The first Ottoman postage stamps did not create an imperial postal system; they completed a reform begun more than two decades earlier. For collectors, the 1863 Tughra issue is therefore best understood not as an isolated “first issue,” but as the visible, adhesive expression of Tanzimat administration, fiscal control and an expanding public post.
Long before the Ottoman Empire adopted modern postal administration in the mid-19th century, it operated one of the most extensive and disciplined communication networks in Eurasia. This system, built around ulaks (state couriers) and menzils (relay stations), enabled the rapid movement of official mail, military orders, diplomatic correspondence, and administrative reports across three continents.
When Turks examine history in depth, they see that we belong to a millennia-old “Mounted Steppe Culture,” among the first peoples to domesticate the horse. Throughout the centuries, the horse played an essential and indispensable role in our great victories, the civilizations they built, and daily life. In their culture, heroes are always remembered with their horses: “Battal Gazi’s Akşar, Manas’ Ak Kula, Köroğlu’s Kırat.” Their ancestors, who mastered the horse in war and benefited from it in peace, naturally did not adopt a pedestrian culture.
Despite this, in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire employed foot messengers called “Peyks,” who were faster and lived longer than their European counterparts. From the age of 5–6, “peyk candidates” underwent special training, including running exercises in various environments and carefully planned nutrition. At the age of 17–18, they were subjected to a rigorous examination at Istanbul’s “At Meydanı,” and those who achieved the best results began serving as foot messengers with the highest salary, often assigned to palace duties.
Peyks continued this sacred duty comfortably until the age of 40–45, after which they retired from the “Peyk Corps” and enjoyed a high-quality retirement. The fact that many European foot messengers died at the age of 20–21 while on duty led European scholars to visit the Ottoman Empire to study the secret behind the peyks’ longevity.
An international community documenting the postal history of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey.
