Emerald Dagger of Ottoman Era in Topkapi Museum

[Zainab_M]

Topkapi emerald dagger



The famous Topkapi Emerald Dagger, encrusted with three emeralds and fifty-three diamonds is a ceremonial armor of the Ottoman era. It was made under the reign of the Ottoman sultan Mahmud I in 1746 and is now on display in the treasury of the Topkapi palace, one of the many splendors of this museum.

The handle and the case of the dagger are made of gold with enameled flower motifs and encrusted with diamonds.  One side of the gold handle is set with three large Colombian emeralds of good color and clarity. At the end of the handle is an octagonal-shaped emerald, set as a cover, which when opened reveals a small watch.

Topkapi Sarayi museum is housed in the Topkapi palace complex that served as the administrative center and residence of the Ottoman Sultans from about 1478 to 1856.  It was built in 1465, an administrative center and residence of the Ottoman Empire.  Topkapi palace complex consisted of dozens of gardens, courtyards and residential and administrative buildings.  It was from the early 1800s that Topkapı gradually lost its residential importance when the sultans of that period built other residences overlooking the Bosphorus (though Topkapi too presented a beautiful view of the Bosphorus).  In 1856 Sultan Abdulmejid I decided to move the court to the newly built Dolmabahce Palace (pronounced Dolma-bachi) until 1923.  Topkapı retained some of its functions, including the imperial treasury, library and mint. 

After the fall of the Ottomans when the fascist and despotic, Kemal Ataturk, became president in October 1923, he chose Dolmabahce Palace as his residence and turned Topkapi into a museum.   Kemal Ataturk nurtured a dislike for Islamic culture and the Ottomans.  He did everything possible to alter the Islamic state of Turkey into a slave market for Europe.  He changed Turkish education by abolishing the Arabic script in Turkish language, replacing with English alphabets.  Offering the Muslim prayer in public was barred.  Islamic dress codes were banned for both women and men.  Both Topkapi complex as well as Aya Sofya Mosque were turned into museums.  This man, Ataturk, a drunkard, a womanizer and a Western puppet, turned the entire awesome Turkish heritage upside down! 

Historical Background
This dagger was actually one of several other valuable gifts that were sent by Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud I (1730-1754) to Iran as a gift for Nadir Shah in 1747.  But unfortunately Nadir Shah was assassinated before the gift reached Iranian territory.  Nadir Shah, founder of the Iranian Afsharid dynasty in 1736, was assassinated in summer of 1747 in Iran.  Immediately the gift was returned to the treasury at Istanbul and became one of the most celebrated treasures in the treasury of the Topkapi Palace Museum.   Various British and European sources have gotten confused over this simple incident claiming that the person of the Sultan’s courier died on the way and the gift made its way back to Istanbul.  Well, it wasn’t the Sultan’s courier but Nader Shah who was killed in Persia reportedly by one of his security guards and then yes, it was just proper that the costly gift must return to the sender. 

Though the Ottomans and Persian rulers were opponents, there was also great diplomacy between these two powers.  Nader Shah too reportedly sent precious gifts to the Ottomans.  However, some historical reports that claim Nader Shah had sent the peacock throne as a gift to the Ottoman Empire is certainly not true. 

In mid 1960s, Hollywood also made a movie titled “Topkapi” with its usual fiction thriller kind of action with a  group thieves scheming to rob the emerald dagger from Topkapi museum.   

The history of the Topkapi Palace and Museum is lengthy and interesting.  The treasury chamber in the Topkapi complex is loaded with Ottoman, Safavid and Mamluk armors such as bows, swords, helmets, matchlocks, rifles.  Some of the swords used by Ottoman fighters in middle ages, presently in the Topkapi museum, are so huge, one wonders how anyone could carry them.  The attractive swords used by Mehmed the Conqueror and Sulaiman the Magnificent are also in Topkapi museum.

If you ever visit Turkey, never forget to visit the Topkapi Palace and its complex.  It is a remarkable landmark and only 4-minutes walk from the gorgeous Blue Mosque in SultanAhmet Square and 4-minutes walk from the famous Aya Sofya Mosque opposite the Blue Mosque.  Two other unforgettable landmarks for tourists in Turkey are Istanbul's Grand Bazar (built in Ottoman era 1461) and the Spice Bazar (built in Ottoman era 1664) at a distance of 20-minutes walk from the Topkapi complex. 

