Kadırga: The Sultan’s Galley

INA archaeologists are currently studying Kadırga, a ship so well known to Ottoman history that its name means simply “Galley.” Why is this vessel so important that it has become the galley in distinction to all others? Erkut Arcak offers some suggestions.

Fig. 1. The view from the stern towards the bow of Kadırga.

Fig. 2. The kiosk of Kadırga.

Kadırga, also known as the Sultan’s galley, on display in the Naval Museum in Istanbul, is the only original historic galley still in existence (fig.1). It was previously thought to date to the mid-seventeenth century based on an inscription –assumed to name Mehmed IV (1648-1687)- adorning the galley’s kiosk or canopied deck cabin at the stern (fig.2). However, additional research suggests an even earlier construction date. Dr. Cemal Pulak and I initiated an investigation of the Sultan’s galley in June of 1999, in order to study and document the vessel in detail (fig.3). We proposed to examine the extant remains of the hull and details of construction, to document the various renovations and restorations the vessel underwent during its long lifetime, and to place the ship within a broader historical context.

Our investigations are far from complete, but they suggest that the keel, posts, and nearly all of the hull planking has been replaced (fig.4). Over the years of service, parts of the ship wore out and new parts were substituted, one at a time. Despite the past renovations and restorations, Kadırga still contains some original timbers. Although it has seen significant modifications that have altered its original form, the ship is preserved in its entirely. Thus, it can expand our knowledge of a type of ship for which we otherwise have only a few poorly preserved archaeological examples. 

We have no accounts of when Kadırga was built or to whom it belonged. An inscription on the stern cabin names a certain Mehmed, so there is a common belief that Kadırga belonged to Mehmed IV, nicknamed “The Hunter.” However, the vessel may have belonged to Sultan Mehmed II (1444-1446, 1451-1481), the conqueror of Constantinople, who was the first Ottoman Sultan known to possess a private galley decorated with precious stones on the kiosk. In a provocative article, Lucien Basch asserts that Kadırga might have belonged not only to Mehmed II, but previously to the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaeologos Dragazes (1449-1453). The venerable ship is decorated with dragon-like figures; unlike a typical dragon with four legs, the beast depicted on the galley has only two legs. These do not recall Ottoman decorative style.

Still other scholars have speculated that Kadırga was built in Venice and given to an Ottoman Sultan as a gift, with the kiosk added later in Constantinople. If the cabin was not constructed at the same time as the ship. The Sultan in the inscription – whether Mehmed II, Mehmed III (1595-1603), or Mehmed IV – may not have been the first monarch to own the vessel. An archival search at the Istanbul Naval Museum has revealed several records that refer to Kadırga as first belonging to Mehmed IV. It is impossible to conclude that the authors of these documents knew any more than we do.

Still some evidence may illuminate the galley’s story. The first supporting evidence about the origin of Kadırga is found on a seventeenth-century Ottoman miniature (Sah-Nami-Nadiri). This depicts Sultan Osman II (1618-1622) on his galley as he returns from his expedition to the fortress of Hotin in Hungary (fig.5). The decorations, shape of the kiosk, and the beasts on the galley shown in this miniature are sufficiently clear to suggest that the galley is Kadırga. There are aspects of the miniature that are different from the present galley –26 oars on the miniature as opposed to 24, and the beasts on the prow rather than at the stern. These may be the result of artistic license, although Basch argues that the after end of each outrigger-box (apostis) at a later date. It is possible, then, that this may be the first known representation of Kadırga in Ottoman miniature art.

Fig. 5. Osman II returning from Hotin on a galley that may have been Kadırga. Courtesy the Topkapý Museum, Istanbul (Reference H1124 Folio 74a).

The second clue may be that of a galley carrying the Sultana Valide (Sultan’s mother), drawn by Nicolaes Witsen in 1671 (fig.6). Distinctive features resembling Kadırga include the presence of 24 oars, the kiosk, and a distinctive silhouette with a very slight sheer, quite unlike the more pronounced sheer of Ottoman galleys known to have been built in the seventeenth century.

 

A Sultan’s galley was represented again in the seventeenth century by another miniature (Gazneli Mahmut Albumu). Although this illustration of a galley under oar on the Bosporus is not as detailed as the others, it is known that the galley belonged to an Ottoman Sultan. The decorations, beast figures, and kiosk again suggest Kadırga.

After its long life in the service of the Sultans, Kadırga was retired (we do not know when) and stored in the Imperial Boathouse of the Topkapi Palace. Whether because of its glamorous appearance or respect for earlier possessors, Kadırga has never been a derelict. We must also ask whether it was protected for its symbolic significance as a victory trophy by the Ottoman Sultans throughout its active career.

