Ekrem Şama: "Candle navy"

Ekrem Şama: "Candle navy"
Date: 31.5.2021 17:00

Milli Gazete columnist Ekrem Şama writes on Istanbul's conquest. Here is the full article.

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Celebrations were held on the 568th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul the other day. Things were written and drawn. We would like to contribute with a little known anecdote on this subject.
 
The siege, which started on April 6, 1453, lasted until May 28, 1453 with various and mutual attacks, and it was the evening when a final attack would be made for the conquest in the morning.
 
Now let's narrate an interesting event that night:
 
In the evening of the night connecting 28 May to 29 May, Sultan Mehmet Khan sent an order to all his army and demanded a "candle navy" be built. This idiom was an order to light and high-pitch vocal actions in all bivouacs.
 
It is pitch dark, lightly rainy and electrified. As per the order received, as soon as it got dark, all the lighting devices on the sea and on the land were burned, and the lines along the siege and the surface of the sea were illuminated as day. Also, all the equipment that could make a noise started to rumble. No matter how big or small there were cannons, they were roaring, and the soldiers were making noise with the sounds of takbir and tehlil. Seven enormous mehter bands from seven hills were playing the highest pitched marches, and the sounds of drums and clarions and rumble of chumps began to make the earth groan.
 
While everyone, both Byzantine soldiers and civilians, was watching this horrific scene with fear and excitement, the soldiers who would receive the good news of the Prophet the next day were getting excited and their motivation was reaching its highest level.
 
The young Sultan was watching this scene with his teacher Akşemseddin from the front of his tent on the ridge of Bayrampaşa. There was a remarkable incident. The lightning bolts constantly flashing towards the place where Hagia Sophia was, almost created a constant scattering. Hodja Aksemseddin:
 
-My lord, look, these are the luminous lights descending on Hagia Sophia. The spiritual meaning of this is that this temple will be a mosque with your auspicious hands tomorrow, he said.
 
At the same time, the Byzantines were watching this terrifying event. But according to them, this flood of light flowing into Hagia Sophia was considered a sign that God had given up helping them.
 
Ztefan Zweig' When we look at the books "Sternstunden der Menschheit" (Star Name of Mankind) written by , they write the appearance of the candle fleet over the walls as follows:
 
“...Suddenly, beyond the city walls, in the darkest hour of the sky, a flood of flames descended from behind the mountains to the waters of the Bosphorus. The fiery dragon was coming towards the city with its mouth open, screaming death cries. The people knelt where they were in fear and began to pray for all the saints they knew. The beast stood before them with its fiery body… People clustered in the streets, praying for the last time to the Holy Spirit to protect their city again…”
 
“...everyone was sure that Constantinople would fall. All the signs predicted in the myths that have been transferred from language to language for years were coming true one by one. The most important reason why the people believed in this end was that the names of the first emperor and the last emperor were the same ... "
 
"Another sign clearly stated in the legends was that the city would fall a few days after the full moon, after the three-hour lunar eclipse that took place on May 22, May 24 was the full moon ..."
 
Byzantine people and soldiers are in a state of fear and panic. At midnight, Sultan Mehmet Khan sent a new order:
 
All fires and lighting devices will be extinguished at the same time. Voices will cease, balls will be silenced, mehter concerts will be interrupted. All of a sudden, the nightmarish silence and darkness had unleashed a new storm of terror among the Byzantine soldiers and people.
 
The task of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Khan, who led his soldiers to attack Istanbul, whose morale had collapsed, to Istanbul, which the Byzantine soldiers and people were trying to defend, was much easier.
 
Let's remember. On the way to the conquest, the Prophet had his soldiers stay overnight in a place close to Mecca and had thousands of fires lit, demoralizing the people of Mecca.
 
Fatih also used the same method, the Byzantine people and soldiers, whose brains were filled with superstitions, the candle fleet; It caused them to be compared to dragons with flames coming out of their mouths and making terrible noises and their morale collapsed.
 
Would it be wrong to accept this scene as a help from Allah?
 
THE HELP OF ALLAH
 
Explore history with the eye of an example,
 
You will find mountains and seas.
 
The struggle between truth and falsehood is obvious,
 
You will find traces of His help...

YEREL HABERLER

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