Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq: An Ambassador’s Report on the Ottoman Empire, 1555

[Itachi]

Hey Guys! So, I today in my AP World History class, we were learning about the 3 Gunpowder Empires, namely the Ottomans, Mughals and the Safavids.

I was given an article on the Ottoman empire which awed me a lot. So I thought that I might look it up and than share it with you guys.

Here is the Article:-

About the Document
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq was the ambassador from the Holy Roman Empire to the court of the Ottoman Empire from 1555 to 1562. The Ottoman Turks controlled much of eastern Europe and periodically pushed westward toward central Europe. This made them enemies of the European states. De Busbecq was given the task of using diplomatic means to put an end to the Turk raids into Europe. The years he spent in Constantinople gave de Busbecq close contact with Suleiman the Great and life at the Ottoman Court. Through his letters to a friend and his official reports, de Busbecq gives us a fascinating look into the world of the Ottoman Turks. Here was an empire the Europeans had to deal with, but whose lifestyle and customs were very different from what Europeans were accustomed to.

The Document

The Sultan's hall was crowded with people, . . . but there was not in all that great assembly a single man who owed his position to aught save valour and his merit. . . . Those who receive the highest offices from the Sultan are for the most part the sons of shepherds or herdsmen, and so far from being ashamed of their parentage, they actually glory in it, and consider it a matter of boasting that they owe nothing to the accident of birth. . . . Among the Turks, therefore, honours, high posts, and judgeships are the rewards of great ability and good service. . . . These are not our ideas, with us there is no opening left for merit; birth is the standard for everything; the prestige of birth is the sole key to advancement in the public service. . . .

When they [the Turkish army] are hard pressed . . . they take out a few spoonfuls of flour and put them into water, adding some butter, and seasoning the mess with salt and spices; these ingredients are boiled, and a large bowl of gruel is thus obtained. Of this they eat once or twice a day, according to the quantity they have, without any bread, unless they have brought some biscuit with them. In this way they are able to support themselves from their own supplies for a month, or if necessary longer. . . .

From this you will see that it is the patience, self-denial, and thrift of the Turkish soldier that enable him to face the most trying circumstances, and come safely out of the dangers that surround him. What a contrast to our men! Christian soldiers on a campaign refuse to put up with their ordinary food and call for thrushes, becaficos, and such like dainty dishes! If these are not supplied they grow mutinous and work their own ruin; and, if they are supplied, they are ruined all the same. For each man is his own worst enemy, and has no foe more deadly than his own intemperance, which is sure to kill him, if the enemy be not quick. It makes me shudder to think of what the result of a struggle between such different systems must be; one of us must prevail and the other be destroyed, at any rate we cannot both exist in safety. On their side is the vast wealth of their empire, unimpaired resources, experience and practice in arms, a veteran soldiery, an uninterrupted series of victories, readiness to endure hardships, union, order, discipline, thrift, and watchfulness. On ours are found an empty exchequer, luxurious habits, exhausted resources, broken spirits, a raw and insubordinate soldiery, and greedy generals; there is no regard for discipline, license runs riot, the men indulge in drunkenness and debauchery, and, worst of all, the enemy are accustomed to victory, we, to defeat. Can we doubt what the result must be? . . .

Against us stands Solyman (Suleiman the Magnificent), that foe whom his own and his ancestors' exploits have made so terrible; he tramples the soil of Hungary with 200,000 horses, he is at the very gates of Austria, threatens the rest of Germany, and brings in his train all the nations that extend from our borders to those of Persia. The army he leads is equipped with the wealth of many kingdoms. Of the three regions, into which the world is divided, there is not one that does not contribute its share towards our destruction. Like a thunderbolt he strikes, shivers, and destroys everything in his way. The troops he leads are trained veterans, accustomed to his command; he fills the world with the terror of his name. Like a raging lion he is always roaring around our borders, trying to break in, now in this place, now in that.


Source: From An Ambassador's Report on The Ottoman Empire, 1555, C.T. Forster and F. H. B. Daniell, eds., The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Vol. I, C. K. Paul and Co., London, 1881.


At the end of the day, reading this article caused an adrenaline rush in me. @Kaan @Sinan @Aeronaut @Ulla @xenon54 & Others

 

[-SINAN-]

Thanks for sharing.

