Between Two Worlds Kafadar.pdf

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Venetians seem to have had a nearly endless arsenal. While these challengers
were released one after the other like Hollywood sequels, their audience share
kept diminishing after Mustafa "the Impostor," Murad II's uncle, was eliminated
in 1422.
A distinct group of uc begleri is delineated by Inalcik in his study of the
Ottoman political factious in the 1430s and 1440s.[58] At that time, they appear
as the leading members of the "war party" that stood once again in opposition to
the Çandarli family, who led the party that stood for accommodation with the
imperial government of Byzantium. This was probably the last time the frontier
warlords played a meaningful role in strategic decisions affecting the general
direction of Ottoman policy; and they appeared to have won the upper hand with
the abdication of Murad II and the first enthronement of Mehmed II in 1444 — a
precarious victory that was reversed within two years by a Çandarli-instigated
revolt of the kul army. The centralizing logic of the Ottoman state had reached
such a maturity by that time that even though Mehmed II's second enthronement in
1451 brought along a more aggressive policy toward Byzantium and the conquest of
Istanbul, the fulfillment of these gazi dreams did not lead to a permanent
strengthening of the frontier lords in the Ottoman political system. Just as
Çandarli Halil was murdered by the Conqueror soon after the conquest, some of
the leaders of the "war party" from among the uc begleri were put to death soon
thereafter.
Perhaps more significant is the Conqueror's highly symbolic act of abolishing an
ancient frontier custom. It is reported in Apz and some of the later chronicles
that since the time of Osman (and it does not matter whether the custom was
really established at that time) the Ottoman rulers would respectfully stand up
at the sound of martial music as a sign of readiness for gaza. As the conqueror
of Constantinople, however — namely, having achieved the ultimate goal of
Anatolian frontier culture — the young sultan apparently perceived himself to
have surpassed that culture and its primitive etiquette; he is reported to have
abandoned the practice of standing up.[59]
How could Mehmed II have continued to obey the terms of vassalage implied by the
ceremony of standing up in respect when martial music was played? Just as the
Abbasid caliph or the Seljuk sultan would send tabl ve `alem (drams and banner)
to their vassals, Mehmed himself was now in a position to dispatch those
insignia to lesser powers ready to recognize the Ottoman dynasty as their
superior. In less than two centuries the Ottomans had transformed themselves, at
least in their histor-
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ical consciousness, from recipients to granters of insignia of vassalage.
Whereas legend related that Osman had received "drums and banner" from Ala'eddin
, the Seljuk sultan, and accepted the latter's overlordship, Mehmed II
dispatched the same items to Mengli Giray, the Crimean khan, bringing someone
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