[Reader-list] More from Istanbul

[Sarang Shidore]

Merhaba,

I am writing this on a pleasant sunny afternoon in the heart of old
Istanbul (Sultanahmet). Today is my last day in this wonderful city.
The last three days have been very exciting. I have seen and done a
lot and it would be difficult to capture everything in this letter.
But I will try.

After spending most of Monday at the fabulous Topkapi Palace, I paid
a visit to the Yerebetan Cistern the next morning. But first a few
words about Topkapi and Turkish history. This was the seat of the
Ottoman (Osmanli) dynasty from the time of Suleyman the Magnificent
who is roughly a contemporary of Emperor Akbar. It was his gorgeous
and ambitious wife Hurrem, or Roxelana, who persuaded the Sultan to
move the family and the harem to the Topkapi. Before this it was
strictly a seat for administration. The story of Hurrem is
insteresting - she was a Russian slave girl captured in a Tatar raid
and sold in Istanbul to the Sultan's harem. Suleyman was so
captivated by her laughter that he decided to eventually marry her
and make her the chief queen. This cause consternation in the empire,
but who could challenge the sultan....

To understand the Turkish nation one has to go back to the 11th
century when the Seljuk Turks, a nomadic warrior band from Central
Asia swept into Anatolia. (Central Asia seems to have been the source
of many conquering warrior tribes throughout history. The Scythians
(Sakas), Mongols, Huns, Turks, Tatars, and others terrified the more
settled urban civilizations south of the steppe with their raids.
Iran's destrcution by the Mongols in the 13th century was so
traumatic, the holocaust so terribly brutal that it took more than a
hundred years for the society to recover.) The Seljuk advance was
less damaging to Anatolia, apparently just 40,000 troops grabbed the
arid central plain with little resistance from the Christian subjects
of the Byzantine empire.

However, somehow Constantinopole survived for another 350 years. Each
time the Turks were close, the Byzantine emperor managed to put up a
heroic fight and saved the city. However during this period the city
suffered its worst man-made disaster - the armies of the Fourth
Crusade, sent to "liberate" Jerusalem turned on their fellow
Christians in Constantinopole instead and days and days of looting,
pillage, and rape almost completely destroyed the beautiful city. The
Sancta Sophia was desecrated and a prostitute apparently paraded
through its stately halls. A truly bizarre episode, but apparently
not unknown in the annals of the supposedly spiritual armies of the
Western Crusades!

Inspite of this disaster in the early 13th century, the city managed
to magically sprung back to life. A great program of rebuilding by
later Byzantine emperors restored most of the homes and gardens.
Luckily for us all the Fourth crusade did not manage to destroy
Sancta Sophia's main structure and some of the art inside, as well as
a few of the ancient churches which can still be seen today (such as
the Chora Church in Western Istanbul).

Incidentally, the language used by the early Byzantines was Latin but
as time passed, Old Greek (spoken by most of the subjects) became the
official language of the state. The schism between Eastern (Orthodox)
Christianity and Catholic Rome is largely due to the Byzantine
episode in history.

After the Seljuk empire disintegrated, another Turkish clan called
the Osmanli seized power. Under 21-year old Mehmet the Conqueror
Constantinopole finally fell to the Osmanl›s. Large-scale looting and
v›olence followed the conquest, as Mehmet's troops were as covetous
as any conquerors before. However, when Turk›sh soldiers started
hacking away at the marble columns of the Sancta Sophia, Mehmet
stopped them, declaring "there is no God but God and Mohammed is His
Prophet". Sancta Sophia became the Aya Sofya Mosque.

OK, enough of history. The Yerebatan Cistern is a beautiful
underground reservoir of water built by the Byzantines in the 5th
century to store water for the city. It has a few hundred pillars,
some of them carved in traditional Greek styles. I had a really
interest›ng conversation with a young guide there who was working
part time and also going to college at Bosphorus University. He
invited me for tea at an art gallery the next day and we chatted
quite a bit about Turkey. Among other things he also had some choice
words to say about George W. Bush and American foreign policy!

In general in Turkey I have noticed (not surprisingly) a strong
dislike of US policies in the region. One shopkeeper went as far as
to tell me "We know our government is with the Americans, but we also
know what are their real intentions. We in the Middle East are
patient people and say OK to everything but one day there will be a
surprise."