@T-123456 @Neptune @usernameless @ghara ghan

 

[Hakan]

Thanks for posting it was a really nice read. @Itachi

Korean war:
"The Turks' arrival in Korea garnered a considerable amount of publicity. The Turkish soldiers' fierce appearance, flowing mustaches and great knives were a war correspondent's dream come true. Although they had not fought in a major conflict since World War I, the Turkish soldiers had the reputation of being rough, hard fighters who preferred the offensive position and gave no quarter in battle. Most of the enlisted men were young and carried a sidearm sword that, to Americans and the other U.N. troops, appeared to be a long knife. No other U.N. troops were armed with that kind of knife, or indeed any other weapon out of the ordinary. The Turks had a dangerous proficiency in close combat with their long knives that made all other Allied forces want to stay clear of them."

"The Turks, armed and trained by American military advisers, did better than even they had hoped or expected in this, their first real combat since World War I. The American units to which they were attached respected their skills and tenacity in combat. Some comments by American officers give insight into the Turks and their abilities. 'They really prefer to be on the offensive and handle it quite well,' went one appraisal. 'They are not as good at defensive positions, and certainly never retreat.' Another report told of their patrol skills: 'Certain Turkish patrols always reported high body counts when they returned from patrols. Headquarters always scoffed at the high numbers, much higher in fact than any other unit, until the Turks decided to bring the enemy bodies back and dump them at headquarters for the body count.'

The Turks acquitted themselves in a brave and noble fashion in some of the worst conditions experienced in the Korean War. Very little else could have been required or expected of them. Their heavy casualties speak of their honor and commitment. Their bravery requires no embellishment. It stands on its own."

Korean War: 1st Turkish Brigade's Baptism of Fire

@T-123456 @Neptune @usernameless @ghara ghan @[USER=144765]xxxKULxxx @Baykuş @Sinan[/USER]

 

[Nomad16]

@rmi5

 

[Chak Bamu]

1562 was still more than a century away from 1683.

What a difference a few generations make! And yet Ottomans endured for close to two and a half centuries from the beginning of their decline.

The resilience of Turkish nation kept them going, coupled with egalitarian spirit of our common religion.

 

[xenon54 out]

@Itachi thx for sharing.
@Sinan @T-123456 @Neptune @Kaan @usernameless @xxxKULxxx @TurAr @Baykuş @rmi5 @ghara ghan@Chak Bamu @anatolia@revojam

The Aussie PM, Turkey's hero and their unbreakable bond forged at Gallipoli

THERE is one towering monument at Gallipoli that's particularly intriguing. It's not typical of the monuments you might expect to see on the peninsula; of heroic, rifle-wielding Turks or of Turkey's reformist president Mustapha Ataturk starring stern-faced and resolute toward an invading foe.
It's not a monument depicting the ferocity of battle, of enemies locked in a fight to the death - rather, it is the embodiment of compassion.

A united salute to the Turkish and Australian soldiers who served at Gallipoli. Picture: Zoe Laing. Source: Supplied

It is a statue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Allied soldier in his arms. A cynical observer might conclude there are elements of jingoism and tokenism about such a statue - a Turkish victor displaying extraordinary kindness toward a defeated and disabled enemy.
The scene does seem unlikely; some of the most merciless, murderous hand-to-hand fighting carried out during WWI took place in the killing fields where the statue stands.

But a plaque at the statue's base has a reference to how the dramatic scene depicted was inspired by a story told by an Australian, a governor-general no less, more than 50 years after the battle. And if you join the dots from the GG's speech, the statue of the two soldiers is distantly connected to an Australian general, a prime minister and Ataturk himself.

In 1967, Governor-General Lord Richard Casey arrived in Turkey to inspect the abandoned battlefields dotted along the west coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula. For Casey, this was as much of a personal pilgrimage as a state visit - 52 years earlier he had been a young lieutenant on this sliver of Turkish coastline facing an unforgiving enemy. Casey, then 25, was aide-de-camp to

Lord Richard Casey, Australian Governor General. Source: News Corp Australia

Major General Sir William Bridges, whose 1st Division was the first ashore on Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915.
Efficient, ambitious and often regarded as arrogant, the Scottish-born Bridges had been a career army officer, having enlisted first in Canada, then in England before settling in Australia, where he successfully founded an officer training college conducted along the lines of the United States' West Point Academy, the officer training school Duntroon.

While generally disliked by his men during training in Egypt in 1915, the often aloof Bridges won their respect with his daily inspections of the frontline, seemingly oblivious of the dangers around him.

It was during one of these inspections, only three weeks after the initial landing, Bridges was shot through the thigh by a Turkish sniper - his aide, Lieutenant Casey, standing beside him at the time. Bridges died on a hospital ship from complications causing gangrene and his remains were interred back in Australia, only one of two bodies brought home from the Great War.

It was traumatic experiences like these at Gallipoli and the carnage witnessed on the Western Front that had a profound effect on Casey and, at war's end, he believed he was part of a younger generation who could do better.

