Tommy Tainant
Diamond Member
Turkish aid to Irish famine was highest form of compassion
Of course, 1847 was the blackest of years. The world listened to the screams but, for diplomatic reasons, had to feign deafness, Ireland then being nestled snugly if unwillingly inside the embrace of the world’s great superpower, ‘the Empire on which the sun never sets’. No country wanted almighty Britain as an enemy.
But one man could not stay silent. Khaleefah Abdul-Majid I, Sultan of an Ottoman Empire centuries past its own prime, was so moved by the Irish plight that he offered £10,000 (the equivalent today of around €1m) to help ease the suffering. Queen Victoria, upon learning of this, requested that he reduce his donation to a more modest £1,000, so as not to embarrass her own relatively meagre offering of £2,000. Reluctantly, the Sultan agreed, but bolstered his contribution by secretly sending five ships loaded with food.
For the Sultan, “compelled by my religion to observe the laws of hospitality”, empathy overrode any risk. The British fleet attempted a blockade but, according to the story, the Turkish ships made it through the line, sailed up the Boyne and docked in Drogheda to unload their cargo of aid.
What a heartening story of compassion and humanity.
Of course, 1847 was the blackest of years. The world listened to the screams but, for diplomatic reasons, had to feign deafness, Ireland then being nestled snugly if unwillingly inside the embrace of the world’s great superpower, ‘the Empire on which the sun never sets’. No country wanted almighty Britain as an enemy.
But one man could not stay silent. Khaleefah Abdul-Majid I, Sultan of an Ottoman Empire centuries past its own prime, was so moved by the Irish plight that he offered £10,000 (the equivalent today of around €1m) to help ease the suffering. Queen Victoria, upon learning of this, requested that he reduce his donation to a more modest £1,000, so as not to embarrass her own relatively meagre offering of £2,000. Reluctantly, the Sultan agreed, but bolstered his contribution by secretly sending five ships loaded with food.
For the Sultan, “compelled by my religion to observe the laws of hospitality”, empathy overrode any risk. The British fleet attempted a blockade but, according to the story, the Turkish ships made it through the line, sailed up the Boyne and docked in Drogheda to unload their cargo of aid.
What a heartening story of compassion and humanity.
