© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004385245_007
chapter 5The “Golden Age” as a Political Agenda:
the Reform Literature
Ahmed I’s reign, following the defeat of the last major Celali forces by Kuyucu
Murad Pasha, seemed indeed to mark a new increase in Ottoman power—or,
at least, a turning of the tide.1 Ahmed, whose reign saw no other major vic-
tory, ordered the building of the Blue Mosque, the last of the great sultanly
mosques of Istanbul, as a marker of what he considered to be a decisive move
towards peace and imperial glorification.2 However, this was little more than
an illusion: the sizeable peasant armies that had imposed their rule over large
parts of Anatolia may have been crushed, but local rebellions (which were also
termed “Celali”) did not cease. The governor of Aleppo, Canbuladoğlu Ali, had
collaborated with the last major Celali leader, Kalenderoğlu Mehmed; other
local leaders in the east, such as the Druze Fahreddin Ma’noğlu (whose rebel-
lion lasted for two decades, until 1635), were even more successful. As for rela-
tions with other states, the Habsburg front remained quiet for more than half
a century following the 1606 peace of Zsitva Törok (ratified in its final form
only in 1612). On the other hand, a new European front was opened with the
Cossack raids along the Black Sea coast, which lasted until almost the middle
of the century and led to occasional crises with Poland. More seriously, the
large Safavid counter-attack under Shah Abbas I continued, culminating in a
major loss for the Ottomans, that of Baghdad in 1624.
Moreover, any optimism that had been left to Ottoman observers was to
be harshly tested in the third decade of the seventeenth century: Ahmed I’s
brother and successor Mustafa proved to be mentally ill and, following a joint
decision by the harem’s chief agha, the şeyhülislam, and the grand vizier’s kaym-
makam, was replaced by Ahmed’s eldest son, Osman, in 1618. Although almost
still a child (he was only thirteen at the time), Osman was highly ambitious
and began his reign by leading an army against Poland in person. Contrary to
what contemporary chroniclers claimed, this campaign was far from success-
ful, but the young sultan’s next move was to prove fatal. Osman announced
that he was going to go on the Hajj to Mecca, something no other sultan had
1 On the events of this period see Mantran 1989, 227–236; Emecen 2001b, 46–49.
2 Rüstem 2016. Cf. the encomium of Ahmed’s almost supernatural forces, composed by his
historian Mustafa Safi (Murphey 2005).