Читать книгу Hamam Balkania - Vladislav Bajac - Страница 28

It now seemed to him that he might be able to better understand the extremes in the behaviour of those who had converted to the new faith and to reach a greater understanding toward the split character of those who had not done so.

The janissaries were prime representatives of the former. They were used mercilessly as if they had no roots, families or any reason of their own for living. Everything was expunged from their lives so that the drive to serve the sultan could be imprinted in its place. Well trained, they acted accordingly: regardless of the battle tactics of the commanders, as individuals, they penetrated all the boundaries of courage and literally rushed headlong into battle, and often to their deaths. On the other hand, this headlong rush often saved them; seeing them like that, the enemy frequently gave up in battle, often in tactical retreat, and sometimes even running for their lives. In this way Allah, or their former God (or both at the same time), actually saved them from their own madness. That is why they were uncontrollable in their victories. Using the far-reaching reputation of their intrepidness, they often plundered, raped, tortured and murdered at will. Unless the sultan or the grand vizier personally forbid them. Not only did they take delight in the role of proving their bloodthirstiness, they also showed their loyalty beyond all limits of good taste. And when something of the spoils did not fall into their hands, they also uncontrollably raised their voice against their commander and showed him that same unbridled impudence that was even able to upset the ruler. The ruler would in turn delegate the grand vizier to quiet them down. There were cases when, at such moments, they paid him no heed either and thus managed to overthrow him; even killing a few of the grand viziers along the way. However, when they were content with the booty, they would again become fanatically obedient to their lord, behaving as if nothing at all had happened.

Bajica interpreted such behaviour as a kind of madness, because it could not be explained with reasonable arguments. Their rebellions were violent, fast, heated and dangerous. As soon as their demands were fulfilled, and when the leaders had been punished, the uprising would die out with equal speed and determination. These abrupt changes in their disposition kept the rulers under a constant tension. Truth be told, in that tension there was a kind of justice; if unquestioning loyalty was wanted, then the rulers had to count on the occasional risks that such allegiance implied.

Although this behaviour among the janissaries was essentially caused by their proselytisation, it seemed to Bajica that it was not the fundamental reason. After all, these men became part of a living legend as time went by. That legend, primarily according to military standards, rightly made them into elite units that were unmatched either in the sultan’s army or any other.

If the coals of their former faith glowed beneath the flame of their new one, this too could be seen among the agas, beys, pashas and other commander-converts. In order to advance as quickly, easily and indubitably as possible, many of them became greater subjects of Allah than most of the Ottomans. Much more complicated were those who remained divided in their loyalties.

It was easiest to die. Any infidel could afford himself that luxury just by immediately, clearly and completely showing that he did not want to convert to the new faith. Yet, even that was not enough to receive the death sentence. Namely, the Ottomans did not think they should be opposed in their ideas. To the contrary, they forced no one (except those chosen for the devshirma) to convert to their faith. Death came only if someone drew a weapon on them.

To a certain extent, it was harder to not accept Islam and remain a subject with one’s own faith. But it was even more difficult to not forsake one’s faith, and go into the service of another! To others, this certainly looked like cupidity. But what other choices were there? Had staying alive become something unnatural? Shameful? Should one die in order to exist? Extinguish an entire nation only to go on procreating? And how does one do that?

All of these questions were a burden on his soul. He had not yet met anyone who could even pose these questions clearly, much less answer them. The most he could do was to gather partial answers from those around him.

Thus, just as his whole nation was divided in two halves, neither of which could be naturally defended by a foreign entity, so it was that every individual was divided in half, yet did not have anything to say about it. Or, perhaps, for some of his compatriots that decision had not been made. But there was a trap in front of the decision: when making that decision, the only thing that was impossible was to remain true to oneself and oneself alone.

It was quite fortunate that such great questions without answer came up right in the middle of a military campaign, and Bajica was forced to end this sort of self-torture and go on with his participation in the events of the day.

The conflict on the swampy battle field at Mohacs between the two armies or, better said, the Hungarian heavily armoured, and therefore hardly manoeuvrable, cavalry against the Ottoman cannons, lasted for only two hours. The Hungarians were scattered by the artillery and did not even manage to engage the enemy cavalry or infantry. Bogged down in the mud, they were sitting ducks. King Lajos II himself was killed in battle. The road to Budapest lay open. On that road, Bajica saw all the abilities of his new friend. With marvellous ease, Sinan found new solutions when faced with new challenges. This he did quickly, without a lot of talk, moving past a job done as if it had never happened and finding a solution for the next problem. At one moment after the battle, he said to Bajica, “On the same date, August 29, I’ve witnessed two victories in the last five years: in 1521 at Belgrade, and on the same day, five years later, at Mohacs.”

Both the Vizier and the Sultan assigned Sinan to independently lead operations. Not only did he prove to be agile in solving all sorts of technical problems, he also distinguished himself with his ability to communicate with the craftsmen and builders with a special kind of respect in his commands, so that he achieved incredible efficiency in those operations. Everyone gladly and whole-heartedly participated in all phases of the work. Altogether he possessed remarkable organisational skills: as an officer he knew how to evaluate a situation, giving timely, precise and correct orders; as an engineer he proved his knowledge, and as a supervisor he showed that he cared about those who worked under him. In the system run by the Grand Vizier and the Sultan, this path was unusual, but they allowed him to go down it because he was so useful to them. For example, since the settlement of Osijek was completely destroyed on their way to Budim, it was no problem for Sinan to immediately issue the order for its renovation and rebuilding. Departing from the place, he left behind only a couple of agas and craftsmen who quickly employed the inhabitants and immediately began construction according to his plans. Even the newly created vassals were impressed by the decisiveness and speed with which the conquered towns were re-built without delay. This simultaneously improved the image that the Ottomans left among the common folk and the subjugated nobles. On their account, Sinan created, if not respect, at least an alternative to the cruelty.