Honored by the Glory of Islam. Conversion and Conquest in Ottoman Europe

196 honored by the glory of islam

vaulted bay with a sofa,” which made it “a pavilion for reviews, for the room is

full of large casements with grilled windows above them.”^36 It was an ideal posi-

tion from which the sultan’s gaze could take in conversion ceremonies.

The archival evidence of conversion at court has come down to us in three

formats. Despite their differences, all three express the sultan’s power to grant

wishes as well as his attitude toward converts and conversion. The fi rst type,

documents produced between 1671 and 1 675, a period that included the two

Polish campaigns, begin with praise to God and consist of a terse order to the

treasurer to provide for bestowal of the necessary garments to a convert or con-

verts present at the imperial council, followed by the date and a proportionally

large signature of the grand vizier. From these documents we infer that after

a Christian or Jew appeared at court before the sultan or grand vizier with the

intention of converting, his or her request for reward was submitted in writ-

ing to the secretary of the imperial council, who then sent the petition to the

treasurer with the grand vizier’s command to bestow the clothing on the new

converts. The treasurer of the palace was an essential fi gure in conversion. He

never separated from the sultan, not even on campaign, because he was the of-

fi cial responsible for providing the ceremonial robes and clothing bestowed as

an honor on offi cials, as well as on converts. An example of this format follows:

“God is everlasting! To the Treasurer of the Palace, may his power and glory be

increased! Give new garments to a new Muslim man upon receiving the docu-

ment [to be exchanged for clothing or coins] of the imperial council. Recorded

on August 30, 1 673. (Signature).”^37

The second format is far more interesting to the historian because it some-

times provides additional information about the converted and the location of

their change of religion. These documents, mainly composed in the last sev-

eral years of Mehmed IV’s reign ( 1 685–87), when the sultan spent most of his

time hunting in the environs of Istanbul, are longer, addressed to the sultan,

and appear as the humble supplications of his devoted subjects. They were re-

corded in three stages. First, at the center of the paper, one fi nds the exposition

of the petition proper. It invariably contains salutations consisting of praise

of the sultan’s generosity and magnanimity, followed by a statement that the

following person or persons converted to Islam and therefore requests that

the sultan order clothing bestowed on the converted. The petition was then

“signed,” giving the number of people petitioning, their names, and relations.

At the top of the paper appeared the second part of the petition, consisting of

an invocation to God and the fact that the petition was accepted and acted on

by the grand vizier. Finally, beneath these lines yet above the petition proper,

came the third part, the action taken in response to the request, namely, cloth-

ing bestowed by the treasurer and the date given. Action was taken based on