On March 27, 1861, an article about Kadırga was published in Sehbal, an Istanbul newspaper. The article mentioned that a French naval architect came to Istanbul and recorded Kadırga while it was stored in the Topkapi palace boathouse. This was the first known documentation of the ship, which was published in Admiral Paris’s famous 1908 Souvenirs de Marine Conserves.

The first known restoration of Kadırga was made in 1885 after an official request for repair and preservation was signed, presumably by order of Abdülhamid II (1876-1908). The decayed planks below the waterline were replaced, and the ship was renovated from spur to stern. After the restoration, Kadırga was housed under an awning in the Yaliköskü shipshed of the Topkapi Palace until it was transferred to Kasimpasa Imperial Shipyards in 1913.

Despite the constant on overhaul processes, the storage facilities for Kadırga did not protect it from it from the ravages of the time, and the ship continued. To deteriorate further. Consequently, in 1944 restoration of the kiosk section was initiated by the Topkapi Palace Museum staff, and in 1950 most of the hull was repainted and the decorations on the heavy outrigger stringer were redrawn and painted in by the members of the Art Faculty of Istanbul U niversity.When the new Naval Museum was opened at Besiktas in 1953, the Turkish government decided to transfer Kadırga and the Imperial caiques from Kasimpasa to Besiktas. This was to be Kadırga’s last trip on the Bosporus. However, this time it was necessary to transport the aged vessel by barge (fig.7). From 1953 to 1970, the kiosk was removed from the ship and displayed in a separate room. Before the ship was placed on exibit, one final major restoration was undertaken.

During this period, the communities of Istanbul and it was believed to possess sacred power. After a visit to the Imperial Boathouse in Yaliköskü, Halil Ethem Bey published an article about Kadırga that recounted the myth surrounding the ship during those days:

I became extremely interested in the palace upon hearing stories that an ancient Venetian galley was stored there. One day I asked my friend Osman Aga about the palace. Osman Aga was one of the Chief Oarsmen at the Palace. He told me that the galley was the most extraordinary relict from the days of Sultan Mehmed “the Hunter”. It possessed spiritual powers and every night an oil lamp was lighted on top of it. He told me several other strange and frightening tales concerning the galley, so that I simply had to see it. The next day I obtained permission to do so.

The guildsmen took me inside the boathouse. Fascinated, and with deep respect, we walked around the great hull. As a special favor for me they lifted back the tarp covering the stern cabin.

The kiosk was worked in ivory and mother of pearl, and decorated with rock crystal and turquoise (stones).I was tremendously moved standing next to this most venerable object.The guildsmen gave me a handful of dust from some of the decaying wood. I left the boathouse filled with awe.

By the end of the century, after the guildsmen who took care of imperial caiques (ceremonial barges), and especially Kadırga, were abolished, the legend slowly waned and the ship was nearly forgotten. Dismissed from memory, the ship began to deteriorate: the paint began to spall, the mother-of-pearl and tortise-shell ornamentation fell off, and the engraved silver plaques adorning the kiosk were stolen.

When the Ottoman government decided to demolish the Imperial Boathouse, Kadırga and the all the Sultan’s caiques were transfered on March 27,1913 to the Imperial Shipyards across the Golden Horn in Kasimpasa. The total expense of this trip was 22,810 kuru which was provided by the Seraglio’s budget during the reign of Sultan Mehmed V (1908-1915).Kadırga was afloat on the Bosporus for the last time during this transfer to the shipyard.Deterioration had taken its toll, but according to some not a drop of water was taken on.

Despite the weakened state of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Kadırga was not completely forgotten. In a 1917 museum catalog, Ali Sami Bey, director of the Naval Museum, gave a brief description of the ship. This focused on original decorative painted carvings of Kadırga, still preserved despite a long period of deterioration.Due to collapsing economy, there was no funding for the preservation of the vessel.

When it survived the demise of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, Kadırga was in a “somewhat dilapidated condition” as described by Commander F.G.Schurr. According to the pair of photographs taken at Kasimpasa shipyards, and published in Mariner’s Mirror in 1923, the Iower strakes were decayed and parted from each other. However, with the new republic in Turkey, Kadırga was restored and renovated by order of the new government.

The condition of Kadırga seems to have been very good by 1939, to judge by a photograph then published in a National Geographic Magazine article about the new face of Turkey. By comparing in the stern strakes on the photographs, it is clear that another major restoration, for which no documents exist in the states archives, must have taken place between 1923 and 1939.