Free The Stone Woman by Tariq Ali
Authors: Tariq Ali
earth. No harmony without a state. No state without law. No enforcement of law without sovereign authority. No sovereign authority without a Sultan or Caliph.”
The Baron had recited the Circle with such authority that everyone present burst into applause.
“I told you it sounds good, but it always had a fatal flaw. It was based on the devshirme. You took babies from all over the Empire and created a caste of soldiers and administrators through long years of training and education. The state owned them, but they began to believe that they owned the state and sometimes that they were the state. It was an ambitious plan which your rulers refined, but as your great and incomparable historian Ibn Khaldun warned many centuries ago, it is dangerous to expect a group without common ties of kinship or solidarity or class to remain loyal to the sovereign authority. A common training is fine for the production of French chefs, but not for creating a strong state.
“These soldiers and bureaucrats own no property. They are not permitted any hereditary rights. It is Utopian to expect them to remain selfless and pure and unaffected by wealth and privileges. Naturally, they try and acquire wealth and close ties to wealthy families. They observe the clergy. They ask themselves how it is that the Durrizade family has made the ulema a religious nobility from the seventh century to this day. They know it is unfair and they attempt to remedy the discrepancy. But their rise has been too sudden. They are painfully aware that what they have done is illegal. It could be used against them by their rivals or when the Sultan wishes to have any of them executed. This reduces them to a state of permanent insecurity. It creates the basis for constant intrigue. It is, therefore, impossible for these men to become pillars of stability on which the state can rest with confidence. And so, my dear Iskander Pasha, your Circle of Equity becomes a descent to chaos, a circle of self-delusion, an inferno. Without solidarity and stable institutions, old Empires crumble. New ones take their place. You have lost both the war and the battle for survival. Memed the Conqueror wanted to make Istanbul the new Rome. He succeeded too well. The Ottomans have mimicked its decline and fall in a remarkable fashion.”
The Baron paused for breath and refilled his glass.
“Have you quite finished, Baron?” inquired Uncle Memed with mischief.
The Baron gave him a withering look as he sipped his champagne. “This is no time for levity, Memed. We are discussing the future of your Empire.”
“But I thought we had none. Our history, according to you, has come to an end. The future clearly belongs to the Prussians, which is why I’m pleased we are such close friends. If Istanbul is renamed and handed to the Greeks by the Western powers, I shall move to Berlin.”
Nobody smiled. Everyone present had been struck by the Baron’s words. For a few minutes there was complete silence. Only the roar of the waves outside disrupted the reflective mood. Then my brother Halil, usually very reserved, began to speak again.
“I doubt whether the Western powers will ever agree on the future of Istanbul. Mr Disraeli knows that we have protected the Jews for many centuries. He will not wish the city to be returned to the Greek Church. Bismarck will resist change for fear that the Greeks will be too weak and that either Great Britain or Russia will become the real master of Istanbul. The Pope in Rome will do everything to prevent the re-emergence of a rival. The result of all this will help us rebuild and prosper. Do not imagine that we have all been overcome by inertia. Let me inform the Baron that though I agree with much that he has said, including the fact that this Empire is finished, there are many officers in the Ottoman army, men like myself who are forward-thinking in their approach. We will not let everything crash to the ground. We will carve out a new state from the ruins of
The Baron had recited the Circle with such authority that everyone present burst into applause.
“I told you it sounds good, but it always had a fatal flaw. It was based on the devshirme. You took babies from all over the Empire and created a caste of soldiers and administrators through long years of training and education. The state owned them, but they began to believe that they owned the state and sometimes that they were the state. It was an ambitious plan which your rulers refined, but as your great and incomparable historian Ibn Khaldun warned many centuries ago, it is dangerous to expect a group without common ties of kinship or solidarity or class to remain loyal to the sovereign authority. A common training is fine for the production of French chefs, but not for creating a strong state.
“These soldiers and bureaucrats own no property. They are not permitted any hereditary rights. It is Utopian to expect them to remain selfless and pure and unaffected by wealth and privileges. Naturally, they try and acquire wealth and close ties to wealthy families. They observe the clergy. They ask themselves how it is that the Durrizade family has made the ulema a religious nobility from the seventh century to this day. They know it is unfair and they attempt to remedy the discrepancy. But their rise has been too sudden. They are painfully aware that what they have done is illegal. It could be used against them by their rivals or when the Sultan wishes to have any of them executed. This reduces them to a state of permanent insecurity. It creates the basis for constant intrigue. It is, therefore, impossible for these men to become pillars of stability on which the state can rest with confidence. And so, my dear Iskander Pasha, your Circle of Equity becomes a descent to chaos, a circle of self-delusion, an inferno. Without solidarity and stable institutions, old Empires crumble. New ones take their place. You have lost both the war and the battle for survival. Memed the Conqueror wanted to make Istanbul the new Rome. He succeeded too well. The Ottomans have mimicked its decline and fall in a remarkable fashion.”
The Baron paused for breath and refilled his glass.
“Have you quite finished, Baron?” inquired Uncle Memed with mischief.
The Baron gave him a withering look as he sipped his champagne. “This is no time for levity, Memed. We are discussing the future of your Empire.”
“But I thought we had none. Our history, according to you, has come to an end. The future clearly belongs to the Prussians, which is why I’m pleased we are such close friends. If Istanbul is renamed and handed to the Greeks by the Western powers, I shall move to Berlin.”
Nobody smiled. Everyone present had been struck by the Baron’s words. For a few minutes there was complete silence. Only the roar of the waves outside disrupted the reflective mood. Then my brother Halil, usually very reserved, began to speak again.
“I doubt whether the Western powers will ever agree on the future of Istanbul. Mr Disraeli knows that we have protected the Jews for many centuries. He will not wish the city to be returned to the Greek Church. Bismarck will resist change for fear that the Greeks will be too weak and that either Great Britain or Russia will become the real master of Istanbul. The Pope in Rome will do everything to prevent the re-emergence of a rival. The result of all this will help us rebuild and prosper. Do not imagine that we have all been overcome by inertia. Let me inform the Baron that though I agree with much that he has said, including the fact that this Empire is finished, there are many officers in the Ottoman army, men like myself who are forward-thinking in their approach. We will not let everything crash to the ground. We will carve out a new state from the ruins of