This paper considers gifting customs between the Ottoman ruler and officers at the Royal Festivity celebrating Prince Mehmeds circumcision in Istanbul in 1582. By analyzing business and accounting records, the customs for gifting and forms of rewards are elucidated.
At the circumcision festival in 1582, a wide variety of gifts were presented both domestically and from abroad. Gifts, especially from within the empire, followed the contemporary gifting customs with regard to the types of items and their quantity. A combination of luxury fabrics and vessels was considered to be the basic style, and ritualistically, the number of items was based on the odd numbers so esteemed in the Islamic world. These gifting customs were well rooted and known in the 16th-century Ottoman Empire, especially for the local officers such as beylerbeyis and sancakbeyis.
In return, Sultan Murad III gave rewards in various ways. Generally, vassals were rewarded with luxury fabrics and kaftans signifying honours and possessions. These cases also confirmed that cash or tax collection rights, serving vassals as regular income, were given by the Sultan.
As for the role of fabrics in the gift exchanges, fabrics were gathered to Istanbul from various areas and some of them were then delivered to the two treasuries of the Empire. In addition, it was fabrics and kaftans made by luxury fabrics that were rewarded to vassals. In other words, fabrics useful as high-quality gifts also functioned as a medium signifying loyalty and protection between the Ottoman ruler and officers in the gift-exchange system of the Ottoman Empire.
