358 chapter 8
used annually for such products is more than that produced from mines. The
production of golden thread should be prohibited, and artisans making golden
embroidery should make normal decorated clothes instead.53 This leads Penah
Efendi to another issue, that of coinage: he asserts that either the current value
of the Ottoman golden coin, i.e. zer-i mahbub, should be increased or its gold
content decreased, so that its value would not correspond to its content in
gold (the same goes for silver coinage). In such circumstances, Ottoman coins
would not be taken abroad. Furthemore, nobody would melt them down to
make gold or silver thread or jewelry. If these measures are taken, and if the ex-
change rates for foreign gold coins are defined and controlled, he writes, then
the Indian and Yemeni merchants will not be able to profit and those valuable
metals will stay in Ottoman lands. Penah Efendi ends this chapter by repeating
his loathing of foreign goods, and specifically Indian clothes and Saxon pottery,
as well as of those who use them for sheer pomp.
Most of Penah Efendi’s observations are explicitly given in connection with
the author’s bitter experience of the 1770 Morea revolt, and it is in this light that
his next chapter, on the “properties of the Albanians” (B239–312), should be
read.54 He describes them as unruly and undisciplined plunderers who know
nothing of trade and the arts, due to their dense population and the barren-
ness of their land. Nonetheless, he acknowledges that they also have some
merits, such as their hospitality and their high sense of honor. Penah Efendi
proposes the creation of orderly camps and local garrisons, well-ordered and
registered, in the Albanian territories. Perhaps more interesting are his views
on cultural assimilation: the Albanian language is rough (as seen, he argues,
from a comparison between Greek-speaking and Albanian-speaking villages in
the Morea) and when it comes to courtesy (nevaziş) its vocabulary is harsh and
coarse. But if they learn Turkish, there will inevitably be a subsequent change
in their behavior (tebdil-i ahlak) since “the good manners of a tribe depend on
its learning the language of its dynasty” (bir kavm terbiyesi bir devletin tekellüm
itdiği lisanı tekellüme muhtacdır) (B309).
If the sultan issues such orders and some esteemed ulema and sheikhs go
to teach them, it would be only a few years before they finally speak Turkish
instead of Albanian. Penah Efendi’s inspiration comes from an unexpected
model: when Spain conquered “New India”, he explains, its inhabitants were
even wilder than the Albanians. The Spanish brought Indian women to their
53 One may remember here Mustafa Ali and his suggestion that the use of gold thread
is wasteful for the precious metal, since it yields no profit. See Ali – Tietze 1979–1982,
2:41–42.
54 Cf. Anastasopoulos 2007, 44–45.