the surre procession overland along with the Hajj caravans in thenineteenth century (as also in earlier eras) posed several logistical and securityproblems. Although the Ottomans and earlier rulers like the Mamelukes of Egypthad built a whole succession of forts along the route to the Hijaz, occasionaldisruptions were encountered. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, theWahhabi rebellions33 posed a threat to both the surre caravan and the Hajj pilgrims.There was even an instance of bandits making off with the money and offerings of

Ottoman Royal Purse Ceremony 195

the Sultan Mustafa IV,34 who was deeply grieved by this untoward incident, asnarrated in a sad poem of the time.35

Usually, however, the surre and Hajj caravans would, after breaking journey inMedina for a visit to the tomb of the Prophet, reach Mecca after a long butuneventful journey. The Surre Emiri would transfer the surre with the money andpresents to the Emir of Mecca along with the Royal Letter in ceremonial fashion.The Emir would kiss the Sultan’s letter and touch his forehead with it, and thenproclaim its public recital from Mina.36 After the contents of the surre had reachedtheir chosen recipients, the Emir of Mecca would send a letter of gratitude andprayers for the Sultan through a special messenger who would return with the Hajjcaravans. This return of the Hajj and surre caravans to Istanbul was timed so thattheir arrival in Istanbul would coincide with the Mevlid Kandili.37

With meticulous detail, the administrative, economic and security aspects of thepilgrimage, along with the concomitant subsidies (including the surre) are treated byFaroqhi.38 She writes:

For the most part, the safety of the pilgrimage was assured by official subsidiesto the Beduins living along the hajj route (surre). In Ottoman governmentcircles, these payments were interpreted as a counterpart to the food and waterwhich the Beduins delivered to the caravan. But when the payments were notmade on time or did not satisfy the recipients in terms of quantity or quality, theBeduins felt justified in attacking the pilgrims and thus securing their subsidiesmanu militari. Therefore the surre should be regarded not as a mere payment forservices rendered, but as a means of protecting the caravan from Beduin attack.

No doubt, for long periods after the assumption of the Caliphate by the Ottomansultan Yavuz Selim in 1517, the distribution of the surre funds did much to keep anylocal discontent muted and to ensure the smooth progress of the Hajj processionsthrough the desert. It would be somewhat limiting, however, to interpret the surreprimarily as an overall economic sweetener or subsidy to facilitate the safety andsecurity of the Hajj pilgrimage. Like the Hajj itself, the time honoured practice of thesurre possessed a distinctly spiritual content. Atalar points out that sums of moneysent to the Bedouin to ensure the safety of the route of the Hajj caravans weretreated differently and filed under separate dossiers with the title of Urban surresi.39

To return to Faroqhi:40

. . . the failure of a pilgrimage caravan to reach Mecca and return homesafely constituted a severe liability to the Sultan . . . occupying the Ottomanthrone.

Indeed, the Sultan, with his title of the Servitor of the Two Holy Places, naturallyhad the right and the obligation, as well as the power, to protect the pilgrimage.Furthermore, the construction of a grand building or the endowment of a piousfoundation within the Haremeyn was an honour that ennobled the donor when theeyes of pilgrims from the far corners of the Islamic world fell on the structure thatembodied that munificence. It is worth mentioning that because of the constraints ofdistance and the necessity of leaving their capitals for several months with the

196 S. T. Wasti

concomitant problems that this might entail, very few reigning Muslim monarchswhether in Istanbul or Agra or elsewhere could actually consider proceeding for theHajj pilgrimage. The surre and similar tributes were not substitutes, but annualoccasions that afforded Muslim rulers the opportunity at least to send caravans ofcharity to the holy places of Islam.

Descriptions of the surre are frequent in Turkish literary memoirs and other socio-historical writings. Ercument Ekrem Talu,41 a well-known author, is quoted byAtalar42 as follows:

The surre comprised one of the most curious, spectacular and impressiveceremonies of the Istanbul of old. Not only the palace, but the citizenry attachedgreat importance to the ceremony. In addition to the royal purse, pouches could bedespatched by anyMuslim to the holy places by earlier application to theMinistryof Pious Foundations. These special pouches carried the names of the donors andthe recipients. Donors usually inserted cash and the gratitude of the recipients wasusually expressed by the sending of presents in return such as the water from thewell of Zemzem,43 henna, dates, rings with mounted agates, etc. . . . The annualdeparture of the surre caravan provided an occasion for charitable feasts, incenseburning in the palace gardens and invocations like Allahu Ekber.44

A racy description of the Surre ceremony as it took place during his tenure as FirstSecretary to the sultan Mehmed V45 has been given by Halid Ziya Usaklıgil.46 Heclaims that not many young people possess any information about the ceremony,and goes on:

The Sultan and Caliph also held the title of ‘Servant of the Haremeyn’ and thisis why money was sent to the Hijaz every year. The Hijaz was a province, andMecca an emirate, and though in order to defray the expenses of the civilservants and the military garrison stationed there it might have been consideredas a first option that taxes would be collected locally, the Ottoman governmentnot only supplied all the budget for the province of the Hijaz but, furthermore,subscribed to the tradition of sending to the emirate annually a large sum ofmoney known as the Surre or Royal Purse.

