48 | The Genoese of Pera in the Fifteenth Century
of Pera an ahidname (set of capitulations). Originally written in Greek and trans-
lated into Turkish and Italian, the ahidname guaranteed life and property as well
as religious freedom and commercial privileges to the Genoese on the condition
of their obedience and payment of a special tax called a harac:
At present the people of Galata and their noblemen, in order to show their
friendship, have sent to my court their envoys Babilano Pallavicino and Mar-
chio de Franko and the dragoman Nicolo Pagliuzzi with the keys of their for-
tress and submit to me as my subjects. In return I accept that they may fulfill
their rituals and rules as were in effect before, and that I do not send my troops
against them and demolish their fortress. I agree that their properties, liveli-
hood, houses, storehouses, vineyards, mills, ships and boats and all goods and
their wives, daughters, sons and slaves remain in their hands and I do not
assault or disturb them. I agree that those who trade can do so in other parts
of my dominions and they can travel by sea and by land, nobody hinders or
disturbs them. I impose on them the Islamic poll tax [harac] which they pay
each year as other non-Muslims do. I agree that I protect them as I do those in
other parts of my dominions and they may keep their churches and perform
their rituals as they wish except that they may not ring their church bells. And
I will not turn their churches into mosques. But they should not build new
churches. I agree that the Genoese merchants who come and go by land and
sea should pay the customs dues as required in the law and nobody may attack
them. I agree that their sons may not be taken as Janissaries and no infidel may
be converted to Islam by force and they can choose anyone they want among
themselves to look after their own affairs; that no falconer [doğancı] or serf
[kul], Sultan’s men, will come to their home. The inhabitants of the fortress
and the merchants will be free from forced labor.This ahidname, renewed by Sultan Ahmed I in 1613 (figure 3.1), was, in some
respects, a confirmation of the privileges that the Genoese community had pos-
sessed during the Byzantine period. Through this agreement the Genoese were
allowed to live under Ottoman rule with some security and according to their
own laws and religious practices. It can even be said that it granted the Geno-
ese community a right of autonomy with respect to their internal matters, even
if it passed under the administration of a kadi (judge). In their internal affairs
they could apply their own law, but in affairs with the Ottomans or other non-
Muslims they were subject to Islamic law. The magnifica comunità di Pera con-
tinued to take care of the needs of the Genoese community, and the churches and
religious organizations of Pera came under its control. However, the podestà was
now deprived of his title. Genoese merchants, who were citizens of Genoa and re-
sided in the city on a temporary basis for trade purposes, had to pay only customs
dues, and the sultan also promised to provide security for them.
Despite the ahidname, many Genoese, witnessing the conquest of Constan-
tinople, fled Pera in fear and panic. However, after almost two centuries, for most