Chapter 23
Murad’s Rule, The Habanerian Flight
and Hasan’s Accession
Murad Bey as regent.
Murad’s Rule, The Habanerian Flight
and Hasan’s Accession
Murad Bey as regent.
Murad Bey - named as regent and acclaimed by his troops – entered Baghdad. At the head of a long procession, followed closely by his soldiers and officers, he observed the city quietly. Its many domes, palaces and shops contrasted fiercely with the people’s mourning for the late Caliph Isma’il. Buried in Constantinople, he left his vast empire to his nine year old son. Both due to the immense prestige he had acquired for his actions during the Battle of Vienna and the loyal army that he lead, Murad was declared regent until Hasan was old enough to rule. While Hasan, much like his grandfather, Muhammad II, pursued his studies with great zeal - devouring astronomical and military treatises from Europe and elsewhere with equal appetite – Murad Bey soon grew bored. He was a man of action, a warrior. He felt trapped, forced to solve every petty quarrel between the courtiers and the bureaucracy. He found his refuge in women, and his affairs were soon notorious, all while neglecting the administration of the sprawling empire he once desired. Soon, this distraction too grew faint, and Murad Bey felt trapped. Of the city, he knew only the corridors and rooms of the palace, since his duties barely allowed him to explore the city. He began to delegate his powers, once so jealously guarded. A council was set up, consisting of Murad himself, the Grand Vizier Karim Nagi, the head of the diplomatic service, Quasim Sultan, several minor courtiers and Hasan himself, as the nominal head.
With his burden lessened, Murad was to petition it to allow him to lead a campaign in Al-Andalus, so as to punish the perpetrators of recent raids – ‘correrias’ - on the Muslim border. Seeing this as an easy way to remove Murad and his troops – who, if not the will, had the power to enforce their wishes on the council – they acceded, since the general’s proposal did not invoke a state of war with Spain nor the Western Leagues.
Arriving several months later at the head of a small army to Isbiliya (formerly Seville), Murad was soon to make his purpose clear. Seizing control of the governorate of Al-Andalus, he conscripted much of the newly-settled Arabic population – which constituted an increasingly larger part of the population as the Christians assimilated or fled north (or to the new Spanish colonies) – into the army and imposed new taxes to finance this venture. His opposition was quelled by force of arms, and he soon marched to Madrid, the capital of the Spanish Empire. Catching the Spanish by surprise – Murad was fighting an undeclared war - he managed to accomplish most of his goals, capitalizing on the enemy armies’ disorganization and the many troops at his disposal, who, despite his methods, saw him as the Caliphate’s savior, having rescued victory from the jaws of defeat at Vienna. Still, as news of his transgressions began to trickle through diplomatic channels, the government in Baghdad found itself caught in crossfire. Blamed at the same time for their dishonorable – even for ‘infidels’ – and undeclared war (this being exacerbated by the supposed truce that was still in effect with the Spanish Monarchy) the Foreign Office – under Quasim Sultan, who had become a sworn enemy of Murad’s – had little option but to accept the brunt of their Generalissimo’s actions, lest they admit that Murad Bey’s actions were dissentious and give out an image of weakness. While the Council was incensed at his actions, they could do little until the dust settled, and for now, that meant allowing Murad to end his campaign.
The newly-implemented Spanish Tercio, a pike and shot formation, though very effective, could not make up for the Spanish Army's disorganization and low morale.
Even with the initial offensive ground to a halt, the Spanish lacked their former tenaciousness; Murad remarked in his journal that they – at least the higher ranks - did not seem like men fighting a desperate battle to defend their homeland. Courtly records indicate that shortly before the Murad’s campaign, the idea of relocating the monarchy to its fledgling American colonies seemed to gain some popularity, although not among the royal family itself and a large circle of supporters, who were still determined to retake the lost southern lands. Continued failures in this venture, together with the Caliphate’s expressed desire to control the entire peninsula and Murad Bey’s lightning invasion were to change their opinion.
The Iberian Peninsula after Murad Bey's campaign.
General Murad came down with a fever some time during May 1556. Bedridden and with less and less support for his invasion as time went on, he dictated peace terms to the Spanish King, Carlos I. The – Portuguese – Western Leagues of Lisbon, Oporto and Beira (whose internecine wars kept them from presenting any real opposition to the Muslim invasion) were integrated into the Caliphate, and Spain was left with a narrow corridor of land in the Peninsula’s northern reaches, much like the Astorian Kingdom after the first Arab invasions. With much of their territories lost, Carlos I took perhaps the most important step in his nation’s history: the Habanerian Flight.
*********************
The Habanerian Flight and the New Order in the Spanish Colonies
The Spanish Court flees to New Spain, followed by many.
The Habanerian Flight and the New Order in the Spanish Colonies
The Spanish Court flees to New Spain, followed by many.
