Mehmet III
This replica exhibited in your room is of one of the 87 talismanic shirts from the Collection of Sultan’s Clothing at Topkapi Palace and it is considered to have belonged to Mehmet III according to the prayers, motives and meanings of the talisman on the shirt and therefore was adorned with one of his poems…
May this talisman protect you, make your reign last long; clear the paths you walk, bring you victorious…
This talismanic shirt presented in your room belongs to the 13th Sultan of Ottoman Empire Mehmet III. It stands out that the shirt was meticulously tailored and it was a gift from one of the most influential women of Ottoman Empire Safiye Sultan to her son Mehmet III. Safiye Sultan was so powerful that did not she only govern the harem but was also involved in external affairs of Ottoman Empire. She was as charming as she was smart and she raised her son accordingly. She taught his son how politics worked and always advised him to be alerted and smart against conspiracies. She prepared him for the sultanate long before he succeeded to the throne, so that she would also become the most powerful woman of the Empire. Mehmet III was quite kind, elegant, poetic but was he weak-willed. It is important for the historians that he was the last sultan ascending to the throne from the government of Sanjak. Little he had known he could never forget the unfortunate series of event during his ascendency which would ultimately wear him out. He succeeded to the throne at a very troubled time for the Empire. There were loads of both external and internal issues to be solved; wars were not only in the East but also in the West.
On one day of these trouble times, his mother Safiye Sultan saw her son Mehmet rather thoughtful and anxious. It was painful for her to witness such state of his son; she was, of course, sad to see his son like this but she was also worried that had anything happened to him, it would also mean the end of her sultanate. She asked for permission for a talk with his son. Being raised under his mother’s influence, Mehmet III opened up to his mother; he was extremely bothered, needed help from his mother. Safiye Sultan not only helped him with state works, but summoned the Head Augur right away and ordered a talismanic shirt to be tailored for her precious son. She designed almost every detail of this shirt. A very artistic talismanic shirt must be prepared for her very artistic son. The prayers and Surahs would be his protecter, his helper for his worries and problems, it would be the bearer of victories in every step of his way.
The Head Augur worked day and night to calculate the propitious moment of the shirt; it was, after all, the very specific order of Safiye Sultan; the most powerful woman of the Palace. Everyone involved in the making of the shirt; those who prepare the fabrics; who make the ornaments; the calligraphers of prayers and surahs were expected to be as attentive as the Head Augur was. The shirt was the outcome of quite toilsome work of long days and nights and it was finally ready for presentation.
The shirt is made of thin white paper-like cotton. It is collarless, the size of a jacket, lining-free and short sleeved with front and side slits. The ornament is largely based on colour gold and geometrical patterns. The triangle parts connecting the sleeves and the body are filled with hatai motives of tiny thin white branches which resemble book illuminations. These exquisite samples of tiny branches, leaves and flowers are also indicators of the artistic taste and ability during the 16th century. Alongside these fine ornaments, various prayers and Surahs are engraved. This shirt was the perfect match for Safiye Sultan’s orders. There were both the power of prayers and a elegant taste of his artistic son. Safiye Sultan did not ignore the hard work and awarded those who had a touch in the making of the shirt.
Sultan Mehmet III came back from the expedition of Hungary for which the left with the special shirt over his back as the "Conqueror of Eger". However his sultanate did not last long. He departed his world with a heavy heart on a December night…
