TRANSFORMATION OF STANBUL IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY

Nee Yeilkaya Gazi University, Turkey

ABSTRACT The city of stanbul faced with significant transformations, or metamorphosis, during the nineteenth century. Most of the writings about the process of transformation of stanbul focus on the second half of the nineteenth century, when the urban administration system was established and its outputs initiated to shape the city. In fact, we cannot deny the importance of the modernisation efforts at the second half of the nineteenth century. However, the initial interventions in stanbul, which dated early nineteenth century, are highly significant for the city of stanbul, as much as the establishment of ehremaneti and other mechanisms of regulation. In this paper, we argue that one would not grasp the meanings of transformation of stanbul entirely without understanding the foundation that Sultan Mahmud II constructed. Sultan Mahmud II transformed the city not only with the buildings that he constructed but also by the areas that he demolished. From this perspective we will discuss the critical role of Sultan Mahmud II in the transformation history of stanbul, during the abolishment of Janissary Corps, by looking through the demolished areas, such as Eski Odalar, Yeni Odalar and Aa Kaps. KEY WORDS: stanbul, Sultan Mahmud II, Janissaries, Eski Odalar, Yeni Odalar, Aa Kaps

1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY From the late eighteenth century through the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire strengthened its rule and domination over the traditional Janissary Corps. Particularly Sultan Mahmud IIs fight against the Janissary Corps (Vaka-i Hayriyye in 1826) left its imprints on the urban space at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Osman Nuri Ergins (1995) and lhan Tekelis (1994)

contributions set aside, the role of the abolishment of the Janissary Corps in the transformation of urban space was not studied in architectural or urban history of stanbul. Osman Nuri Ergin, in his book, Mecelle-i Umur- Belediye, emphasises the significance of the year of the abolishment of the janissaries, i.e. 1826 [1241], when the establishment of a new order in the place of the traditional system was possible (1995: 931-936; 1263). Tekeli (1994:5) also points out the former changes before the organisation of the modern administrative system. The proclamation of Tanzimat reforms is generally accepted as a symbol for the start of the modernisation of stanbul and other cities of the Ottoman Empire in the urban history writing. Planning and administrative organisations are regarded as the main issues to understand the re-shaping of stanbul. In this context, particular attention is paid to the second half of the century. Zeynep elik, in her book The Remaking of stanbul, starts with the statement that The modern era had not yet left its mark on the Ottoman Capital in the early decades of the nineteenth century (1993: 3). She particularly draws attention to the Tanzimat reforms (1839) and regulations on urban planning and building codes (after 1848). She also elaborates the roles of big fires, which had devastated huge areas in the city in 1850s and 1860s. She values the 1856 Aksaray Fire as a major turning point in the history of stanbuls urban form (1993: 53). The project of Luigi Storari for the reorganization of Aksaray, in which the crossroads were emphasised by cutting of the corners, was regarded as Though by no means a public square in the Western sense of the word, the new intersection was perceived as such, and, for example, was described by the Journal de Constantinople as a belle place. (1993: 54). For Doan Kuban, Mahmud II was the last sultan to rule in a preindustrial age and Tanzimat is the age of radical administrative reforms (1996: 376). Although Kuban claims that during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II the citys physiognomy had been considerably altered (1996: 376),

his particular emphasis is on the later regulations and building activities. Former studies on the issue of transformation of stanbul constitute very important turning points in stanbuls urban history. In fact, we cannot deny the importance of the modernisation efforts at the second half of the nineteenth century. However, the first decades of the nineteenth century represents the early stage of transformation, which has not been studied yet from the perspective of politics and space. Therefore the role of the early nineteenth century in the history of stanbul should be studied in depth, in order to understand the transformation of urban spaces from a broader perspective. What matters most for the early nineteenth century stanbul was neither in the name of an urban planning nor designing of urban spaces but politics and power struggle over space. For instance, the process of transformation of Beyazt Meydan, into Seraskerlik Meydan (the square of new armys headquarter), constitutes a unique case reflecting this long power struggle (Yeilkaya, 2003). Sultan Mahmud II, who achieved to overcome Janissary power, realised a serial of spatial strategies in the urban spaces of Istanbul. Having a control over the space of the Capital Istanbul was necessary for the continuity of Ottoman Empire, which was almost loosing the privilege of the Ottoman dynasty against its armed forces i.e. Janissaries. By the abolishment of the Janissary Corps in 1826, Sultan Mahmud II not only strengthened his authority in his empire but also eradicated the signs of Janissaries from the landscape of the Capital. Sustaining his authority over the empire and the city, Sultan Mahmud II created the basis for modernisation efforts that took place thereafter. Economical and other developments of Istanbul constructed on this new secure ground. Here, we argue that the abolishment of Janissary Corps should be taken into account as a factor of transformation. Spatial strategies of Sultan Mahmud II can be seen in his attempts to control the urban space. By destroying traditional places of janissaries, Sultan Mahmud II was not only eliminating the armed forces from

the Historical Peninsula but also removing the symbols and memories of the janissaries from the inner city. In order to analyse the destroyed areas during the abolishment of Janissary Corps, we will focus on: Eski Odalar (The Old Janissary Barracks in ehzadeba), Et Meydan (The meeting square of janissaries) and Yeni Odalar (New Janissary Barracks in Aksaray), which were totally erased from the map, and Aa Kaps (Headquarters of Janissaries) replaced by a new office, i.e. Bb- Fetva.