How was this money spent? In addition to meeting the expenses of the localadministration, the emirate used to distribute a substantial portion of thispayment to the clan chiefs and tribal sheikhs, thus ensuring that the pilgrimcaravans arriving for the Hajj would remain immune from attack or harassmentby the local Bedouin. This is why the Surre procession had to be organized wellbefore the arrival of the season for the Hajj pilgrimage.47

What about the ceremonies? A long time before the departure of theprocession, the Ministry of Pious Foundations, after sifting through numerousapplications and recommendations would select the person to take responsi-bility as the Surre Emini, or Trustee of the Purse. The gold and silver to bedespatched would then be filled into strong pouches, knotted and sealed andthen loaded on to a camel – who might be considered the main actor of theceremony. Naturally, a well developed and even imposing camel was chosen andcolourfully caparisoned.48

Ottoman Royal Purse Ceremony 197

The sultan especially came down from the Yıldız palace to the Dolmabahcepalace for the ceremony; the procession of the decorated camel, the Surre Eminiand his retinue, accompanying officials and servants would commence the slowwalk down the palace gardens, the camel bells tinkling, first going round threetimes in a circle. The sultan, his ministers, and the harem ladies on the terraces,as well as a large crowd of spectators would spend an hour to watch the camel’sswaying gait and hear the ear-splitting peals of the bells. With everybody happy,the long journey began.

With the revolt in 1916 against the Ottomans by Sherif Huseyin and the Arabssupporting him, the surre tradition received the coup de grace. The surre was sent bythe Ottomans to Medina with difficulty in 1916, but the surre caravan could notproceed beyond Damascus in 1917 and 1918 and the gifts were dispensed with there.49

In spite of all travails, the embroidered covering of the Ka‘ba sent from Istanbulreached Medina for the last time50 on 26 September 1917 and was transferred toMecca, though the Emir was no longer faithful to the Caliph. After centuries offulfilling a charitable duty, the surre procession could not be assembled in the year1919. However, the Sultan Vahideddin51 still sent a large sum of money to Mecca in1920 for distribution to the needy in his position as Caliph. As the Hijaz was no longerunder Ottoman control, the surre ceremony became a part of history.

Notes

1. The Knighthood of the Garter could be considered a suitable example.

2. M. Zeki Pakalın, Osmanlı Tarih Deyimleri ve Terimleri Sozlugu [Dictionary of Ottoman Historical

Expressions and Terms], (Istanbul: Millı Egitim Bakanlıgı Yayınları, 3 vols, 1993).

3. Abdulaziz Bey, in K. Arısan & D.A. Gunay (eds.), Osmanlı Adet, Merasim ve Tabirleri [Ottoman

Customs, Ceremonies and Terms], (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yayınları, 2002), 612 pp.

4. The selamlık was the colourful official procession of the Sultan along with high-ranking officials for

the Friday congregational prayers. On important occasions, the mosque of Eyup was chosen by the

sultan as the venue for this weekly prayer. This mosque and a large cemetery surround the venerated

tomb of Abu Ayyub b. Zayd al-Ansari, a Companion of the Prophet, who died while on one of the

first military missions (in the late 7th century) to capture Constantinople.

5. Several descriptive accounts of the selamlık ceremony may be found in the travel diaries of visitors to

Istanbul from South Asia. Among them may be mentioned the book in Urdu: Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir,

Maqam-e-Khilafat [The Seat of the Caliphate], subtitled Safar-e-Istanbul ke Halat [Account of the

journey to Istanbul], (Delhi: Makhzan Press, n.d.), 274 pp. See also S.T. Wasti, ‘Two Muslim

Travelogues: To and From Istanbul’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.27, No.3 (1991), pp.457–76.

6. TheHırka-yı Saadet [the Cloak of Happiness]is a cloak belonging to the prophet Muhammed and was

brought to Istanbul by the sultan Yavuz Selim (often referred to in European sources as Selim the

Grim) when he assumed the title of Caliph. It has been the custom ever since to exhibit the cloak (in a

sealed glass container) to visitors in special precincts in the Topkapı Palace for several days starting in

the middle of Ramadan. Halid Ziya Usaklıgil, q.v., writes that the sight of the cloak of the Prophet

whose name had been proclaimed for centuries from every minaret to millions in every Muslim

country caused every visitor regardless of rank to tremble with spiritual emotion.

