18/6/2021 Smoking Could Get You Killed in the Ottoman Empire | by Daniel Choi | History of Yesterday

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Smoking Could Get You Killed in the Ottoman

Empire
Murad IV and his phobia for smokers

Daniel Choi
Jan 11 · 3 min read

A Depiction of an Ottoman Coffee Shop (AncientOrigins.net)

obacco is a plant indigenous to the Americas and was introduced to

Europe in the 16th century. The first person to introduce tobacco to
Europe on a significant scale was Sir Walter Raleigh of England. He was

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18/6/2021 Smoking Could Get You Killed in the Ottoman Empire | by Daniel Choi | History of Yesterday

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the environment was suitable for tobacco growing. He saw tobacco as a business
opportunity to benefit England through their North American colony.

Since Walter Raleigh and others brought tobacco to Europe, the practice of smoking
spread like wildfire. However, not everyone was a fan of the new smoking culture of
Europe, especially the young Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Murad IV.

Murad IV was a sultan who despised smoking because he suspected that the citizens of
Istanbul could gather around coffee shops to smoke and plot to rebel against him. His
hate for smoking tobacco grew even more after the Great Fire of 1633, a disaster where
one-fifth of Istanbul was burned to the ground. He firmly believed that it was tobacco
that started the fire, although there was little evidence to back this claim.

Murad IV (Wikipedia)

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18/6/2021 Smoking Could Get You Killed in the Ottoman Empire | by Daniel Choi | History of Yesterday

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offenders would pay a fine, and second offenders would get executed. The tobacco ban
in Istanbul applied equally to everyone, from a noble to a peasant, and even a
foreigner. However, the addictive property of nicotine made the ban hard to impose
and was unrealistic.

Murad IV would often disguise himself as a citizen to go out on an undercover mission

to find smokers. When people realized that the sultan was among them and searching
for smokers, a perfume culture quickly arose to mask the scent of tobacco. Kolonya,
which is a common lemon fragrance in Turkey to this day was popularized during this
time.

The strict ban did not exclude anyone in the empire. French ambassadors in Istanbul
would frequently smoke despite the ban reliant on the fact that France and the
Ottoman were allies. However, when a French ambassador was caught smoking in the
consulate, Murad IV ordered soldiers to cut off his ears and send him back to France.
When Louis XIII of France confronted Murad IV about the incident, the sultan told the
king that he only cut off the ambassador’s ears not his life out of respect for his ally. The
incident goes to show the extent Murad IV went to express his hatred for smoking.

Uncharacteristically, Murad IV was an avid drinker of wine, even though Islam forbade
the drinking of any alcohol and a ban on alcohol was imposed on the empire. He was
the only person who was able to drink in the empire and many condemned him for his
hypocrisy. His heavy drinking took a toll on him and he died of liver cirrhosis at the
young age of 27. The smoking ban continued on to the next sultan but was abolished in
1648 when Mehmed IV became the sultan.

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