Through business connections he befriended Stanley Melbourne Bruce, who would become Prime Minister in 1923, appointing Casey as Australia's Liason Officer in London. Bruce had become something of a political mentor for Casey who was able to relay all sorts of intelligence from England to Australia but their friendship was bound by an indelible, mutual experience - Gallipoli.

Capt Stanley Melbourne Bruce later became Prime Minister of Australia. Source: Supplied

At the outbreak of war in 1914, Bruce arrived in London to oversee family business matters and enlisted in the Worcester Regiment before being seconded to the Royal Fusiliers as a temporary captain, landing with British forces at Cape Hellas on the southernmost point on the Gallipoli peninsula.
The young captain was later involved with the British landing at Suvla Bay to the north, where he was awarded the Military Cross for making contact with a section cut off from the advance.

It was this wartime recognition that would prove useful in his election as prime minister; campaign posters depicting a uniformed Captain Stanley Melbourne Bruce MC were received enthusiastically by the post-war electorate.

But his loss of office to James Scullin in 1929 would eventually bring in another strand to the unfinished business with Gallipoli.

It was Scullin's successor Joseph Lyons who appointed Stanley Melbourne Bruce as High Commissioner in London, inadvertently kick starting a remarkable career as an international statesman.

His tough negotiating skills saw him appointed as Australia's representative at the League of Nations and, in 1936, he was unanimously elected as President of the Montreux Convention in Switzerland to determine who controlled the Dardanelles Straits.

Since the early 1920s this vital waterway had been placed under the supervision of the League of Nations and, fearing the rise of fascism, Turkey put forward a proposal to regain control of the straits. Stanley Bruce played a pivotal role in restoring the Dardanelles to Turkey, something President Ataturk never forgot.

Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Source: Supplied

These two Gallipoli veterans - who once stood face to face in a terrible war - became lifelong friends, Ataturk presenting Bruce with a solid gold cigarette case inscribed with his signature and two interlocked military stars, a symbol of their union through the ferocity of battle.
Bruce carried the cigarette case with him every day until his death in August 1967. When he died, there were two framed photographs on his office desk - one of his wife and the other of Ataturk.

That very year saw Bruce's protégé Richard Casey, now Governor-General of Australia, return to Gallipoli where he gave a speech recounting a remarkable story from the campaign.

A wounded British officer lay in no man's land while a ferocious battle raged around him. A white flag tied to the muzzle of a rifle appeared from a Turkish trench and the shooting suddenly stopped. A Turkish soldier climbed from the trench, picked up the British officer, delivered him to the Australian lines and returned to his own side.

Whether the story is true, no one will ever know. But certainly there is no end to the amount of remarkable intertwining stories emanating from that far-flung land.

No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

 

[atatwolf]

Read the book: Islamic Gun Powder empires

It is about the three Turkic Empires Ottomans, Moghuls and Safavids. They had common roots, common language and common culture.

From Europe all the way to India the land was controlled by Turkics, unfortunately they fought against eachother, make each other weak and others benefited from that.

 

[Nomad16]

Read the book: Islamic Gun Powder empires

It is about the three Turkic Empires Ottomans, Moghuls and Safavids. They had common roots, common language and common culture.

From Europe all the way to India the land was controlled by Turkics, unfortunately they fought against eachother, make each other weak and others benefited from that.

the thing should not repeated again

 

[Hakan]

@Itachi thx for sharing.
@Sinan @T-123456 @Neptune @Kaan @usernameless @xxxKULxxx @TurAr @Baykuş @rmi5 @ghara ghan@Chak Bamu @anatolia@revojam

The Aussie PM, Turkey's hero and their unbreakable bond forged at Gallipoli

THERE is one towering monument at Gallipoli that's particularly intriguing. It's not typical of the monuments you might expect to see on the peninsula; of heroic, rifle-wielding Turks or of Turkey's reformist president Mustapha Ataturk starring stern-faced and resolute toward an invading foe.
It's not a monument depicting the ferocity of battle, of enemies locked in a fight to the death - rather, it is the embodiment of compassion.

A united salute to the Turkish and Australian soldiers who served at Gallipoli. Picture: Zoe Laing. Source: Supplied

It is a statue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Allied soldier in his arms. A cynical observer might conclude there are elements of jingoism and tokenism about such a statue - a Turkish victor displaying extraordinary kindness toward a defeated and disabled enemy.
The scene does seem unlikely; some of the most merciless, murderous hand-to-hand fighting carried out during WWI took place in the killing fields where the statue stands.

