1453 (Book / Kitap)

1453 is one of the turning points of history. Mr.Crowley did excellent job to describe events, person, and facts related to capture of Istanbul. Two main characters Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Constantine XI are well biographied in the book. Especially Fatih’s desire to take city and his preparations are very well given to the reader. Also the other characters like Zaganos Pasha, Halil Pasha, and Giovanni are given with enough detail with their contributions to the historical event.

Book starts with Arab siege in 7th century and Muhammad desire of Istanbul. But the walls of Istanbul and successive defense strategies gave Byzantium a victory against them. After that Turks started to hit walls of Istanbul at the beginning of Ottoman Empire but they failed as well.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s obsession with the city starts with his early age and grows by the time. His successive use of technology, superior logistic planning, and strategy were the biggest advantages of Ottoman side. On the other hand, very charismatic and successful soldier Constantine XI was dealing with the problems of the Christianity like unity of the Church and Pope. There was big hesitation of help to Byzantium by Vatican.

Mehmet’s use of biggest cannon of their time and landslide of his war ship to Golden Horn were the most important points of the war and helped the Ottomans capture the city. Cannons were designed by Hungarian cannon founder Orban who offered defense of the city to Constantine XI but he got refused to due his high price. Mehmet accepted this Christian Scientist offer and paid him very well. Also Zagonos Pasha from Ottoman army was also another Christian who helped Mehmet with his aggressive offense mind.

That’s why I do not agree Crowley’s definition to this event as Clash of Civilizations. During that time era Ottoman was also war with other Turkish and Arabic neighbors and Vatican did not make enough effort to save Istanbul due to his own interest. Istanbul was the biggest prize of their time for every commander regardless of religion.

As Crowley mentioned after the fall of Istanbul there was flow of people from west to Istanbul due to free practice of religion and wealth of the city. Churches and synagogues were free to operate. Because, Mehmet’s goal was not to create Islamic Empire but global empire like his idol hero Alexander the Great.

In short, very well written, informative, and emotional book for the year of 1453. Everybody must read who live in Istanbul and who will visit Istanbul.



1453 yili bir devrin kapanip yeni bir devrin acildigi tarihi acidan cok onemli bir yil. Crowley, Istanbul’un fethi ile ilgili kisileri, olaylari ve gercekleri cok akici ve tarafsiz olarak kaleme almis. Olayin iki onemli kahramani Fatih Sultan Mehmet ve Constantine XI ile Zaganos Pasa, Halil Pasa ve Giovanni gibi diger onemli karakterlerde kitapda cok guzel bicimde yerlerini almislar.

Kitap 7. yuzyildaki Arap kusatmasi ile basliyor ve Hz.Muhammed’in Istanbul ile baglantisi bu kisimda aciklaniyor. Bu kusatmaya karsi Bizans’in basarili savunmasi sayesinde kusatma dusuyor ve daha sonra Turkler, Osmanli’nin ilk yillarinda tekrar Istanbul surlarina dayaniyorlar. Fakat Osmanlilarda bu kusatmalarda Araplar gibi ilk basta hezimete ugruyorlar.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet’in sehire olan ilgisi kucuk yaslarda basliyor ve zamanla daha da buyuyor. Fatih’in teknolojik gelismelere ilgisi, logistic planlamadaki becerisi ve akilli stratejileri Osmanlilarin bu savastaki en buyuk avantajlari. Obur tarafdan, Bizans Krali Constantin Hristiyan dunyasindaki bolunmeler yuzunden Papa ile catismaktadir ve yardim umudu gun gectikce azalmaktadir.

Fatih’in zamanin en buyuk toplarini kullanmasi ve gemilerini karadan Halic’e indirmasi kusatmanin en onemli donum noktalari. Toplarin tasarimcisi Orban, ilk once Bizans’a giderek sehrin savunmasi icin yardim onerir ancak istedigi ucret yuzunden Bizanslilar onu reddetmek zorunda kalir. Bu durum karsisinda, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Hiristiyan Orban’in teklifini kabul ederek bu tarihi gelismeye ortak olur. Ayrica, kusatmanin diger bir onemli karakteri Yunan yeniceri Zaganos Pasadir. Zaganos Pasa her zaman saldirgan yapisi ile Fatih Sultan Mehmet’e sehrin kusatmasinda yardimci olmaktadir.

Yazar kitabin kapaginda bu kusatmayi medeniyetlerin catismasi olarak niteliyor. Bence yukaridaki gercekler bu tanimlamayi yalanlamaya yeter. Ayrica, o donemde Osmanlilar diger Turk boylari ve Araplar ile de catisma halindedirler. Kusatma sirasinda Hiristiyan dunyasindanki ic sorunlar yuzunden yardim konusunda buyuk sorunlar yasandiginida unutmamak gerek. 15 yuzyilda Istanbul musluman veya hiristiyan her konutanin ruyasinda olan bir sehir idi.

Crowley’da belirtigi gibi sehrin dusmesinden sonra Batidan Istanbul’a dogru goc akimi basladi. Bu gocun ana sebeplerinden bazilari, Osmanlilarin Istanbul’daki diger dinlere gosterdigi hosgoru ve sehrin ekonomik rehafi idi. Fatih Sultan Mehmet, uygulamalarindan anlasilacagi uzere, buyuk bir Islam imparatorlugu yerine buyuk bir global imparatorluk hayali pesinde idi. Bu konuda kendisine her zaman hayranlik duydugu Buyuk Iskenderi ornek almisti.

Kisaca, 1453 yili icin cok iyi yazilmis, bilgi dolu, tarafsiz, ve duygu yuklu bir kitap. Istanbul’da yasayan ve ziyaret edecek herkesin okumasi gereken bir kitap.

Cenk Sumbas