Can any of you explain why we decline so rapidly? If Russian Tsar and Emperor are still so powerful why not our Sultan?
Everyone was present. Memed and the Baron looked at each other wearily. Salman gave a sly smile. Zeynep kissed Iskander Pash’s hands and took her leave. Halil, alone, showed any sign of interest.
"We failed to renew ourselves, Ata. And this is the price we have to pay. We allowed the clergy too much power in determining the future of this state. Istanbul could have been the capital of invention and modernity like Cordoba & Baghdad in the old days, but these wretched beards that established the laws of our state were frightened of losing their monopoly of power and knowledge. I forget the name of the fool who told the Sultan that if the place relaxed its control, our religion would be finished.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, every major city in the West had its own printing press, while Sultan Selim threatened any person who showed even the slightest interest in it with death."
Iskander Pasha was waving his hands to interrupt his son. Halil paused while I read my father’s note.
“The fear wasn’t totally unjustified, Halil. The Sultan’s ministers kept a very close watch on Europe. The Grand Vizier was aware that in three crucial years, from 1517 till 1520, the printing press destroyed the monopoly of the Catholic Church: Three hundred thousand copies of Martin Luther’s work were printed and distributed in this time.”
"With great respect, Ata, I was aware of that fact, but the price we paid for our retreat into the past was a heavy one. We sealed off the Empire from a crucially important technological advance. The ulema, may they roast in hell, opposed modernization on principle.
Most of the Sultans and the eunuchs and janissaries who surrounded them accepted this view. It is an outrage that we kept the printing press at a distance to present the spread of knowledge. And even if you disagree on the printing press, though I really can’t see you can, surely you must accept that the ban on public clocks was simply senseless!
Here, too, the damned beards insisted that time was not linear. It was sacred and circular and could only be determined by the Muezzin’s call to prayer. I think our decline is well deserved. This Empire is melting away before our own eyes and the clergy and the Sultan watch in silence. It’s too late now. There’s nothing they can do. The Prussians and the British want to keep us alive for their own reason. If this had not been the case, the Russian Tsar would have eaten us alive by now. We live on borrowed time and borrowed money. Some of us in the army are already discussing the future. The Empire is gone, Ata. The only interesting question is what will take its place."
Halil’s speech had made everyone thoughtful. It was Uncle Mamed who was the first to speak after him.
"There is much wisdom in what you say, boy, I don’t think the troubles are result of simply ignoring the printing press. I think the decline started a long time ago, … "
Tariq Ali]