PUBLIC DUTIES OF THE SULTAN.
The sultan is obliged to attend one of the public mosques in person
every Friday, which is the Mohammedan Sunday. One reason of his public
appearance is to set an example of religious devotion; another, to
assure the people by his actual presence, that he is in the enjoyment
of life and health; and a third, to give an opportunity to any of
his discontented subjects to appeal to him in person; for, the right
of appeal has never been denied in Turkey. This is done by a paper,
which is held in the extended hand of the petitioner, and presented
anywhere in the course of the royal route.
It is received by his pages and reserved for the future perusal of
his majesty. His departure, both from the palace and the mosque,
is announced by a royal salute of 21 guns from the batteries, and
the ships of war.
These opportunities are eagerly embraced by all strangers who wish
to gaze on the great "Tamer of Infidels and the scourger of the
unbelieving race of Christian vassals." There are two other great state
festivals, on which occasions the sultan and the whole of the royal
retinue combine to present one of the most beautiful Oriental pageants.
These are the feasts of Bairam, one of which occurs at the end of
Ramazan or the long fast, and the other the Courban Bairam, or feast
of the sacrifice, sixty-eight days after.
There is a grand state procession. Surrounded by his numerous pages
in uniforms glittering with golden embroidery and plumed head-dresses,
attended by dignitaries of the realm in full court dress, all mounted
on Arabian steeds, splendidly caparisoned, the sultan enters the
mosque of Sultan Ahmed at the ancient Hippodrome. He alights upon a
velvet carpeting, which extends into the mosque, and is supported on
each side by chamberlains.
As he dismounts, the voice of the assembled multitude proclaims "Allah
Padishahumuza Oozoon eömürler versin," Long live the king--God bless
the sultan.
The Padishah after the performance of prayers, returns to his palace at
the Seraglio Point, where the throne room is always preserved. There
he receives the compliments of the season from his ministers and
officers of state.
The procession to the mosque being public, has been described by
many who have witnessed it; but from the reception at the palace all
foreigners are excluded.
The sultan is seated on a chair of state, with the princes and younger
princesses of the royal blood on each side.
Behind the throne, in a semicircle, stand the personnel of the royal
household.
Opposite the throne, at the farthest end of the hall, a band of
musicians is stationed, and as they perform the national airs, the
dignitaries enter the royal presence according to their respective
ranks, to pay homage to their sovereign.
As has already been described, the usual mode of salutation in the east
is the temennah, made by touching the hand to the lips and then to the
forehead, which signifies affection and humility. With the desire,
however, to be more respectful, they often bend down to the ground,
as if willing to take up the very dust upon which the honored feet
have rested, or attempt to kiss the hem of the garment. But all these
ordinary modes of salutation are insufficient at a royal reception;
when a beautifully embroidered rug is spread before the sultan,
on one end of which his feet rest.
As they present themselves, they slowly bend their persons and touch
their lips and foreheads to the border of the carpet, which ceremony
is called the kissing of the sultan's feet; for, no one is allowed
any actual proximity to the royal person--thus guarding him from the
assassin's dagger.
After kissing the end of the carpet they arrange themselves in two
opposite lines on each side of the sultan, to witness the homages of
the various pashas and other dignitaries. Those who take their stand
in the presence are only the heads of the departments, both civil
and religious.
After the ceremony is over, every one retires to hit own dwelling,
to enact the sultan to his subordinates.
The Courban Bairam is the great festival celebrated by the pilgrims
at Mecca, in commemoration of the offering up of Ishmael; and is
generally observed throughout the Mohammedan dominions,--on which
occasion every Mussulman must kill a sheep with his own hand, and
distribute the meat to the poor.
The sultan performs this sacrifice at his own palace before the
morning prayers. As he stands at the threshold, a ram with gilded
horns is laid at his feet, and girding himself with a silken towel,
he completes the sacrifice.
The solution of this act of devotion is, that they believe that the
faithful will be transported over the surat or bridge of hair into
paradise on the backs of these immolated victims.
The old seraglio, which was the residence of so many sultans,
and the scene of the aggrandizement and downfall of so many good
Mussulmans; under whose latticed windows the Bosphorus flows so deeply
as to tell no tales of the hundreds of living and beautiful maidens
that have perished in the blue waves and left no sign of their sad
fate--the bloody and mysterious seraglio is now deserted, save on
such occasions as have been described--notwithstanding travellers'
assertions to the contrary.
How many of the royal blood, even sultans themselves, within this
time-worn palace, have either drained the insidious and poisoned
potion, or been dispensed with by the surer cord, or assassin's dagger!
The last victim was Sultan Mustafa, or the uncle of the present
monarch; and Mahmoud himself was miraculously preserved by the
attachment and perseverance of his lala or eunuch, who concealed
him in the fire-place of the bath, until the fury of the mob had
subsided--thus saving him, whom Allah had reserved for the proud
distinction of being the savior and regenerator of his country.
No wonder, then, that the sultans of later times have recoiled from
such associations and built for themselves other palaces on the bright
and smiling shores of the "ocean stream."
Abd-ul-Medjid has just erected a magnificent residence opposite the
entrance to the Marmora, the palace of Dolma Bahché.