7. The ceremony of the kılıc alayı consisted of the girding of the sword (either that of the Prophet or of

Osman, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty) in the mausoleum of Halid ibn-i Zeyd at Eyup, and it

was one of the several ceremonies forming part of the coronation festivities for a sultan.

8. The baklava alayı or baklava procession involved the ceremonial offering by the sultan of a tray of

baklava (a well-known Turkish dessert of flaky pastry interlaced with crushed pistachios and honey]

198 S. T. Wasti

for every ten janissaries and coincided with the fifteenth day of Ramadan. This ceremony was

discontinued after the disbanding of the janissaries by sultan Mahmud II.

9. Surre literally means a purse of the traditional type closed by drawn strings; alay means regiment and

in this context would be rendered more accurately as procession. The official designation of the

observance was Surre–i Humayun; the word humayun, meaning auspicious, was added to most royal

activities, letters, property, etc. Here it should also be noted that the word surre is frequently spelled

(not entirely correctly) as surre.

10. The Haremeyn is used for the two holy places of Islam, i.e. Mecca and Medina. The title Hadim ul

Haremeyn [Servant or Servitor of the Haremeyn] goes back to the Ottoman sultan Yavuz Selim [Selim

the Grim] (1467–1520) who was once addressed by a preacher as Master of the Haremeyn and

immediately responded by calling himself ‘Hadim ul Haremeyn’.

11. Celebi Sultan Mehmed reigned in the then Ottoman capital of Bursa during AD 1413–21. Other

sources claim that it was the Sultan Yıldırım Bayazıt (reigned AD 1389–1403) who was the first

Ottoman ruler to send the surre, or purse of 80,000 gold coins, from Edirne [Adrianople] to Mecca and

Medina.

12. N.R. Farooqi, Mughal–Ottoman Relations (a study of political & diplomatic relations between

Mughal India and the Ottoman empire, 1556–1748), (Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Dilli, 1989), pp.107–

43.

13. Mahmil (often written as Mahmel or Mahmal) is used for a palanquin or camel litter. Traditionally, a

camel with a decorated litter was often sent to Mecca around the Hajj season by the head of a Muslim

state to indicate his assumption of rule. The mahmil was therefore a symbol both of the sovereignty

and legitimacy of the ruler. For the Ottoman surre procession, the mahmil was also used as a term for

the vehicles or camel litters containing the surre and presents sent by the sultan.

14. Munir Atalar, Osmanlı Devletinde Surre- i Humayun ve Surre Alayları [The Royal Purse and Purse

Processions in the Ottoman State], (Ankara: Diyanet Isleri Baskanlıgı Yayınları, 1991), 377 pp.

15. Ignatius Mouradgea D’Ohsson (1740–1807), referred to occasionally as Muradcan Tosunyan, was of

Armenian origin and served for many years as a diplomat in the Swedish Embassy in Istanbul.

16. Mouradgea D’Ohsson, Tableau General de l’Empire Othoman, (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1788–1824), 7

volumes. It has not been possible to access this reference.

17. In order, the 12 months of the lunar Muslim calendar (in modern Turkish orthography) are as follows:

Muharrem, Safer, Rebiulevvel, Rebiulahir, Cemaziulevvel, Cemaziulahir, Recep, Saban, Ramazan,

Sevval, Zilkade and Zilhicce. Of these, Muharrem, Safer, Recep, Saban and Ramazan are often used

as names for male children born in these months.

18. Called the kiswah [Kabe kisvesi or Setre-i serif in Turkish], this gold-embroidered black silk curtain or

covering of the Ka’ba has an interesting history over the centuries.

19. Otherwise famous as the Blue Mosque, because of the exquisite light blue colouring of the tiles that

decorate its interior.

20. Mehmed Ali Pasha (1769–1849) as Pasha and Viceroy of Egypt also undertook to send the kiswah

during his reign.

21. The Royal Ottoman Secretariat.

22. Atalar gives the names of many sultans, queens and princes whose graves even at this date have

coverings made from the Ka’ba covering. See Atalar, p.122 (note 14).

23. Beytullah, or House of Allah, is often used to refer to the Ka’ba.

24. Ayse Osmanoglu, Babam Sultan Abdulhamid (Hatıralar) [My father, the Sultan Abdulhamid

(Memoirs)] (Istanbul: Selcuk Yayınları, 1984), pp.67–8.

