Murad III
This replica 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 Murat III 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 eternalise your mercy… Protect you… Give you strength and power…
He was the 12th Sultan of the Empire; medium-height, hazel eyed, fair skinned… He was known for his generosity, compassion and helpfulness. He became one of the scholar-sultans of Ottoman Empire by virtue of the classes he took from ulemas during his time at the palace as the son of the Sultan. The unfortunate news roamed from the palace when he was the governor of Sanjak in Manisa. The messenger Grand Vizier sent was the bearer of the news that his father Selim II had died…
It was time to leave even though he was in enormous pain… He left Manisa to become the sultan of Ottoman Empire. He was so much in grief with the biggest pain of his entire life that he did not wait for the ship Grand Vizier had sent for him and he got on a small boat leaving from Mudanya Harbor.
It was quite late; windy and raining. He was exhausted and thirsty; there was not enough water on the boat. Yet he needed to stand up, stay strong irregardless of everything… Even though it did not help his thirst, getting soaked under the rain was keeping him awake…
He promised himself, in such flow of emotion, to have a fountain built at the first land he steps on. They were now near Bahcekapi coast where he was going to have a fountain built in future years.
They finally arrived at the doors of the palace. They brought the son of the Sultan to his mother Nurbanu Sultan. She threw herself to the arms of his son crying out. She was now the Mother Sultan…
Murat III ascended to the throne. Mother Sultan ordered a talismanic shirt for her son right away. She wanted a shirt like a shield to be tailored to guard her son from everything. The Head Augur examined the stars to calculate and define the magical propitious moment for talisman to be effective. And the white cottons were attentively weaved…
The cottons were finally ready to be written on; now it was time for the gifted calligraphers. The whole noble Quran was written on the shirt. The writings were calligraphed in columns in black and red coloured ink. There were no other patterns used on the shirt apart from the squares on both upper sides and the sleeves. The prayers everywhere on the shirt made it so powerful that the shirt was called "The Armour Shirt"…
It was 1582 when the shirt was finally ready. The shirt gifted to Murat III by his mother was going to be his protector under any circumstances. Murat III reigned for twenty years. Ottoman Empire reached its broadest frontier during his time. Sultan Murat whose shrine is today located at Hagia Sophia along with his numerous works was also famous for his artistic personality…
