ghaza in central and eastern europe 171a little over two weeks later “he departed from this lower world and migrated to
the world to come.” Despite his piety, alcoholism ultimately caused his death at
age forty, several years after the last decree outlawing wine consumption was is-
sued.^24 A couplet written as his obituary (recorded in a palace archival document)
relates that for many days he led a life of pleasure in a place of mirth, but in the
end, all living creatures are separated from this world; with a painful separation
he, too, went away.^25 As Evliya Celebi writes, tongue in cheek, “At the estate of Ka-rabiber [Black Pepper] he drank his fi nal cup.”^26 His years in offi ce were not easy,
but were quite successful. He had continued his father’s mission of restoring the
empire to greatness. Others have written how Fazıl Ahmed Pasha’s fi fteen years
in offi ce was one of the longest terms held by a grand vizier in Ottoman history,
marked by a concern for improving the political, economic, and military strength
of the empire.^27 What is emphasized in this book is his role in promoting piety.
With the able assistance of Fazıl Ahmed Pasha, Mehmed IV had propelled
the empire to the northernmost limit of Ottoman expansion, which also turned
successes in battles throughout Europe to economic advantage by fi lling the
depleted treasury with taxes from eastern European provinces. Tribute was im-
posed on all of Poland. The Cossacks were subjected. These victories put an end
to decades of spending on military endeavors that saw no return. More impor-
tant than the economic benefi t was the religious signifi cance. These wars were
not seen merely as battles over broken treaties and alternating military alliances.
The boy sultan had become a victorious ghazi and battles between the Ottomans
and the Venetians, Poles, and Habsburgs were depicted as struggles between
Islam and Christianity, played out in the contest over sacred geography.The Russian War: Vani Mehmed Efendi at the Front
In 1 678, Mehmed IV again went on campaign, this time against the Russian
Empire. The cause was the Cossack Doroshenko, who double-crossed the sultan
and joined the Russians, who occupied parts of Ottoman-controlled Ukraine.
Vani Mehmed Efendi was at his side, although the sultan never crossed the
Danube and alighted in the plain of Hacıoğlu Pazarı in Silistre while the
preacher continued to the front with the grand vizier. The sultan presented
Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha a brocaded fur, a jeweled sword, a velvet
shalvar, and jeweled aigrettes and personally handed him the black wool ban-
ner to lead the campaign against the Russians.^28 Hüseyin Behçeti composed
Ascent of Victory within a year of the campaign. According to the author, Meh-
med IV was the caliph of Islam, the shadow of God on Earth, a brave hero, and,
most important, “the Ghazi Mehmed Khan, deliverer of conquest and ghazi.”