25. One of four important annual Muslim religious festivals in Turkey apart from the main feasts of ‘Id al

Fitr [Seker Bayramı in Turkish]at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and the ‘Id al Adha

[Kurban Bayramı in Turkish]which is the feast commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. The Berat

Kandili which heralds the arrival of the fasting month of Ramadan falls on the night of 15 Saban in

the lunar calendar.

26. Literally, Allah is the Greatest. The expression forms part of the call to prayer and is also used as a

pious exclamation.

27. The Trustee of the Surre, or the Keeper of the Royal Purse. This was a privileged position, and among

many illustrious holders was Ahmed Pasha of Manastır, father of Enver Pasha who became the

Ottoman War Minister during the First World War.

Ottoman Royal Purse Ceremony 199

28. A corruption of the word ‘akkam meaning a camel driver, but also used for the ushers or drummers

taking part in the surre ceremony.

29. A short distance across the Bosphorus, from the Dolmabahce palace (in Europe) to Uskudar (Scutari)

on the Asian shore.

30. Ayrılık Cesmesi (literally, the fountain of parting) was one of the main points (within the district of

Uskudar, not far from the Haydarpasa railway terminus) where friendly goodbyes were waved to the

departing caravans that left Istanbul for the depths of Asia. Another such point was the nearby

mosque of Ibrahim Aga, built in AD 1580.

31. The Trustee of the Hajj pilgrimage.

32. The construction of the Hijaz Railway began on orders of the Sultan Abdulhamid in May 1900 and

the line reached Medina in 1908. For more details, see S.T. Wasti, ‘Muhammad Inshaullah and the

Hijaz Railway’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.34, No.2 (1998), pp.60–72.

33. Militant followers of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab (died 1792) temporarily occupied Mecca and

Medina between 1801 and 1804.

34. Mustafa IV reigned for 14 months between 1807 and 1808.

35. The first quatrain of the poem composed by Asık Necati reads:

The House of God we wished to see

Near the Black Stone we asked to be

To stand on plain of Arafat

But Fortune did not grant us that.

Beytullah, or the house of God, is commonly used for the Ka’ba, in one corner of which the hajarul

aswad or Black Stone is encrusted like a jewel. The plain of Arafat is where pilgrims congregate as part

of the Hajj ceremony.36. A location just outside Mecca.

37. One of the four festivals referred to in Note 20, the Mevlid Kandili celebrates the birthday of the

Prophet of Islam and falls on 12 Rebiul evvel.

38. S. Faroqhi, Pilgrims and Sultans (The Hajj under the Ottomans, 1517–1683) (London: I.B.

Tauris,1994), pp.54–5.

39. Atalar, p.245. The expression literally means the Bedouin purse.

40. Faroqhi, p.7.

41. Ercument Ekrem Talu (1888–1956), a poet, novelist, critic, professor, diplomat and all-round man of

letters. He was the son of Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1846–1913), also a famous civil servant and

writer.

42. See Atalar, pp.103–4.

43. The well of Zamzam is located in Mecca, only a few metres east of the Ka’ba. The well, which is 35

metres deep and in continuous use, is also known as the well of Ismael, a son of the prophet Abraham.

It has been suggested that the name is onomatopoeic, to imitate the sound of bubbling water.

44. See note 26.

45. Sultan Mehmed Resad (1844–1918), a mild and pious ruler who was the second last Ottoman sultan.

46. Halid Ziya Usaklıgil (1866–1945), man of letters and civil servant, belonged to a well-known Turkish

family. His novels, which are still in print, include Askı Memnu’ [Forbidden Love] and Ma’i ve Siyah

[Blue and Black]. His recollections of life at the Ottoman court were collected as one volume of his

autobiographical reminiscences under the title Saray ve Otesi [The Palace and Beyond] (Istanbul:

Inkılap ve Aka Kitabevleri Koll. Sirketi, 1981), 432 pp. For further information see S.T. Wasti, ‘The

Last Chroniclers of the Mabeyn’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.32, No.2 (1996), pp.1–29.

47. The date of the Hajj is the 10th of the month of Zil Hicce, which is the last month of the Islamic

calendar. As this calendar is lunar resulting in a year of about 354 days, the Hajj feast moves through

the seasons, returning to any stated time period roughly once every 33 years.

48. Here Usaklıgil mischievously recalls that in those days, women who wore much jewellery and gaudy

make-up were often referred to as ‘surre camels’.

49. See Atalar, p.244.

50. See S.T. Wasti, ‘The Defence of Medina, 1916–19’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.27, No.4 (1991),

pp.642–53.

51. Sultan Mehmed Vahideddin (1861–1926) (1991), last Ottoman sultan, who reigned as Mehmed VI

between 1918 and 1922. He died in exile in San Remo, Italy and lies buried in Damascus.

200 S. T. Wasti