The Empire in the Making 53
they became industrious”, and every piece of land became a sown field, a gar-
den, or an orchard (v. 267–70). As for Sinan Pasha, he stresses that the sultan is
urged to practise justice, as oppression is sure to lead to the destruction of his
realm and of himself (T664, E250ff ), while there is no stronger army for a king
than justice. A just sultan respects the Holy Law and the ulema, protects the
wealth of his subjects, ensures that cities and provinces are safe from thieves
and robbers, is soft and merciful when necessary and severe when he has to be,
abstains from excessive sexual pleasure (kesret-i cima ’, T670) and the company
of women, as well as from games and carousing (T672); he may have the occa-
sional laugh, but only in moderation.
It is not clear what exactly these authors mean by “justice”. There is the liter-
al “judicial” meaning of dispensing justice with clemency and equity: Bayezid I
in Ahmedi “knew that the judges were dispensers of injustice. Their deeds
were bribery and corruption of the Holy Law”. He assembled all of them and
punished them as necessary (v. 273–78). Clemency is a necessary component
of justice, and Şeyhoğlu argues that even proven culprits should be forgiven,
for this is the virtue of mildness (hilm, Y54); a ruler should first try to mend
the evildoers’ ways by advice and persuasion rather than through the sword of
the executioner (Y89). Sinan Pasha insists that if the ruler wants to use over-
whelming force (kahr), i.e. the opposite of mildness, he should use it against
his enemies as well as against hypocrites and “men of innovation”. Moreover, a
king should abstain as far as possible from ordering executions, as taking a per-
son’s life is, in general, God’s prerogative (T706ff, E265ff ); if he has to execute
someone, he must be patient and avoid doing so while influenced by anger.
Furthermore, one might remark that, for our authors, another aspect of
justice is equality, the primordiality of merit rather than of lineage or wealth.
According to Ahmedi, Murad I did not hesitate to give high posts to destitute
people, because “a padishah needs a vision such that dust and gold look the
same in his presence”. Repeating a topos of medieval poetry, Ahmedi notes
here that even a mendicant can become king, if the Bird of Paradise happens
to come over him (v. 136ff.). Sinan Pasha criticizes those who regard lineage
(neseb) as more important than personal merit (haseb), noting that even the
prophet Noah’s children were rebels (T492ff, E189ff ). One cannot help think-
ing that this attitude, albeit based on commonplace assumptions of medi-
eval literature, corresponds to the emerging practice of devşirme recruitment
(later described in the same light of meritocracy by several European authors,
such as Busbecq);54 on the other hand, both the ulema and court environment
of the early Ottoman state offered plenty of opportunities for newcomers
54 Busbecq – Forster 1927, e.g. 59–61; Yapp 1992, 148–149.