The Ottomans ruled many regions for more than 600 years, and Turkey was the headquarters  of one of the most famous empires in the world.



Emerald dagger in Topkapi museum



And now enjoy some amazing images of Topkapi.


The term 'TopKapi' (توپکاپی) literally means 'Cannon Gate.' 
توپ = Cannon
کاپی = Gate


Fruit hall of Topkapi palace with fruits painted on the walls



Topkapi palace royal mint ottoman era



Tughra of Mehmed II which is a calligraphic monogram with the seal of the sultan's signature



View of the Bosphorus from Topkapi complex



Imperial hall, Topkapi



Photograph of one of the living rooms in Topkapi Palace, Ottoman era.



One of the rooms in the Palace apartment of Queen mother, Valide Sultan, wax pictures



Sultan Selim III holding an audience in front of the Gate of Felicity. Oil on canvas, Topkapi Saryi


Source of all above Topkapi Palace and complex images: Kids Kiddle
   


Related post:
Crescent moon is not a religious Islamic symbol

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Very interesting history.  We saw it when we visited Turkey in early 2000s and took a tour of the Topkapi complex.  Such a long queue of tourists in front of the glass case in the treasury section of Topkapi to see this historical relic.  Additionally souvenir shops in Turkey also sell small replicas of the emerald dagger as symbol of the beautiful city of Istanbul.   Also saw Dolmabahce saray.  But Topkapi is nicer.   Alhumdulilah.

Larger and more closeup image dagger displaying more clearly that there's also an emerald at the tip end of it.  However, let us not forget, these are just ceremonial items of sentimental interest from history, nothing beyond that.





Also enjoyed greatly those Topkapi images from Kid Kiddle.   

Big thanks sis. 

[N. Truth Seeker]

Entertaining piece of history, Subhan'Allah. 

Especially liked the photos of Topkapi fruit hall and its view of the Bosphorus. 

Most modern Western historians prefer to refer to Topkapi only as a "museum."  It's a landmark now and a museum included in it, but it's actually a palace or saray, residential as well as administrative.  That's how it started and remained for hundreds of years. 

Despite the huge monetary worth of such items, their practical value boils down to zero. Apart from its limited materialistic/earthly value, makes me wonder why these are an attraction for robbers.  E.g. Even if there's a massive heist and someone successfully robs this dagger, what can they do with it?  Just about nothing.  The only place they can sell it to would be some other institution that cares and displays rare historical artifacts.  That institution would instantly recognize if someone tried to sell them a well-known stolen relic from some other museum and would immediately inform the police.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Most modern Western historians prefer to refer to Topkapi only as a "museum."  It's a landmark now and a museum included in it, but it's actually a palace or saray, residential as well as administrative.  That's how it started and remained for hundreds of years. 

Despite the huge monetary worth of such items, their practical value boils down to zero. Apart from its limited materialistic/earthly value, makes me wonder why these are an attraction for robbers.  E.g. Even if there's a massive heist and someone successfully robs this dagger, what can they do with it?  Just about nothing.  The only place they can sell it to would be some other institution that cares and displays rare historical artifacts.  That institution would instantly recognize if someone tried to sell them a well-known stolen relic from some other museum and would immediately inform the police.

Absolutely agree with both these points.

[Zainab_M]

Enthralling input Sister Heba.   And yes brother TS.   I too agree to the fullest with both those points you mentioned.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Informative and enjoyable read.

Though the Ottomans and Persian rulers were opponents, there was also great diplomacy between these two powers.  Nader Shah too reportedly sent precious gifts to the Ottomans.  However, some historical reports that claim Nader Shah had sent the peacock throne as a gift to the Ottoman Empire is certainly not true.