Thought originally as a stop-gap by most of Carlos’s entourage, the court’s move to Havana - then the most advanced of the Spanish colonies and seat of the Viceroy of New Spain – is an event of seminal importance in the Americas’ history. The influx of a large number of wealthy, knowledgeable individuals – nobles, bureaucrats, clergymen – turned what was a relatively backwater settlement into a thriving European capital in a few decades’ time. It is also notable for being a movement not only of the aristocracy and the learned sectors of society, but also of the common people. Faced with oppression as ‘dhimmi’[1] under the Caliphate’s rule and forced to accommodate the many Arabic settlers that trickled every day from the Maghreb and beyond, many – even from the independent lands to the north, still in Spanish hands - took the perilous voyage to the Caribbean on their king’s tracks. They were soon to be joined by other Catholics fleeing France and the Holy Roman Empire during the Forty Years’ War.
Nonetheless, even then, the Spaniards were at a serious numerical disadvantage to the natives of the lands they now peopled – even after these had been decimated by an onslaught of European diseases they had no immunity against. Intermarriage between the Europeans and the locals – even if somewhat discouraged by the higher circles, who valued ‘pure’ blood – was to, over the centuries, create a new people. Catholic and Spanish-speaking, they were nonetheless different from their forefathers, whether in skin color or customs. These 'mestizos', descended from both natives and Europeans, were to gain – at least de iure – rights on par with the pure-blooded Europeans through the Edicts of 1623 and 1630, even if only due to constituting the majority of the population.
The backbreaking labor necessary to harvest and process the cash crops – coffee, tobacco, sugar, cotton – so desired by Europe soon introduced yet another factor to this new society – slaves. Brought from Africa – especially the so-called ‘Slave Coast’ - in inhumane conditions on slave-ships, filled to the prim with their cargo and toiling endlessly under the plantation system, these were at the very bottom of society, yet were collectively responsible for its affluence.
The 'Slave Coast' and the surrounding region, a focal point of the slave trade, 1729.
With the region’s tropical climate granting bountiful harvests, food was plentiful and New Spain – as it began to be called – had a favorable economic balance, selling mainly precious minerals from its mines – gold, gemstones and silver – to a Europe hungry for bullion and cash crops for an increasingly wealthy one, able to afford wealth and luxury. Efforts were undertaken during the 17th century to encourage manufacturing, but at this stage New Spain's domains exported essentially raw materials that were transformed in Europe, much like the American colonies of France and England.
Slaves working in a Spanish plantation, circa 1600.
This migration was concomitant with the settling of parts of South Africa by European – mainly Portuguese – settlers, who prospered in the mild – compared to the Caribbean’s frequent tropical storms and heat – regions surrounding Cape Town. Mostly cut off from the world’s trade network after the collapse of the Lisboeta Empire (until the Cape route was re-opened at the close of the 16th century) the region lacked the prosperity of Havana but was far more palatable due to its climate and security. The local natives traded extensively with the Capuenses[2], and were mostly friendly and open to conversion. Isolated for half a century, the former Portuguese colony was to develop its own dialect, extensively influenced by local native languages. This originated the Capuense Falas (‘dialects’), who are the only surviving descendent of the Portuguese language with a substantial number of speakers, with estimates pointing to a figure around forty two million speakers total.
*********************
Caliph Hasan's Accession
Caliph Hasan's Accession
After recovering, and with support for him dwindling in the provinces, Murad left for Baghdad at the urging of Caliph Hasan III himself[3]. Once there, he was, unsurprisingly, placed on trial for treason. His abuse of power during the previous campaign, his continued indifference to the Council’s orders and the Army’s loyalty to him had earned him many enemies inside and outside the palace. With the army leaders pressuring the Caliph to release him, Hasan – facing the threat of being deposed - shortly before the end of the regency, was to order for the death of Murad Bey, who died from poisoning by scorpion venom. While having rid himself of a dangerous enemy quickly, he also managed to turn the Army, a ferocious enemy when provoked, against him.
Caliph Hasan III.
His father’s permanent absence to coordinate his campaigns[4] and his attendance of the Council’s meetings had caused Hasan’s upbringing to have been made at court, where he soon acquired a taste for intrigue and deceit. One of his nannies wrote often of his worrying behavior, saying that he ‘expressed supreme relish in pitting his brothers against each other for his amusement and benefit’. A born manipulator – he was later referred by his detractors as ‘the Snake’ – he preferred to enforce his rule by dividing his opponents, to the point where he funded both sides during the Forty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire and the Wars of Religion in France in order to escalate these conflicts and to be able to focus on Russia, his staunchest external enemy.
He worked tirelessly to remove the army leaders who opposed his rule, and while his draconian tactics nearly drove the entire Army to mutiny and rebellion, he managed to resolve these delicate matters ensuring his rule. The Caliph and Karim Nagi, his Vizier, spent the following years ‘healing’, so to speak, the country from his father and Murad’s military spending. He repaired and enhanced roads along major arteries of commerce and his records even indicate vaguely that an idea akin to the Suez Canal was proposed, but later scraped due to being too costly. He instructed Admiral Suleiman, a prominent Turkish seaman, to clamp down on piracy, especially in the Indian Ocean, where the vacuum left by the Lisboetas had enabled so-called ‘Sea Lords’ – half traders, half pirates - to arise in their stead. Seeing their success in Europe, he authorized the creation of several trading companies – which allowed more secure investments in larger enterprises - to promote large-scale commerce and encouraged the nobility to participate in these new ventures.
