The arrival of the sultan at Okmeydanı: End of the procession
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16a |
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15b |
Levni depicts the climax of the sultan’s procession in three separate contingents. The first contingent, shown in (15b), is led by Mehmed Agha, the steward of the Doormen, and the Bostanji grandmaster. Both are mounted and are dressed in patterned silk kaftans and the mücevveze turban. The sultan, who seems almost lost in the throng, follows them on a gray horse fitted with golden and jeweled trappings. The middle of the three men marching before the sultan (the one with his head turned back and wearing a white conical cap) is the assistant master of the Privy Stables. To his left and right are the Bostanji grandmaster’s lieutenant and his assistant. Marching immediately behind the sultan are the eight "stirrup solaks" (four on each side). These were guardsmen who could be trusted enough to come within arm’s reach of the sultan. The whole lot is enclosed on either side by a line of peyks armed with lances and of solaks armed with bows. The three turbaned figures in the lower left corner presage the second frame (16a), which shows the remaining two contingents and is rather anticlimactic compared with the densely-packed first. The red-capped horseman carrying a sword set in a gilded scabbard over his right shoulder is the sultan’s sword-bearer. Riding beside him is the chief of the "stirrup aghas", the sultan’s equerries. Before them march some Enderun aghas and on either side are some more bostanjis with their bright red cloth caps. The last contingent is led by Beşir Agha, the chief of the Black Eunuchs, dressed in a yellow fur-lined kaftan and accompanied by Bostanji sergeants in conical caps.
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