 

Btw, what is this about "peacock throne?"  It belonged to the Mughal rulers of Delhi and it was studded with jewels, from what I know.  Though Nader Shah also captured parts of the sub-continent during the mid Mughal rule, did he acquire the peacock throne from the Mughals?  If so, why would he send it to the Ottomans?   Some feedback on history to fill up the blanks would be helpful. 
 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Despite the huge monetary worth of such items, their practical value boils down to zero. Apart from its limited materialistic/earthly value, makes me wonder why these are an attraction for robbers.  E.g. Even if there's a massive heist and someone successfully robs this dagger, what can they do with it?  Just about nothing.  The only place they can sell it to would be some other institution that cares and displays rare historical artifacts.  That institution would instantly recognize if someone tried to sell them a well-known stolen relic from some other museum and would immediately inform the police.

hummm .... but I guess most of these big time heisters who rob valuables from museums don't sell it intact; they dismantle it completely and sell it piece by piece.  Though that would reduce its value and its origin might still be recognizable.

[Zainab_M]

hummm .... but I guess most of these big time heisters who rob valuables from museums don't sell it intact; they dismantle it completely and sell it piece by piece.  Though that would reduce its value and its origin might still be recognizable.

Yes that's a logical point Sister Ruhi, though history of museum robberies have shown that some thieves also sell the stolen items intact. What brother TS mentioned is particularly correct about stolen pieces of art and paintings which cannot be dismantled and it should be easy to catch the thieves when they sell.

Btw, what is this about "peacock throne?"  It belonged to the Mughal rulers of Delhi and it was studded with jewels, from what I know.  Though Nader Shah also captured parts of the sub-continent during the mid Mughal rule, did he acquire the peacock throne from the Mughals?  If so, why would he send it to the Ottomans?   Some feedback on history to fill up the blanks would be helpful. 

Right Sister Ruh.   Nader Shah never sent the peacock throne to the Ottomans, though he might have sent other precious gifts acquired locally in Iran. 

Throne of the Mughal empire often referred to as the “peacock throne” was made on the orders of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jehan, the 5th Mughal emperor.   As you stated, it was encrusted with jewels.  This included the large diamonds, Kohinoor and Darya Noor. It was made of gold and canopied with velvet and silk.  A completely needless show of extravagance despite the prosperity of the subcontinent through the 1600s. 

After Shah Jehan’s death, his younger son, Aurangzeb, became the 6th Mughal emperor. He was pious and committed to the Islamic Faith and was disciplined with a sense of responsibility.   After the death of Aurangzeb, his son Bahadur Shah (I) became the 7th  Mughal emperor. This was the point when the decline of the Mughals began and became rapid with a series of hedonistic and useless emperors coming in and out. It is a startling contrast from the times of the founder of the empire, Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur and his immediate successor.   There ensued a string of bloody infighting between the sons and grandsons of Bahadur Shah (I).  A history that has been manipulated massively with much inconsistencies in accordance with the personal likes and dislikes of personalities by authors /  historians.  All historians have their own agenda based on their social and political values.   I won’t go into that rigmarole which is neither significant nor cheerful.

In 1719 Muhammad Shah, the son of Jahan Shah and the grandson of Bahadur Shah (I) became the 13th emperor of the Mughals at age 17 with the help of some greedy elites.  He was a spineless and pleasure loving man steeped in wine, women and poetry with the nickname of “Rangeela” (merry loving).  When Nader Shah of Persia (Afsharid dynasty) invaded Delhi in 1738, Muhammad Shah  was sorely shaken and far from confronting Nader Shah, the Mughal emperor literally handed him the keys of the treasury and the peacock throne like a piece of candy to a buddy.   However, Nader Shah didn’t stay in India for long.  He departed for Persia in 1739 and also ceded many of the territories back to the Mughal emperor. But Nader Shah did take with himself loads of wealth from his conquest, including the peacock throne.  This was a powerful symbol of Nader Shah’s victory over the Mughals.