The prosperity that characterized his reign guaranteed the loyalty of nearly every sector of society to their Caliph.
From this period onwards a greater influx of goods, aided by vessels – modeled on the Spanish galleons and other European ships - that possessed a far higher tonnage and allowed greater quantities of cargo to be transported at relatively small prices, was to revitalize trade and enrich the Caliphate. Caliph Hasan III also endeavored to better the military sciences, establishing several new military schools and state armories.
Hasan's measures resulted in an increase in the Army's effectiveness and discipline.
While he was enormously successful in ruling and bettering his domains, Hasan entertained himself with wanton intrigue and lavish ceremonies; he is said to have consumed profuse quantities of wine and to have engaged in matters - not of this work’s scope - with several women. He did all of this in plain sight, until the Ulema’s anger boiled over and several key clergymen began condemning his actions. Knowing he shouldn’t tamper with the clergy through his usual methods, he issued a fatwa to expiate his sins: he was to bring the House of Peace, Allah’s words, to Italy.
Muslim rule in Italy would not be something new. Although entirely absent from the consciousness of its inhabitants, who saw Rome - and by extension the Peninsula – as the center of Christendom, Muslim emirates and sultanates had once flourished in Sicily and Naples before being driven out by the Normans under Roger I; even then, the Caliphate’s incursions in Italy were notorious, with the sacking of Rome in 1500 during the 11th Crusade. With the Mediterranean under his control, as well as the isle of Sicily, Hasan had an easy springboard for his ambitions. His target was the Kingdom of Naples, to where the Habsburgs had been exiled after Friedrich von Drasche became king in Austria.
Naples, the new Habsburg capital.
Soon he began to prepare the invasion. He enlisted the help of the Bosporan Republic, with several galleasses and 3,000 men, and persuaded Florence, the Caliphate’s old Italian ally, to participate in the war as well. Florence had reached its apogee a few decades before, encompassing all of Tuscany, Romagna, the river Po’s estuary, as well as Venice’s subservience. This power came at a price. The Pazzi Kings of Tuscany made many enemies in Italy, and were driven out during the War of the Mantovan League. Florence was reduced to the central, inland regions of Tuscany, with the Pisan League and the Duchy of Ferrara being reestablished and Romagna given back to the Pope. Hasan offered to return Florence’s central Italian holdings in exchange for its help.
Thus, the plans were set, and the Muslim troops disembarked in Reggio di Calabria, Italy's southernmost tip, on July 25th, 1567.
*********************
Notes
[1] ‘People of the Book’. Jews and Christians under Muslim rule were tolerated, but given an inferior status to Muslims and being forced to pay the Jizya tax. Just as zeal waxed and waned, they were at times more or less pressured to convert to Islam.
[2] The name the inhabitants of Cidade do Cabo, and by extension, the European settlers of South Africa gave themselves. It draws an intentional allusion to the ancient Roman city of Capua, famed for its wealth, which shares the same demonym in the Falas.
[3] Murad Bey, already an old man, acceded to being taken to Baghdad – to face a certain trial – since, much like to Isma’il, he retained a great deal of loyalty to Hasan, as his successor. Still, if he had refused, he would have put himself in a very delicate situation, being branded a traitor and having his name tarnished forever.
[4] Isma’il returned to Baghdad only twice during his reign, entrusting the central government to a multitude of ministers while he coordinated military and civil efforts closer to the front. Isma’il was to occupy the newly-created positions of Governor of Al-Andalus and of Rumelia after their conquest, only surrendering them to appointed governors once he prepared for a new invasion.
*********************
Notes
[1] ‘People of the Book’. Jews and Christians under Muslim rule were tolerated, but given an inferior status to Muslims and being forced to pay the Jizya tax. Just as zeal waxed and waned, they were at times more or less pressured to convert to Islam.
[2] The name the inhabitants of Cidade do Cabo, and by extension, the European settlers of South Africa gave themselves. It draws an intentional allusion to the ancient Roman city of Capua, famed for its wealth, which shares the same demonym in the Falas.
[3] Murad Bey, already an old man, acceded to being taken to Baghdad – to face a certain trial – since, much like to Isma’il, he retained a great deal of loyalty to Hasan, as his successor. Still, if he had refused, he would have put himself in a very delicate situation, being branded a traitor and having his name tarnished forever.
[4] Isma’il returned to Baghdad only twice during his reign, entrusting the central government to a multitude of ministers while he coordinated military and civil efforts closer to the front. Isma’il was to occupy the newly-created positions of Governor of Al-Andalus and of Rumelia after their conquest, only surrendering them to appointed governors once he prepared for a new invasion.
*********************
Go procrastination!*
*Sorry for the delay
Last edited: