Selim the Grim

This replica from the 16th-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 Selim the
Grim 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 protect you
from the evil; bring you the strength to decide with both your mind and heart
when you need it the most…

The son of
Bayezid II and Gulbahar Hatun; the father of Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim
the Grim was born on a windy day of September in 1470. The 9th Sultan of
Ottoman Empire, Selim II was very well educated by the most qualified masters
of the time during his time at the palace. He learned Arabic and Persian
while studying high-level sciences and religion.

Handsomely
tall with broad shoulders and a nose like his grandfather Mehmet the
Conquerer, Selim was a daring sultan. Being raised by his grandfather Mehmet
the Conquerer, he had a fiery nature. He gets the name
"Grim" from his tough character and brave
personality.

A talented horseback rider, Selim was also an
excellent swordsman well enough to overcome the most infamous musketeers of
the time. He was an archery master at the same time. Given all his talents
and the quality of education he took, it was inevitable for him to become a
great warrior and commender.

Although he was wide-known for
being an accomplished soldier and his successes during the wars, the most
outstanding feature of Selim the Grim was undoubtedly his humble and thrifty
personality. He would eat only one type of food during his meals, he would
only use wooden plates. He disliked showiness; he never wasted
state-property. He loaded up the already satisfying state treasure he took
over from his father. After sealing the doors of the room, he bequeathed: "Let
the one of my grandchildren, who loads this treasure more than I did with
gold, seal with his own seal. Otherwise, seal the doors of state treasure
with my seal." His will was fulfilled; as none of the sultans after
his reign could load more gold than he did, the doors were always sealed with
Selim the Grim’s personal seal.

As every resolute sultan,
Selim the Grim had talismanic shirts. The shirt presented in your room is one
of the most known shirts he owned. The shirt made of white cotton reflects
how good of a warrior Selim the Grim was, through bow-arrow and sword
patterns engraved in gubari calligraphy technique. There are hyacinth, rose
and leaf movies on the branch pattern placed on the sword. The original shirt
also features prayers that would protect and guard Selim from the evil and
calamities.

Selim the Grim was a man of literature like
many other sultans of Ottoman Empire, apart from his combatant personality.
He wrote countless beautiful poems for his precious love Ayse Hafsa Sultan,
the mother of his only son Suleiman the Magnificent. You can see two of those
poems on the shirt presented in your room.

The formidable
sultan of Ottoman Empire died of a boil after 8 years of enthronement on
September 23, 1520, a gloomy day of fall.

So witnessed the
world Selim the "Grim"…