Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq: The Turkish Letters, 1555-1562

[Busbecq, a Fleming, was the ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor at the Sublime Porte (the

Turkish Sultan's court in Constantinople) from 1555-62. His letters provide important foreign

accounts of the Ottoman state. Because Busbecq was trying to bring about reform at home, he

did not dwell on the very real problems with Ottoman government.]

At Buda I made my first acquaintance with the Janissaries; this is the name by which the Turks

call the infantry of the royal guard. The Turkish state has 12,000 of these troops when the corps

is at its full strength. They are scattered through every part of the empire, either to garrison the

forts against the enemy, or to protect the Christians and Jews from the violence of the mob.

There is no district with any considerable amount of population, no borough or city, which has

not a detachment of Janissaries to protect the Christians, Jews, and other helpless people from

outrage and wrong.

A garrison of Janissaries is always stationed in the citadel of Buda. The dress of these men

consists of a robe reaching down to the ankles, while, to cover their heads, they employ a cowl

which, by their account, was originally a cloak sleeve, part of which contains the head, while the

remainder hangs down and flaps against the neck. On their forehead is placed a silver gilt cone of

considerable height, studded with stones of no great value.

These Janissaries generally came to me in pairs. When they were admitted to my dining room

they first made a bow, and then came quickly up to me, all but running, and touched my dress or

hand, as if they intended to kiss it. After this they would thrust into my hand a nosegay of' the

hyacinth or narcissus; then they would run back to the door almost as quickly as they came,

taking care not to turn their backs, for this, according to their code, would be a serious breach of

etiquette. After reaching the door, they would stand respectfully with their arms crossed, and

their eyes bent on the ground, looking more like monks than warriors. On receiving a few small

coins (which was what they wanted) they bowed again, thanked me in loud tones, and went off

blessing me for my kindness. To tell you the truth, if I had not been told beforehand that they

were Janissaries, I should, without hesitation, have taken them for members of some order of

Turkish monks, or brethren of some Moslem college. Yet these are the famous Janissaries,

whose approach inspires terror everywhere.

The Turkish monarch going to war takes with him over 400 camels and nearly as many baggage

mules, of which a great part are loaded with rice and other kinds of' grain. These mules and

camels also serve to carry tents and armour, and likewise tools and munitions for the campaign. .

. . The invading army carefully abstains from encroaching on its magazines at the outset; as they

are well aware that when the season for campaigning draws to a close, they will have to retreat

over districts wasted by the enemy, or scraped bare by countless hordes of men and droves of

hungry animals, as if they had been devastated by locusts; accordingly they reserve their stores

as much as possible for this emergency. Then the Sultan's magazines are opened, and a ration

just sufficient to sustain life is daily weighed out to the Janissaries and other troops of the royal

household. The rest of the army is badly off, unless they have provided some supplies at their

own expense. . . . On such occasions they take out a few spoonfuls of flour and put them into

water, adding some butter, and seasoning the mess with salt and spices; these ingredients are

boiled, and a large bowl of gruel is thus obtained. Of this they eat once or twice a day, according

to the quantity they have, without any bread, unless they have brought some biscuit with them….

Sometimes they have recourse to horseflesh; dead horses are of course plentiful in their great

hosts, and such beasts as are in good condition when they die furnish a meal not to be despised

by famished soldiers.

From this you will see that it is the patience, self-denial and thrift of the Turkish soldier that

enable him to face the most trying circumstances and come safely out of' the dangers that

surround him. What a contrast to our men! Christian soldiers on a campaign refuse to put up with

their ordinary food, and call for thrushes, becaficos [a small bird esteemed a dainty, as it feeds on

figs and grapes], and suchlike dainty dishes! … It makes me shudder to think of what the result of

a struggle between such different systems must be; one of us must prevail and the other be

destroyed, at any rate we cannot both exist ]in safety. On their side is the vast wealth of their

empire, unimpaired resources, experience and practice in arms, a veteran soldiery, an

uninterrupted series of victories, readiness to endure hardships, union, order, discipline, thrift and

watchfulness. On ours are found an empty exchequer, luxurious habits, exhausted resources,

broken spirits, a raw and insubordinate soldiery, and greedy quarrels; there is no regard for

discipline, license runs riot, the men indulge in drunkenness and debauchery, and worst of all,

the enemy are accustomed to victory, we to defeat. Can we doubt what the result must be? The

only obstacle is Persia, whose position on his rear forces the invader to take precautions. The fear

of Persia gives us a respite, but it is only for a time.

No distinction is attached to birth among the Turks; the deference to be paid to a man is

measured by the position he holds in the public service. There is no fighting for precedence; a

man's place is marked out by the duties he discharges. In making his appointments the Sultan

pays no regard to any pretensions on the score of wealth or rank, nor does he take into

consideration recommendations or popularity, he considers each case on its own merits, and

examines carefully into the character, ability, and disposition of the man whose promotion is in

question. It is by merit that men rise in the service, a system which ensures that posts should only

be assigned to the competent. Each man in Turkey carries in his own hand his ancestry and his

position in life, which he may make or mar as he will. Those who receive the highest offices

from the Sultan are for the most part the sons of shepherds or herdsmen, and so far from being

ashamed of their parentage, they actually glory in it, and consider it a matter of boasting that they

owe nothing to the accident of birth; for they do not believe that high qualities are either natural

or hereditary, nor do they think that they can be handed down from father to son, but that they

are partly the gift of' God, and partly the result of good training, great industry, and unwearied

zeal; arguing that high qualities do not descend from a father to his son or heir, any more than a

talent for music, mathematics, or the like; and that the mind does not derive its origin from the

father, so that the son should necessarily be like the father in character, our emanates from

heaven, and is thence infused into the human body. Among the Turks, therefore, honours, high

posts, and judgeships are the rewards of great ability and good service. If a man be dishonest, or

lazy, or careless, he remains at the bottom of the ladder, an object of contempt; for such qualities

there are no honours in Turkey!

This is the reason that they are successful in their undertakings, that they lord it over others, and

are daily extending the bounds of their empire. These are not our ideas, with us there is no

opening left for merit; birth is the standard for everything; the prestige of birth is the sole key to

advancement in the public service.

Source:

From C. T. Forster and F. H. B. Daniel, eds., The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq,

vol. I (London: Kegan Paul, 1881), pp, 86-88, 153-155, 219-222, 287-290, 293.

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