i think this is becoming a series inside the TIL posts now.
still talking about the ottomans.
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fratricide
fratricide is the act of killing one's brother(s).
in the context of the ottomans, upon accession, a sultan was permitted—later expected—to execute his brothers to prevent civil war.
the first major case was Bayezid I, who executed his brother Yakub Çelebi directly after the battle of kosovo in 1389, immediately upon hearing of their father Murad I's assassination. Bayezid summoned Yakub to his tent and had him strangled.
Mehmed II (the conqueror) formalized it into law in the mid-15th century:
"Any of my sons ascend the throne, it acceptable for him to kill his brothers for the common benefit of the people (nizam-i alem). The majority of the ulama (muslim scholars) have approved this; let action be taken accordingly."
damn.
why they did it
ottoman succession had no primogeniture, every male dynast had a claim. history showed what that meant: the ottoman interregnum (1402-1413), an 11-year civil war between Bayezid I's sons after his capture by Timur. endless wars of succession, factions, provinces burning.
so the calculus became: kill a few brothers now, or watch the empire tear itself apart later.
60 princes executed across ottoman history, 16 for actual revolt, 7 for attempted disorder, the rest purely preventive.
peak brutality: Mehmed III in 1595, 19 brothers strangled with silk cords in one night. the youngest was eleven. he'd invited them for a circumcision ceremony.
later evolution
eventually, the ottomans softened it around 1603, fratricide replaced by confinement (the kafes, literally "cage"). Ahmed I refused to kill his mentally handicapped brother Mustafa I, confining him instead.
princes kept alive but isolated in luxurious palace apartments, stained glass windows, servants, concubines, but no military training, no governance experience, constant surveillance. some spent decades confined. Süleyman II: "i have suffered forty years of imprisonment. it is better to die once than to die every day."
this is interesting imo, cause it's expected, in fact, a lot of empires did it. but it was still wild that it was formalized.
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