Mehmet IV

This replica from the 17th century exhibited in your room is of
one of the 87 talismanic shirts from the Collection of Sultan’s Clothing at
Topkapi Palace and it is considered to have belonged to Mehmet IV according
to the prayers, motives and meanings of the talisman on the shirt and
therefore was adorned with one of his
poems…

May this Talisman be your
guardian…

He was the nineteenth Sultan
of Ottoman Empire… The longest reigning Ottoman Emperor after Suleiman the
Magnificent….

Sultan Mehmet IV was born on January 2, 1642
in Istanbul to Sultan Ibrahim I and Turhan Hatice
Sultan.

Sultan Mehmet IV of a Russian descent mother was of
medium-height, fair skinned and had a tanned face. As he would often go
horseback riding for long while, he had a stooping posture. His mother raised
him perfectly. He was very well educated; tutored in up-to-date sciences. He
became the Sultan of the Empire when he was only sixteen after the timeless
death of his father.

He was a hunting and literature
enthusiast; because of his interest in hunting, he was also called Mehmet the
Hunter.

The responsibility Sultan Mehmet took at such an
early age was massive. He was now the person in charge of both administrative
and military affairs. His mother Turhan Hatice Sultan was trying to protect
him as much as she could. His biggest helper was the Grand Vizier Koprulu
Mehmet Pasha who became his biggest supporter during when Mehmet IV was
making new important changes.

A shirt needed to be tailored
to protect him from any conspiracies, calamities and evil, a shield to make
him invincible during his early journey as the Sultan… The Grand Vizier
ordered the Head Augur the necessary. Yet again, preparations of a talismanic
shirt for an Ottoman emperor started. The propitious moment was calculated;
days, weeks, months passed; the cloths were weaved; calligraphers were handed
their pens to engrave prayers on the cloths.

The shirt is
made of thick white cotton. There are two circular badges divided into twelve
segments on front shoulders. There are two semicircles in tangent with the
badges in upper part of which are there writings and below part of which are
there golden shoe patterns. The shirt is, like many other shirts, ornamented
with red and black coloured prayers and numbers that carry different
meanings; every prayer and number are meant to protect the owner of the shirt
from all sorts of evil and calamities.

The reign of Sultan
Mehmet IV witnessed numerous architectural work including but not limited to
the completion of New Mosque and madrasah in Eminonu, restoration of Rumeli
and Anatolian Fortresses, construction of Spice Bazaar. His interest in arts
and specially in poetry led him leave many exquisite art pieces behind him.
You can find one of his poems he penned in Edirne where he lived after thirty
nine years of sultanate on the shirt presented in your room…