THE CEREMONY OF THE SELAMLIK.
The old right of appeal to the Sultan's person a
thing of the past--He only leaves his palace once a
week--The selamlik--Religious ceremonies and the sacred
caravan--Its departure for Mecca--A military display--
Abd-ul-Hamid's mosque--Its convenient proximity to the
palace--A study in precaution--Dwarfs in the palace.
AS the Sultan has concentrated all governing power in his own palace,
it might be thought that the palace was the place to which all who seek
for justice and the redress of wrongs would come. This is far from
being the case With the exception of the spies, no one can enter any
of the palace departments unless he can give a good account of himself
and the nature of his business. The unfortunate subjects of the Sultan
who are not connected with the palace officials some way or other must
waste time and money in frequenting the old ministerial offices, which
are nowadays only nominally existent, to seek justice and to find
redress for their cases. There is no hope for these millions of unhappy
subjects in their appeal. Until about ten years ago anyone who wanted
redress for wrongs and injustice done to him had a chance, however
slender, of appealing to the Sultan personally, and this he used to do
by forcing his way through the crowd and presenting a petition to him
while he was driving to the mosque on the occasion of the selamlik, the
only time when Abd-ul-Hamid ventures out of his fortified palace. But
there is now no possibility of presenting a petition to the Sultan, as
the ceremony of selamlik is conducted differently.
From time to time the Turkish term 'selamlik' may be seen in the
English papers, but only those who are fortunate enough to travel in
foreign countries, or those whose position affords them exceptional
opportunities of acquiring information on matters concerning other
lands, know what this term signifies. The selamlik is a great military
ceremony which takes place when the head of the Ottoman empire
goes forth from his palace to a place of worship, with pomp and
circumstance, every Friday afternoon. 'Selam' means 'salutation,' and
the 'selamlik' is the name given to the military honour rendered to the
sovereign on that occasion.
Besides the usual selamlik, there are five annual occasions when the
same pageant takes place; on these occasions, however, the ceremony
is on a grander scale, and the sovereign meets all civil, military,
religious and legal functionaries of the State who may at the time be
residing in the capital. Two of these selamliks are held on two great
yearly festivals, the third on the fifteenth of the month of the fast,
when the whole body of Government, from the monarch downwards, pays
homage to the relics of the Prophet, and the fourth on the Prophet's
birthday, when the high State dignitaries assemble in one of the great
mosques to listen to the choral recitation of the poem on the Nativity.
The fifth is on the day of the 'sacred caravan,' when a grand pageant
takes place to celebrate its starting. Although the Sultan does not
come out, he is supposed to salute this quaint procession from the
window of his palace, and the people greatly enjoy watching and
following it, as it has more religious colour than the other royal
processions. This sacred caravan starts from the Sultan's capital every
year, about the middle of the Mohammedan lunar month of Ramazan. The
boxes in which are contained the presents and gifts for the holy cities
of Mecca and Medina are carried by camels with gorgeously ornamented
saddles through the streets of Constantinople, while about a dozen
Arabs, who are supposed to go with the caravan to Mecca, display their
skill in swordsmanship in every crowded centre, their drummer playing
rapidly and violently the while. Thousands of spectators watch the
procession. Before the start of the caravan, well-to-do people get
ready and send alms, presents and bakhsheesh for the guides, and gifts
for the religious trustees of their respective families in the cities
of the Holy Land. The most conspicuous features in this procession
are the sedan-chair-like seats, which are screened with beautifully
embroidered silk stuff, for the protection of the persons seated
therein from the heat of the sun; these seats are fixed on the saddles
of the camels.
The cavalcade is escorted by mounted troops, and is followed by an
immense crowd. It is a really picturesque sight when the long train
mounts the hills of Yildiz to proceed to the palace; the road leading
to the palace is lined by the magnificent Imperial Guards, and the
wooded hills on both sides of the road are crowded with a great
multitude of lady spectators, clad in cloaks, umbrellas, and veils of
every colour imaginable. This is an entirely Mohammedan gathering,
and a very orderly one too; quarrelling, or even disputing between
individuals, is hardly ever to be seen; profound silence prevails among
the crowd; only a murmur here and there of someone praying for the
success of the year's pilgrimage is now and then to be heard. After
offering a public prayer in front of the palace of the Caliphate, the
cavalcade proceeds downward to the shore, whence, in a special boat, it
crosses the Bosphorus to the Asiatic side of the city.
