On my last day in Istanbul I walked Istanbul’s city walls, one of the most elaborate fortifications of ancient times.
Today the walls are in various stages of repair, some are almost fully intact, some are crumbling and some are in the process of restoration. Only the Golden Gate is left of the original Constantine walls, the rest was rebuilt during the reign of Theodosios.
As I walked along the wall, I thought about the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453. Sultan Mehmed II, who was 21 years old at the time captured the city after a 63 day siege.
The Byzantine emperor, fearing a naval attack had ordered that a chain be placed at the mouth of the Istanbul harbor. The chain, which floated on logs, was strong enough to prevent any Turkish ship from entering delaying the conquest.
So Mehmed made a secret deal with the Genoese who controlled Gálata. If they would help him by allowing him to secret his ships over their land, he would excuse them and their descendants from having to pay taxes or fees for their properties or business activities.
The Genoese took the deal which still benefits them today. Mehmed ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across Galata on the north side of the Golden Horn and dragged his ships over the hill directly into the harbor bypassing the chain barrier. Thus creating a surprise additional battle line leading to the fall of Constantinople a few weeks later.
Mehmed was a logistical and strategic genius and a master negotiator and diplomat.
After the conquest, in accordance with the custom of the time, Mehmed granted his soldiers three days to plunder the city.
But on the third day of the conquest, he did something which wasn’t customary, it was in fact extraordinary.
Mehmed issued a proclamation that anyone be they Christian, Greek Orthodox, Jewish or nonbeliever who had managed to escape detection, was to leave their hiding places and come out into the open, as they were to remain free and no question would be asked.
He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned the city before the siege. If they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed.
Some think this proclamation was the root of the Millet system by which the customs and laws of ethno-linguistic minority groups were protected. Louise de Bernieres in his beautiful novel about multi-culturalism under the Ottomans, Birds Without Wings, says the Millet System was the greatest accomplishment of the Ottoman Empire.
For more than 500 years until it’s collapse in the early 20th Century, the Ottoman Empire was one where people of different ethnic backgrounds and beliefs occupied the same cities, villages and built up places.
I am nostalgic for a time and place I never knew. A time when Christians, Greek Orthodox, Muslims, Jews and people of no or little faith, respected each other’s customs and beliefs and lived together as neighbors and often as close friends.
But for now I’m leaving all of that behind because I’ve just landed in the Birthplace of Lord Buddha and I need to clear customs.
Namaste