2. THE FIRST STEP FOR URBAN TRANSFORMATION - VAKA-I HAYRIYYE (ABOLISHMENT OF THE CORPS OF JANISSARIES) In the official history of the Ottoman Empire, Vaka-i Hayriyye (Auspicious Incident) is regarded as a fight with the reactionary armed force that was against reforms. However, today a historian Reha amurolu (2002: 12-13) argues, the fight between janissaries and the empire was not an opposition between tradition and modernity, but a power struggle between janissaries and the dynasty. At the end of this power struggle Sultan Mahmud II destroyed the janissaries in their barracks. What would have happened, if the janissaries had won the struggle? Would they have destroyed Topkap Palace besides Bb- li, which was destroyed not only in the Event of Alemdar and but also in Vaka-i Hayriyye? Would they have erased Topkap and Bb- li from the map and remove the traces of the dynasty and empire from the urban space? These are hypothetical and speculative questions and no need to go further, but we have to grasp the problem from such a strong power struggle that re-shaped the urban space of stanbul. Sultan Mahmud II realised a long-term struggle against the janissaries. On June 15th 1826, for the last time, the janissaries announced a mutiny by overturning their

huge cauldrons (kazan). This was the last rebellion of Janissaries, which ended up with the event called Vaka-i Hayriyye (The Auspicious Incident). Vaka-i Hayriyye was a momentous event both for the history of the Ottoman Empire and had important impact in transformation of stanbul. Sultan Mahmud II not only exterminated the Janissaries entirely but also he removed their symbolic presence from the city. Mahmud II ordered even the destruction of the tombstones of Janissaries in graveyards. Et Meydan (where the Janissaries came together in rebellions) Yeni Odalar (New Barracks) and Eski Odalar (Old Barracks) were eradicated from the map. Aa Kaps, the Headquarter of Janissaries, was damaged (and later a new office was settled there). Now we will focus on these areas to understand the effects of Vaka-i Hayriyye on the transformation of city of stanbul in the early nineteenth century.

2.1. Demolition of Yeni Odalar (The New Barracks) and Et Meydan (The Meeting Space of Janissaries) The main barracks of janissaries were Eski Odalar and Yeni Odalar in the city. Besides them, there were other sections for the janissaries such as Cebeci Barracks and the barracks inside the Topkap. As Goodwin (1997: 72) describes, janissary barracks were monumental and they could accommodate 40.000 men in the 18th century. An extremely large complex, Yeni Odalar was erected in the 16 th century. 173 odas were located here, from totally 199 oda belonging to different ortas (janissary company), (Sakaolu, 1994: 467b). Unfortunately, we do have neither any visual material nor any information about the architectural features of the barracks. The important point here is, although it was a huge complex, it is difficult to find the traces of Yeni Odalar today. Yeni Odalar (including Tekkeler Meydan, Et Meydan and the Orta

Mosque) was occupying a large area, which was allowing the entrances from seven gates. The main gate was a ceremonial gate on Et Meydan (which was the inner Parade Ground), (Goodwin, 1997:74). The Orta Mosque, which is the only building remained after the Vakai Hayriye, was located in the central open area that is Tekkeler Meydan. Et Meydan (Meat Square, in Ottoman Meydan- Lahm ) was at the end of the Kasap Yolu (the way of butchers) which was going through the old Yedikule Gate to Forum Bovis (Et Meydan, near situated Aksaray today). This route did not change since the Byzantine Empire (From Arseven [1912] and lgen [1939], in Behar, 1998). The road was called butchers way since the butchers of the city used this way to carry meat from outside the city to the centre. On Et Meydan, the meat was distributed to Eski Odalar and Yeni Odalar and to other butchers. The sharing of meat on Et Meydan was carried as a quasi religious ceremony (quoted from Uzunarl, [1988] in Behar, 1998: 47). This ceremonial space was also the meeting place of Janissaries in the rebellions. Janissaries were getting out their kazan (cauldron), the symbol of a rebellion, on Et Meydan to start and announce the rebellion. After they came together at Et Meydan, they were marching towards At Meydan. The last rebellion of Janissaries was announced at Et Meydan which brought the end of the janissaries. After the fights in the city, janissaries came back to Et Meydan, entered the barracks and closed the great door. But these were desperate manoeuvres. Janissaries were totally destroyed in their barracks. In this way, the places of janissaries, Et Meydan and Yeni Odalar, as associated with janissaries, were all demolished. Only the Orta Mosque was preserved in during these massive reconstructions.

