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

a decade of crisis 53

city. Cossacks attacked Ottoman boats in the Black Sea, and because they were

virtually unopposed, came up the Bosporus as far as Trabya on the European

coast. British consul and longtime resident in Izmir Sir Paul Rycaut observed

that this caused much fear throughout the city.^74

War Abroad and Rebellion at Home

That Cossack fl otillas could mercilessly assault the imperial capital testifi es to

the state of the Ottoman military. The important question was: How did Otto-

man forces fi ght? The Ottomans had not defeated the Venetian enemy at sea

for over a decade, the soldiers were a burden on each other, unable to fi ght

together, and during battle Janissaries caused the defeat of other forces when

they landed ships head rather than rear fi rst. Morever, they were accused of

“knowing nothing of ghaza, or Islam, or piety,” nor why desertion was a sin.^75

Formerly feared in western and central Europe for its strict discipline and ab-

solute obedience to commanders and the sultan, the Ottoman military faced

defeat and stalemate. Karaçelebizade complains about a peace treaty with the

Habsburgs, for it signaled that the Ottomans had wasted blood and treasure

“on the inauspicious, unblessed Hungarian campaign. How many Muslims

became captives in the hands of polytheists? How many countless masjids and

mosques became the monasteries of infi dels?”^76 The armed forces also faced

the nightmare of the interminable siege of Candia, Crete, launched by Ibrahim

in 1 645, “which caused pain and distress,” making Muslims “weak of heart and

full of anxiety.”^77

The biggest failure continued to be the siege of Candia, the last Venetian

citadel on Crete. So long as it controlled the island of Crete, Venice would be the

master of the eastern Mediterranean and thus control the trade transiting from

eastern Asia and southern Asia to western Europe. The Ottomans had to wrest

this power from their hands. Yet to do so necessitated spending a great amount

of Ottoman treasure. Part of the reason for the military failure was fi nancial,

as the soldiers besieging Candia did not receive their pay on time and thus suf-

fered low morale. The war for Candia was extremely expensive, and the price

of conquering the island seemed disproportionate to the goal.^78 Katip Çelebi

writes at length about the reasons for the diffi culty of successfully conquering

all of Crete. The Ottomans faced insurgency on land and by sea in the coastal

areas they seized. They could barely keep watch over the territories they con-

quered, let alone imagine conquering Candia. When Ottoman forces initially

landed before the citadel of Candia, “there was no time to construct trenches,

so they alighted before the citadel and waited for munitions to arrive.” They