In Turkey everyone is a millionaire. 1 dollar buys you 1/4 million
Turkish Liras! So, a short cab ride from Sultanahmet to Beyoglu costs
6 million Turkish Liras. A newspaper costs 1 million. The train fare
to Ankara by a fast express train came out to 85 million Liras. By
now, I have finally managed to distinguish between the 500000 Lira
bill and the 5000000 Lira bill without counting the zeroes! I
consider this as one of my greater achievements in recent months :-).

There are many common words between Turkish and Hindi/Urdu. Not
surprising as both languages were influenced by Farsi and Arabic. So,
sabzi is vegetable, sharap is wine, misafir is traveller, duniya is
world, asik is lover, and chai is, of course tea! There were many
more such words but Mustafa Kemal (the Turkish nationalist founder of
modern Turkey) abolished many of them under his Turkification program
of the 1920's. The Arabic alphabet was replaced by a Latinate one,
the Caliphate was abolished, Turks were forced to adopt last names -
these had to be Turkish last names even if you were a Kurdish or
Armenian speaker - the Ottoman legal system was replaced by a Western
code based on the Swiss model, women were given the right to vote and
participate in government, classical Turkish music was de-emphasized
and Western classical music promoted and Turkey was redefined as a
state of the Turks. Strict separation of mosque and state was
enforced, the fez cap banned, the hijab forbidden in government
buildings, and the Caliphate abolished. Turkey firmly set its eyes
Westward rather than Eastward. (More on this later.)

To understand the geography of Istanbul imagine the Bosphorus strait
which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and forms the
barrier between Asia and Europe. The European side of Istanbul is
further bisected by a body of water known as the Golden Horn. Ottoman
Istanbul is south of the Golden Horn. This is what I have mainly
described so far. But north of the golden horn are the areas of
Karakoy, Beyoglu, Taksim and Levent which are the heart of modern
Istanbul. Beyoglyu was the residence of European ambassadors in the
19th century and the architecture is very European influenced.
Stately buildings line Istikilala Caddesi, its main thoroughfare
which is now Istanbul's trendiest shopping and clubbing district.

If you are ever in Beyoglu don't miss the Haci Abdullah restaurant
which is a fantastic place to get some great ottoamn era food. My
friend Serra took me there and we had a blast. Of course I love food
(who doesn't) and am always game for trying out new cuisines. But
Haci Abdullah was mind-blowing. I started with a delicious creamy
lentil soup followed by an eggplant dish called Imam Bayildi (the
Imam fainted) which is a whole eggplant spiced and roasted - a little
bit like Baingan Bharta! Then I had a dish of lamb cooked in a sort
of a crepe with spices and garnishing. This was followed by a Turkish
fruit salad. Turkish coffee would normally have ended the meal but I
have discovered that its incredible strength does some interesting
things to my system so I decided to skip it!

Walking along Istikilal Caddesi is an experience. It was Tue evening
but there were thousands of Turkish youth there shopping, hanging
out, strolling. There are lots of interesting stores for the shopping
minded, but selling mostly modern items clothes jewellery, footwear
etc. The clubs are all in the side streets off the main avenue.

Unlike the US where seeing couples and individuals is common, in
Turkey it is quite normal to see large groups of friends going out
together. Often I have seen people hanging out rather aimlessly at
street corners, a lot like in India. Spending an hour, just lounging
around after finishing coffee at a cafe is normal. The stress that I
feel in the air in the United States is almost entirely missing here.
Of course it could be because I am on vacation but I don't think so!

I have written this letter in a rather meandering fashion and ended
up writing more about history than I originally intended. There is
much more I have to say - about the 5 hour Bosphorus cruise I took,
my visit to the working class areas of Fener and Balat, the day I
spent in Ankara after taking the overnight train there, and other
things - but it is nearly 2 p.m here and I shall be soon be meeting
Serra for a trip to the ancient Grand Bazaar! So it is time to sign
off. Perhaps I will get a chance to write again from London tomorrow.
Till then stay well!

Sarang in Isanbul










Do you Yahoo!?
<http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://rd.yahoo.com/evt=1207/*http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/>SBC
Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!