TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Revolt · 1656
Failures in the Cretan war and late wages paid in debased coin had caused deep discontent among the troops. On 2 March 1656 the sipahis joined the janissaries, who were owed nine instalments of pay, and the ringleaders demanded a public audience with the sultan. Facing the sultan at the Alay Köşkü, the rebels demanded the heads of some thirty aghas they blamed. First the chief black eunuch Behram Ağa and the other aghas, then over the following days some thirty officials inside and outside the palace were killed; their bodies were hung on the plane trees of the Hippodrome. Hence the name “Plane Tree Incident”, and also “Vakʿa-i Vakvakiyye” after a legendary tree whose fruits had human shape.
| Date | 2–8 March 1656 |
|---|---|
| Location | Istanbul (Etmeydanı, Hippodrome) |
| Result | The palace aghas and some thirty statesmen the troops demanded were killed and their bodies hung on the plane trees of the Hippodrome; the grand vizier and the şeyhülislam were replaced |
| Belligerents | Palace and government (Mehmed IV) | Janissaries and sipahis |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Mehmed IV | Sipahi Mehter Hasan Ağa |
Took place during the reign of Mehmed IV (1648–1687). Mehmed IV
Open the reign of Mehmed IV on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 5,106,000 km² in 1656; at the start of Mehmed IV's reign they measured 5,106,000 km², at its end 4,835,000 km².
During Mehmed IV (1648–1687) the atlas records 3 regions gained and 7 regions lost.
Regions gained: Nové Zámky (Uyvar) (1663), Crete (1669), Podolia (Kamianets) (1672).
Regions lost: Lahsa (Eastern Arabia–Qatar) (1672), Nové Zámky (Uyvar) (1685), Buda (central Hungary) (1686), Transylvania and Partium (1687), Eastern Slavonia and Syrmia (Osijek–Vukovar) (1687), Western Slavonia (Virovitica–Čazma) (1687), Morea (Peloponnese) (1687).
His reign saw both the empire's last great expansion and its heaviest reversal. The state, revived under the Köprülü viziers, lost Hungary and Transylvania within four years of the second siege of Vienna.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “Çınar Vak'ası” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.