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"…