2.2. Demolition of Eski Odalar (The Old Barracks) Eski Odalar had been built in the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed. The area

that we called today ehzadeba was then called Eskiodalarba (nver, 1995:128) pointing to its association with janissaries. Subsequent to the removal of barracks, the area was re-named. The only plan showing the janissary barracks, that we have, is Water Distribution Map of Sipahi Seyyid Hasan (Figure 1). Twenty-six orta (janissary company) were accommodated in the Eski Odalar and they were probably arranged in a series of cells (Goodwin, 1997:72).

Figure 1. Eski Odalar in the Map of Sipahi Seyyid Hasan (1813), (Published in een, 1997). Note: The map is turned upside down for our orientation according to the North. On the Sipahi Seyyid Hasans map we can see that Janissary barracks were organised around two courtyards. The two groups of barracks were separated with a straight axis from the south to the north. Osman Nuri Ergin stated that, Fatih used to have a break in front of this gate, when he arrived the city from the Edirne Gate (Edirne Kaps). When he did not stop here, it meant that he was not satisfied with the efforts of Janissaries (quoted in nver, 1995:133). Therefore, it was a ceremonial place both for people and the janissaries. On the day of Vaka-i Hayriyye Yeni Odalar and Et Meydan were demolished first. Eski Odalar was deliberately destroyed a few days later (Ltf Efendi: 118). Today the Bath of Acemolu is the only construction that remains from Eski Odalar. Because of its close location to the city center, firstly, the Eski Odalar complex was re-built as a residential

neighbourhood; Fevziye (Ltf Efendi: 118). After then, the complex of Yeni Odalar was occupied and replaced by the Ahmediye neighbourhood. The monumental janissary barracks were lost under the residential areas. Hence, today it is not possible to find the traces of these large barracks in the city. Mahmud IIs policy was to erase the memories of the old order and its traces from the city space entirely.

2.3. Replacement of Aa Kaps (The Headquarter of Janissaries) The residence of the head of the Janissarys was named as Aa Kaps or Tekeli Kk (Goodwin, 1997: 70). Aa Kaps was located on the North of the Sleymaniye Mosque. We can see the courtyard of the Aa Kaps from Sipahi Seyyid Hasans Map (Figure 2). We can also see the fire tower of the Aa Kaps from Barkers (1813) Istanbul panorama (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Aa Kaps in the Map of Sipahi Seyyid Hasan (1813), (Published in een, 1997).

Figure 3. Aa Kaps in the Panorama of Barker (1813), (Published in Eldem, 1979) Aa Kaps was one of the ceremonial places of Istanbul. For instance, the birth of a new member to the Ottomans Imperial family was celebrated in front of the Aa Kaps (Cevdet Paa :2607) besides the other places such as Bb- li. Aa Kaps and its tower were damaged during the Vaka-i Hayriyye. In 1827, Mahmud II laid the foundation of the Sublime Porte Building again. During the construction, Sublime Porte was moved to the Aa Kaps, which was not used by janissaries anymore. Actually, after the Vaka-i Hayriyye, Aa Kaps was used as the Headquarter of the new army for a very short time (Ltf Efendi: 118). Later Bb- Fetva was established here. By replacing Aa Kaps with Bb- Fetva, Mahmud II not only honoured the eyhlislam but also he relegated the Aa Kaps laden with sad memories into history. In his Hatt- Hmayun (imperial order), Sultan Mahmud II clearly emphasized that he aimed to extract even the phrase Aa Kaps from public language (quoted from Hatt- Hmayun in Ltf Efendi: 118). He stated that, by a strong belief to eriat, it was aimed to erase the memory of Aa Kaps totally (quoted from Hatt Hmayun in Ltf Efendi: 118-9). Until 1826, eyhlislam had not a special official residence. In other words, there was no Bb- Fetva (See also, Ltf Efendi: 109). Before by the constitution of Bb- Fetva, Mahmud II was creating another centre like Bb- li (Paa Kaps misill) and advising his people to obey to the rules

of Bb- Fetva (quoted from Hatt- Hmayun in Ltf Efendi: 118-9). The creation of the Bb- Fetva was intended to make people forget the memories of janissaries and to erase the signs of Janissarys Aa from the city.

Figure 4. Bb- Fetva, Today stanbul Mftl, (Photograph by the author) 3. CONCLUSION In this paper we have tried to show the significance of Sultan Mahmud IIs role in the transformation of stanbul, which results from his fight with janissaries. We need to continue our research by drawing a map of the demolished areas in order to see the extent of the transformation in the historical peninsula. The difficulty here is to find the traces of Yeni Odalar. As mentioned, we do not have any visual document about the physical features of Yeni Odalar, which was totally destroyed. In order to allow comparisons, we are planning to produce a map of the destroyed areas in the historical peninsula before and after Vaka-i Hayriyye.

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Yeilkaya, N. G., 2003. Transformation of A Public Space in the Nineteenth Century stanbul : Beyazt Meydan. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Ankara: METU. Communication Address Nee Yeilkaya Gazi University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture 06570 Maltepe / Ankara Phone: +90 312 23174 00/2622 Fax: +90 312 2308434 E-mail: gurallar@gazi.edu.tr