In 1747 Nader Shah was assassinated by his bodyguard and Persia descended into chaos. In the anarchy that ensued looters ransacked the palace and dismantled the peacock throne.  However, details on the extent to which the peacock throne was pulled down, looted and the persons in possession of its costly gems are not known in history.  But obviously these encrusted jewels of the dismantled throne went around from hand to hand, and one of the large diamonds (Kohinoor) came to the British who stepped into Persia for the first time in 1856 and thereafter responsible for plenty of political interference and divide-and-rule tactics.  Another story claims that after the death of  Nadir Shah, the Kohinoor diamond was taken by the Afghan general, Ahmad Shah Abdali, who established the Durrani empire in the Afghanistan in 1747 (roughly covering the regions of Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan). A series of nine or ten battles were fought between the Durrani Empire and the Sikhs of Punjab who were more or less independent of the Mughals during this period.  Although the Sikhs won no victories against the Durrani empire, yet the story claims that the diamond was handed over to the Sikh leader, Ranjit Singh, by the Durranis, and the British took it from the Sikhs in 1849 when Punjab was taken over by the East India Company and subsequently the diamond made its way into the British coffers.  But this story is quite certainly not true.   Most likely the British took the diamond from Iran.

[Ruhi_Rose]

I see .... very educative read.  Plenty of thanks dear sis.  I wasn't aware of much of this.  So, that means only Babur, Humayun and Aurangzeb were acceptable leaders ..  the rest were shit, right?   From what I know, altogether there were 20 Mughal emperors.  That's the total.  The last one, Bahadur Shah Zafar or Bahadur Shah (II), was a poet-cum-emperor.  Was he any better than those incompetent lineal predecessors of his?

[Zainab_M]

Yes, out of the 20 Mughal emperors whose reign lasted for about 330 years (1526-1857), only 3 or 4 of them were competent -  Babur, Humayun and Aurangzeb in my opinion.   The last one, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was not a debauch like those starting from Bahadur Shah (I) and  his lineal successors  - sons,  grandsons and great-grandsons.  But Zafar kept stumbling too in different ways.  Though Bahadur Shah Zafar was a poet, he wasn’t into immorality and debauchery and neither did he appreciate the idea of taking orders from the British.  He was very much into Sufism but purportedly some of his Sufi concepts were not compatible with Islamic values.  And he wasn’t too visionary a leader.  Nonetheless, perhaps he would have done better as a king but by the 1850s the Mughal empire had declined and weakened too much, coming to a point of no return.  Reportedly Bahadur Shah Zafar was aware of the intrigues of the British and with a small circle of his supporters he also tried to undermine them.  But eventually he was overpowered by the British occupiers without much difficulty.  The British also had the audacity to frame him on several charges, based on which, they exiled him to horrible Rangoon in Burma where the he eventually died in very poor health and a very unhappy state of mind.

Though one thing also needs to be remembered too.   It's correct that after Aurangzeb the decline started fast and particularly the immediate successors of Bahadur Shah (I) and he himself were hugely lacking in the right qualities of leadership, added to that, their incompetence has also been exaggerated by non-Muslim historians.  Many of these historians have found an opportunity for hype, being aware that since most of the Mughal kings were known for their slackness, no one would question the disinformation spread by dishonest historians.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Right, I get it clearly.

While very little of the Mughal history is heartening, a much larger portion of it is saddening.

In regard to the debauched ones among the Mughals who have been convenient ammunition in the hands of non-Muslim historians, many of those descendants of Bahadur Shah  (I) also married the kuffar Hindus and Sikhs producing “hybrid” bastards who succeeded the throne and were ‘Muslims’ only by name.  Their ideology and approach were that of the days of ignorance in pre-Islamic times. 

It would have been much better if Muhammad bin Qasim and his Ommayad and Abbasid successors who much earlier ruled parts of the subcontinent had mandatorily converted the entire population of south Asia into Muslims.  It would have solved a lot of problems in the future.

[Zainab_M]

You are absolutely right Sister Ruhi about everything you mentioned.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Very interesting discussion.   

They call Nadir Shah the Napoleon of Iran, actually it’s Napoleon who should be known as the Nadir Shah of France .  Nadir Shah  established an empire that stretched from Persia to the Caucasus Mountains.  Napoleon never won that much land.

[Ruhi_Rose]

hummm, good point brother.   

And after Nadir Shah's assassination, who took away the Darya-i-Noor which was also encrusted in the peacock throne?

[Zainab_M]

Darya-i-Noor remained in Iran …. in the Iranian Crown Jewels collection of the Central Bank of Iran in Tehran.  It’s just an artifact for display as there is no monarchy in Iran any longer.  It might have been used by the former Shah’s family for decorating their ostentatious palace.  Not sure about that.