The Blessed Mantle, also known as the Holy Mantle, according to tradition was given by the prophet Muhammad to the poet Kâab bin Züheyr. The poets poem Kasida-ı Burda praising the prophet decorate the Room of the Blessed Mantle[1]. Although many legends were spun about the appearance of the mantle, it is almost two yards long and made of black wool lined with a cream-coloured fabric.[2].

The mantle used to be visited by the sultan and his family and court with a traditional ceremony once a year on the fifteenth day of Ramadan.[3]. The kissing of the mantle was not done directly, but a piece of muslin was placed over it. This decorated kerchief was called the Noble Kerchief (destimal-ı şerif) and was provided for each person by the Agha of the Muslin (Tülbent Ağası). The mantle was kept in a golden box, of which only the sultan had the keys. The box was opened while he intoned the besmele. The mantle was actually wrapped in a number of square pieces of cloth called bohças. In it was another small golden box in which forty bohças were wrapped around the mantle itself. The number forty was considered especially auspicious.

The Agha of the Muslin placed the first kerchief on the mantle and the sultan kissed it, followed by the imperial princes, viziers, officials, male attendants and eunuchs. This was done while Koranic chants filled the chamber. Next to kiss the kerchiefs were the women, who were lead by the Queen Mother, followed by the chief consorts, concubines and daughters of the sultan, as well as the wives of all officials present and female attendants. Princess Imperial Ayşe Osmanoğlu, daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, gave a rare eyewitness account in her book. “Babam Abdülhamit” (My Father, Abdülhamit). Istanbul, 1960. Intimate glimpse of Abdülhamit II and of her own life by his daughter, Ayşe Sultan.:

We began to prepare three days before the visit to the Blessed Mantle, on the fifteenth day of Ramazan. We got up early that day, wore our most beautiful long-skirted ceremonial dresses, put on our jewels, and went to Topkapı. My grandmother got into a carriage of the sultanate; the drivers wore the embroidered uniforms of the royal stable, like the drivers of the padishah. Halim Efendi, who was the officer in charge of harem outings, was in front with the guards. The harem ağas, wearing embroidered uniforms, followed the carriage of my grandmother, which was in front. Thus we left Yıldız and went to Topkapı. There we were met by old female attendants who came from Dolmabahçe, and we went to the room assigned to each of us in Topkapı. All those outside the palace to whom the invitation had previously gone, the married sultans [the ruler’s daughters were called sultan] and the wives of the ministers also came. We invited the people we knew personally.

In the room called the Room of the Armchair my grandmother sat under a canopy in her royal costume, and all of us went and kissed her hand. All together we waited for the opening of the Pavilion of the Blessed Mantle. Sultan Abülmecit’s wives [he was a deceased sultan], Serfiraz and Şayeste, were there too and sat beside my grandmother. Usually the valide paşa [the mother of the khedive of Egypt] was at the ceremony.
The baş musahip [the head harem eunuch in attendance on the sultan] came to the harem when the Blessed Mantle was opened and, with an Oriental salute, gave the news to my grandmother, the valide sultan. The valide sultan rose, and after her walked the wives of Abdülmecit and then the sultans and the kadın efendis, all in order of precedence, and we all went to the Pavilion of the Blessed Mantle. Everyone wore a piece of white muslin on her head. We sensed odours, because incense was burning everywhere, and from behind a curtain came the Noble Koran read in an extremely beautiful voice by the muezzin. The hearts of all of us filled with deep and humble reverence, with slow steps, our skirts sweeping the ground, we walked in ranks until we came in front of the padishah who stood at the foot of the throne. [This is the only mention of a throne in connection with the visit to the Blessed Mantle.] With an Oriental salute from the ground . . . we took the noble kerchief which was given into our hands, kissed it, put it over our heads, withdrew backwards, and went and again stood in our ranks according to precedence. . . .
The young princes, the sons of the padishah, stood in rank in uniform at the foot of the throne.
After us the valide paşa and the wives of the grand vizier, the other ministers and the şeyhülislâm entered. The lady treasurer and the other palace servants also participated in the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony the baş musahip appeared, gave an Oriental salute from the ground, and we left in ranks as we had entered, the valide sultan in front.
Our carriages drew up to the Harem Gate [Carriage Gate] of Topkapi in order of precedence, and we mounted them and returned to Yıldız Palace in the same formation as we had left it. These carriages, which proceeded slowly because of the horses, usually brought us to the palace at the time of the iftar cannon [the cannon that announced the end of the day’s fast during Ramazan].” Davis, pg. 150-151

1 ^ Davis, pg. 146
2 ^ Davis, pg. 149
3 ^ Davis, pg. 149
4 ^ Davis, pg. 151