Women in Istanbul protested the high cost of living and the shortage of meat for the first time on 13 May 1808. They marched to the house of the Istanbul Qadi (chief judge), waving poles with pieces of liver -the cheapest meat at the time- tied to the ends, along with empty pots and pans they had grabbed, as a form of demonstration.
This week, we celebrated 8 March, International Women’s Day. Throughout history, women have endured many hardships, and they were also responsible for one of the first protests against rising prices in our history. The reign of Sultan Mustafa IV was one of the most difficult periods for the Ottoman Empire and the people living within its borders. The eighteen-year, one-month, and twenty-two-day rule of Sultan Selim III ended on 29 May 1807 following the Kabakçı Mustafa rebellion, and on the same day his nephew Mustafa IV ascended the throne.
Ottoman Sultan Mustafa IV.
He Appointed the Rebels to Key Positions and Abolished Reforms
The new sultan appointed the rebel leader Kabakçı Mustafa the very next day to the prestigious post of Turnacıbaşı within the Janissary corps. He also assigned other leading figures of the rebellion -such as Arnavut Ali and Bayburtlu Süleyman- to important and critical positions. Mustafa IV decided to abolish many of the institutions established by Selim III in the name of reform, including the Nizam-ı Cedid army. The money, jewelry, belongings, houses, and waterfront mansions of those who had remained loyal to Selim III were divided among the new Grand Vizier Musa Pasha and his associates, who were supported by the new sultan.
While the capital was preoccupied with this internal turmoil, troubling news continued to arrive from the ongoing war with Russia. The Ottoman navy was defeated by the Russian fleet off Bozcaada, and the land campaign also failed to produce decisive results; reports of defeat reached the imperial capital. Order in Istanbul deteriorated day by day. Despite their promises, the Janissaries interfered in every matter. Emboldened and rewarded under the new sultan, thugs assaulted young girls and women in the streets, houses were looted in broad daylight, and incidents of extortion and seizure of property increased. The disorder grew so extreme that even the palace gardeners (bostancis) were reportedly assaulted by these gangs.
A liver seller trading with a woman in Istanbul.
Having amassed wealth through plunder, Musa Pasha sensed the approaching danger and, claiming illness, resigned from his post as acting grand vizier and withdrew to Bursa. On 27 June 1807, Çavuşbaşı Şehsuvarzade Hamdullah Pasha was appointed in his place.
They Emptied the Treasury
The state’s financial balance had collapsed, and the economy was in severe distress. Even the 20,000 gold coins that Selim III had reserved in the treasury for emergencies had been spent. The treasury was empty, and the people were struggling under the weight of soaring prices. Even liver, the cheapest food at the time, could no longer enter households, and despite all measures, bread price increases could not be prevented.
Georg Oğulukyan’s chronicle describing the 1808 high-cost-of-living protest with liver in Istanbul.
In his work The Chronicle of Georg Oğulukyan – The Rebellions of 1806–1810 – Selim III, Mustafa IV, Mahmud II and Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, the historian Georg Oğulukyan recounts the protest carried out on Friday, 13 May 1808, by Istanbul women driven to desperation by economic hardship.
They Caught the Qadi at a Lavish Table
According to this account, the women poured into the streets carrying poles tipped with rotten liver. As their numbers grew, they stormed the mansion of the Istanbul Qadi. Confronting the judge -who was living in luxury- they advanced on him shouting: “You priestly fellow! While you dine on such lavish meals, we are dying of hunger, paying 25 coins even for a piece of liver!” The Qadi abandoned his table and fled to the harem quarters, narrowly escaping from the women.
The Nizam-ı Cedid army established by Selim III was abolished after the Kabakçı Mustafa rebellion.
They Blocked the Sultan’s Path
Determined to continue their protest, the women intercepted Sultan Mustafa IV on his way to Friday prayers at the Bayezid Mosque. Waving their poles with pieces of rotten liver and tripe hanging from the ends, they called out: “Wake up, my Sultan, wake up! We cannot endure this high cost of living. We have forgotten what it is to eat meat. We are hungry: we cannot even buy liver!”
Even the sultan’s guards were uncertain how to respond to the women’s protest and did not intervene against the stick-wielding crowd.
After some time, the angry gathering dispersed. Mustafa IV returned to his palace, and the women to their homes. It is said that following this protest the sultan temporarily banned women from going out into the streets, although no documentary evidence of such a decree has been found. Despite this protest and subsequent measures, the hardships did not ease. Poverty in Istanbul and Anatolia deepened steadily and continued, almost uninterrupted, until the eventual collapse of the Ottoman state.