But a plaque at the statue's base has a reference to how the dramatic scene depicted was inspired by a story told by an Australian, a governor-general no less, more than 50 years after the battle. And if you join the dots from the GG's speech, the statue of the two soldiers is distantly connected to an Australian general, a prime minister and Ataturk himself.

In 1967, Governor-General Lord Richard Casey arrived in Turkey to inspect the abandoned battlefields dotted along the west coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula. For Casey, this was as much of a personal pilgrimage as a state visit - 52 years earlier he had been a young lieutenant on this sliver of Turkish coastline facing an unforgiving enemy. Casey, then 25, was aide-de-camp to

Lord Richard Casey, Australian Governor General. Source: News Corp Australia

Major General Sir William Bridges, whose 1st Division was the first ashore on Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915.
Efficient, ambitious and often regarded as arrogant, the Scottish-born Bridges had been a career army officer, having enlisted first in Canada, then in England before settling in Australia, where he successfully founded an officer training college conducted along the lines of the United States' West Point Academy, the officer training school Duntroon.

While generally disliked by his men during training in Egypt in 1915, the often aloof Bridges won their respect with his daily inspections of the frontline, seemingly oblivious of the dangers around him.

It was during one of these inspections, only three weeks after the initial landing, Bridges was shot through the thigh by a Turkish sniper - his aide, Lieutenant Casey, standing beside him at the time. Bridges died on a hospital ship from complications causing gangrene and his remains were interred back in Australia, only one of two bodies brought home from the Great War.

It was traumatic experiences like these at Gallipoli and the carnage witnessed on the Western Front that had a profound effect on Casey and, at war's end, he believed he was part of a younger generation who could do better.

Through business connections he befriended Stanley Melbourne Bruce, who would become Prime Minister in 1923, appointing Casey as Australia's Liason Officer in London. Bruce had become something of a political mentor for Casey who was able to relay all sorts of intelligence from England to Australia but their friendship was bound by an indelible, mutual experience - Gallipoli.

Capt Stanley Melbourne Bruce later became Prime Minister of Australia. Source: Supplied

At the outbreak of war in 1914, Bruce arrived in London to oversee family business matters and enlisted in the Worcester Regiment before being seconded to the Royal Fusiliers as a temporary captain, landing with British forces at Cape Hellas on the southernmost point on the Gallipoli peninsula.
The young captain was later involved with the British landing at Suvla Bay to the north, where he was awarded the Military Cross for making contact with a section cut off from the advance.

It was this wartime recognition that would prove useful in his election as prime minister; campaign posters depicting a uniformed Captain Stanley Melbourne Bruce MC were received enthusiastically by the post-war electorate.

But his loss of office to James Scullin in 1929 would eventually bring in another strand to the unfinished business with Gallipoli.

It was Scullin's successor Joseph Lyons who appointed Stanley Melbourne Bruce as High Commissioner in London, inadvertently kick starting a remarkable career as an international statesman.

His tough negotiating skills saw him appointed as Australia's representative at the League of Nations and, in 1936, he was unanimously elected as President of the Montreux Convention in Switzerland to determine who controlled the Dardanelles Straits.

Since the early 1920s this vital waterway had been placed under the supervision of the League of Nations and, fearing the rise of fascism, Turkey put forward a proposal to regain control of the straits. Stanley Bruce played a pivotal role in restoring the Dardanelles to Turkey, something President Ataturk never forgot.

Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Source: Supplied

These two Gallipoli veterans - who once stood face to face in a terrible war - became lifelong friends, Ataturk presenting Bruce with a solid gold cigarette case inscribed with his signature and two interlocked military stars, a symbol of their union through the ferocity of battle.
Bruce carried the cigarette case with him every day until his death in August 1967. When he died, there were two framed photographs on his office desk - one of his wife and the other of Ataturk.

That very year saw Bruce's protégé Richard Casey, now Governor-General of Australia, return to Gallipoli where he gave a speech recounting a remarkable story from the campaign.

A wounded British officer lay in no man's land while a ferocious battle raged around him. A white flag tied to the muzzle of a rifle appeared from a Turkish trench and the shooting suddenly stopped. A Turkish soldier climbed from the trench, picked up the British officer, delivered him to the Australian lines and returned to his own side.

Whether the story is true, no one will ever know. But certainly there is no end to the amount of remarkable intertwining stories emanating from that far-flung land.

No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

Thanks for sharing I was always wondering what that statue was about.

 

[airmarshal]

Great account.

Reading this, I was thinking most Muslim countries today are like Europe of 16th century. There is no merit, no education, there is greed, and there are indulgence and decadence that their countries cant even afford.