Mevlüt to revive interest in Ottoman lineage, fulfill legacy

“It's not just a ceremony; it's a responsibility left to us, the descendants of Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa and his family,” says Saynaç, an eighth-generation descendant of the vizier and a member of the Damat İbrahim Paşa ve Eşi Fatma Sultan Darül-Hadis Kütüphane Vakfı. “They set up these foundations that participated in an array of charitable activities, but these foundations were also designed to last, and left responsibilities to their administrators, such as the performance of annual ceremonies to honor those who set them up.”

The mevlüt will mark the 279th anniversary of the vizier's Oct. 1, 1730 death. “I've organized this mevlüt to honor Damat İbrahim Paşa and his family, to fulfill my responsibility as his descendant, to bring together the members of this family after all this time,” Saynaç said. What began as her personal journey to document her relationship to Ottoman ancestors became a passion for reviving an interest in Ottoman heritage when she realized that the foundation connected to her ancestors had been reduced significantly since the heyday of the Ottomans, with little interest in maintaining the premises or activities started by the grand vizier.

In the later days of the Ottoman Empire, the vakıf (foundation, also waqf) system of real estate leasing was the only way for owners of expansive properties to protect their assets. Sultans and their families, viziers and other members of the gentry would establish a foundation that would manage their properties, which often included vast complexes with mosques, libraries and also a number of shops and markets nearby. When the republic was founded, however, the administration of these foundations -- and their assets -- was absorbed by the state. While some larger complexes, such as the Blue Mosque, continued to host many of their traditional activities, as the Ottomans fell out of style, the foundations established by other figures, like the damat, also fell largely into disrepair. Today, the mosque complex that also houses his grave and the grave of 23 of his relatives is in serious need of maintenance and restoration.

“Among the duties of relatives in the charters of these foundations were that mevlüt ceremonies be held annually to commemorate the family that started the foundations that did all of this work,” Saynaç said.

What it takes to be a grandchild of the Ottomans

While anyone can claim to be the descendant of Ottoman royalty -- and many do -- membership in the foundations established by figures such as Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa requires proof of lineage. Saynaç explains: “First, you have to have some inkling that you're related to such a figure. If your family does not have any old records kept, then there's no way you would have any idea.” Family trees and records of births and deaths traditionally kept by the oldest male in the family through Ottoman times are usually the first step, Saynaç explains.

“After determining this, you still need to find official documentation, usually in the form of official state birth records. You trace these back and open a court case to declare your ancestry and relations -- you can submit family trees and genealogical charts, but only as supplementary information -- after which the court determines the veracity of your claims and rules that you are related to who you say you are,” she said.

The task is made difficult, however, by the sudden shift in language that came along with the early stages of the Turkish Republic -- the swift changes in the language and to the alphabet had the effect of almost instantly making a break between one generation and the next. Saynaç spends a great deal of her free time poring over family trees written by her grandfather in the Ottoman Turkish script, carefully translating them into modern Turkish and comparing them with the scripts and names on tombstones. “Sometimes you can't make out what is written somewhere, what a name is supposed to be -- so there will always be mysteries,” she said.

For over five years, Saynaç has worked to contact long-lost relatives of the vizier and will culminate her work by organizing tomorrow's mevlüt, which she hopes will become an annual event. She has worked closely with İsa Dumangöz, who has for 17 years served as the imam at the Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa Mosque.

The Ottoman tradition of mevlüt ceremonies

A mevlüt is a Turkish tradition stretching back to the Ottoman times in which a group sings a poem in praise of the Prophet Muhammad as an audience follows along. Stanzas of the poem are interspersed with recitation from the Quran. “While the mevlüt [poem itself] has no basis in Islam, as a cultural practice, it is important in maintaining our ties with our Ottoman past and roots,” Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa Mosque Imam Dumangöz explained. “In this case, the ceremony is particularly important in keeping the Ottoman spirit alive, marking the death of important historical and cultural figures and remembering the past.”

Many mevlüt poems have been penned around the world in honor of Prophet Muhammad, but the most popular among the over 60 such poems written in Turkey was composed by Süleyman Çelebi in 1409, Dumangöz explained. In Turkey, mevlüts are commonly organized on the day after someone's death by their relatives and then on the seventh and 40th days after the passing, and annually thereafter to honor the person. A meal is served or special packages of sweets (mevlüt şekeri) are distributed to attendees. Mevlüts are open to the public, generally held after noontime prayers at a mosque so that those joining in the congregational prayer at the mosque can also participate.

This Sunday's mevlüt and family reunion will be held at the Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa Mosque (adjacent to the Şehzadebaşı Mosque) in Eminönü following the noon prayer, at around 1:30 p.m., and is open to the public.