In bygone ages this cavalcade used to proceed by land all the way from
Scutari to Hijaz, but it is now despatched to Beyrout by steamer, and
the real sacred caravan is not formed till the gifts reach Damascus,
whither they are brought under the superintendence of a court official
who is styled the Sorra Emini, that is to say, the Intendant of the
Offering. Thousands of pilgrims await the starting of the caravan
from Damascus, and go to Hijaz along with it; for, as the caravan
is escorted by troops, they are thus securely protected against the
attacks of the Bedouin brigands, the only enemies of the harmless and
God-fearing pilgrims. Still, notwithstanding this protection, there
are cases on record when the sharp and dexterous Bedouin thief, by
approaching quietly at night and hiding himself behind the long legs of
the camels, has succeeded in robbing and murdering poor pilgrims, and
then disappearing amid the waves of sand. There are many pilgrims who
prefer the desert route to the sea journey via Jeddah, not on account
of any material advantage, but simply that they may suffer greater
hardships, hoping that they will be more highly rewarded by Providence,
for they imagine that their recompense will be proportionate to the
suffering they endure in fulfilling their religious duties. This is
the same spirit which moves many Russian devotees, who, when going
to Jerusalem, do not take the train from Jaffa, but prefer walking
all the way to the Holy City, carrying their sacks and bags on their
shoulders. Besides these annual processions and the progress of
the sacred caravan procession, there is, as I have said, the usual
ceremony, which takes place every Friday. This ceremony is better
known to Europeans. The Sultan usually receives the diplomatic
representatives of the Powers, and any foreign dignitaries who may
happen to be in Constantinople on a visit, after this Friday selamlik.
The procession of the sovereign from the palace to one or other of
the great mosques every Friday afternoon, attended with an imposing
military display, is a strictly observed ancient usage. The Sultan must
go to the mosque in public unless prevented by some urgent matter over
which he has no control. For dynastic considerations, however, even
such urgent matter must, if possible, be set aside, as some suspicion
as to the Sultan's being no longer alive might spread among the
population, and might bring about a public restlessness not unfraught
with danger, and perhaps some revolutionary complications. The present
Sultan is much more careful than any of his immediate predecessors in
fulfilling this obligation of going to the mosque on Fridays. Whenever
a rumour gets abroad concerning his being indisposed, he promptly
orders his representatives in foreign countries to contradict the
report, and that immediately, lest the news should find its way back
to Turkey, and spread among its population. He professes to be always
in the best of health. But he is no doubt subject to the ailments that
more or less beset all humanity, and it is probably these that make
him every now and then look dreadfully pale and broken-down during the
Friday ceremony. Still, he comes out on these occasions most regularly.
The former Sultans used to go to different great mosques of the
capital on Fridays on horseback, amidst the acclamations not only of
the guards but also of the people. But Sultan Hamid has had a mosque
built for himself just outside the great walls of his fortified palace.
Shortly before the time of the selamlik the troops of the first and
second divisions of the army of the capital flood the neighbourhood
of that mosque. First come the battalions of the Albanian Zouaves,
now the Arab Zouaves, now the marines, and now the battalions of the
Anatolian infantry. They form several lines deep along the short road.
Cavalry regiments take up their positions in two lines just behind the
infantry. Gendarmes form another line at the back of the horsemen,
and behind them policemen stand in groups of two at every few steps.
Spies, who may be recognised by their treacherous and suspicious
appearance, wander about in the immediate neighbourhood. The wretched
public can nowadays see nothing but the arrival and the return of the
troops. Woe to any educated-looking 'Young-Turk' who may be suspected
by these dirty spies of attempting to approach the lines! Students of
the military colleges are ordered not to go to the neighbourhood of
the palace on that day. All the officers commanding these battalions
are raised from the ranks, because such ignorant officers recognise
no one so sacred after Allah as the Caliph, whereas an educated and
intelligent officer might in all probability be a 'Young-Turk.'
[Illustration: HAMIDIEH MOSQUE.]
What goes on inside the walls formed by the bodies of so many thousand
armed men? When the time approaches for the departure of the imperial
carriage from the gates of the Yildiz Palace, a trumpet is blown,
and all the troops simultaneously give three loud cheers. The words
uttered are these: "Padishahim chok yasha," or long live the Emperor.
Then the bands of the different regiments strike up one after another
the Sultan's march. The Sultan drives in a light carriage drawn by
four horses; occasionally the marshal of the palace sits on the front
seat facing him, and sometimes he is accompanied by his youngest son.
His carriage is immediately followed by a couple of hundred of the
household officers and aides-de-camp. He salutes the troops calmly,
but at the same time his grave face betrays nervousness, which he
always feels when he is in public. At the moment of his passing between
the lines of troops a deep silence reigns, and if any irregular
movement, such as an attempt to present a petition to the Sultan by any
individual soldier, occurs, several spies suddenly appear as it were
from nowhere, and the most perfect order is resumed. When the Sultan
arrives at the gate of the mosque, which it does not take him more than
three or four minutes to reach, about half a dozen dwarfs, brought for
the occasion from their residence in one of the ancient palaces, cry
out in chorus: "Become not over-proud, my Padishah; there is one who
rules over you also--that is Allah!" This is one of the few old customs
which have been preserved to the present day. The Sultan remains in his
private gallery in the mosque for the prayer, and from the window he
views the march past of the troops, and then, after twenty minutes or
so, returns to his palace with a little less pomp. No doubt he feels
very happy when he has returned in safety to his fortress-palace, from
which he will not issue till the dreaded Friday comes round once more,
when he must, however unwillingly, venture out again.