The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It - Course Information

~ SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON THE OUTSIDE WORLD ~ 193
for battle. Even though these events were supposedly organized in his honour,
Mehmed Emni Beyefendi felt that such ‘militaristic’ behaviour was inappropriate
to a peaceful mission, and did not hesitate to say so. 47
In addition, the ambassador informed his superiors about the habits of his
Russian interlocutors in a manner much more sophisticated and detailed than that
of Seyyidî ‘Ali Re’îs or Ahmed Dürri Efendi. At the time of the envoy’s visit, the
Russian armies had just fought out a small battle with the Swedes, whose great
power status by the early eighteenth century was definitely on the wane.
Mehmed Emni took the trouble to check the information concerning this encounter
given to him by Russian ministerial personnel with the interpretation of these
same events provided by an Ottoman-speaking nobleman attached to the French
embassy. As a result, the ambassador informed his superiors that, like other
European state officials, the Russian authorities were very anxious to keep
secrets, and were inclined to spring information on him that he was unable to
verify. Thus the envoy would be told about a ‘victory’ actually but of minor
importance, after the very existence of the relevant conflict had been kept secret
from him. 48
Among the ‘sights’ with which the Russian court attempted to impress the
ambassador, the gardens of Peterhof, with their canals, ponds and fountains,
often adorned with statuary, rated a lengthy description by Mehmed Emni. We do
not know whether the ambassador himself was interested in garden culture. Sultan
Mahmud I (r. 1730–54/1142–68) may have shared the taste of his predecessor
Ahmed III for decorative elements in the ‘Frankish’ style, and Mehmed Emni
may thus have been instructed to pay particular attention to this aspect of Russian
court life. 49 Also of some interest are the comparisons through which the author
tried to give members of the Ottoman political establishment an idea of the
appearance of Peterhof: thus he compared the hilly countryside adjacent to the
river Neva to an Albanian village. 50 But in the end, Mehmed Emni judged that
‘Frankish arts and crafts’ lacked a sense of measure and harmony, the gardens
were deficient in flowers, and the ‘animal-like’ labour expended on their construction
was altogether in vain. 51
~ Difficult beginnings: a new type of information-gathering
General observations about political tactics and diplomatic usage had doubtless
been made by envoys from whatever period; but it was only in the eighteenth
century that, as we have noted, recording them in writing became part of Ottoman
diplomatic practice. We may surmise that this was also because, in an age in
which embassies were more numerous, future envoys did well to read the reports
of their predecessors, but this at present is just a hypothesis. Yet, as an argument
in favour of this view, we may point out that in the course of the eighteenth century
embassy reports tended to become more sophisticated, in other words, they