Despite the fact that 173 years have passed since the Great Drought or the "potato famine" in Ireland, the Irish have not forgotten a favor given to them by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majeed I (died in 1861) when he extended a helping hand to them, at a time when many turned their backs, including Britain, which he carried Many Irish are responsible for not saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
In the 19th century, specifically from 1845 to 1849, Ireland, which was then under the British administration, was overwhelmed by a great famine that became one of the most important engraved events in the country's history and the memory of the Irish, known as the "potato famine".
The famine bore this name because it occurred after the potato crop, which is the staple food of the population, was damaged by a fungal pest called "late blight / phytophora investment", which destroyed a third of the crop in 1845. In the following year, it destroyed about 90% of the crop that the population relied on for their food.
The famine reached its climax in 1847, when the hungry people were forced to eat the seeds needed for cultivation, before half the crop was destroyed again in the following year.
During the "potato famine," more than a million Irish were forced to emigrate to the United States, while the children of the poor class had no choice but to remain at home, in a scene resembling surrender to death.
The famine marked a turning point in the history of Ireland - which ruled from Westminster (the seat of the British government in London) directly from 1801 to 1922 as part of the United Kingdom - and the famine and its effects have permanently altered the island's demographic, political, and cultural landscape, resulting in an estimated two million refugees and a decline in The population lasted a century.
The famine remained long in popular memory, relations between the Irish and their British government were strained by the famine, and they held them responsible and accused them of inaction, which later stimulated the emergence of ethnic and national problems between the Irish people and the British government.
And in that time period - which witnessed the height of the famine and is mentioned by historical sources and accounts as "47 Black" - the help of the Irish people extended from where they did not expect, from the Ottomans who were thousands of kilometers away from them, as well as the United States on the other side of the ocean that sent dozens of relief ships Loaded with food supplies.
British refused
As Ireland was one of Britain's colonies, the latter's government refused to allow Ottoman aid ships to dock at the Dublin port, so it docked at Druheda, thirty miles from Dublin, and offloaded.
After the famine ended, the nobles and the general public in Ireland sent a letter of thanks to the Ottoman Sultan, and Anadolu Agency was able to see a copy of it.
The letter briefly says, "The Irish people and the nobles who signed this letter extend their thanks and appreciation to His Majesty Sultan Abdul Majid for his generosity and kindness towards the Irish people who are suffering from starvation. He also extends his sincere thanks to His Majesty for his generous donation of one thousand pounds to meet the needs of the Irish people and alleviate their pain."
In May 2006, during the Druheda celebration of its 800th anniversary, the municipality commemorated this event by hanging a huge thank you plate on the wall of its old building which hosted the Ottoman sailors who brought aid during the famine.
The biggest irony
The Irish received international donations from countries such as Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Russia and Italy, in addition to religious organizations and relief societies. When the Ottoman Sultan learned of the famine, he decided to send ten thousand pounds to Ireland to help its people, in return Victoria (the Queen of Britain at the time) was not sent to the Irish people. The affiliate is only two thousand pounds sterling.
In order for Britain to maintain its image, it asked the Ottoman government to reduce the amount to one thousand pounds only, and the Ottoman Sultan agreed to this, but in addition to the money he sent three ships loaded with food, medicine and seeds necessary for agriculture.
The great irony of the famine events that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Irish people appeared in several historical books that revealed that Ireland was exporting large quantities of food and food throughout the period of the famine at the same time that people were starving to death.
A study of the historical researcher in the Irish famine era published in 1997 in the magazine "History of Ireland" revealed that about four thousand food ships loaded from Ireland arrived in British ports such as Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London during the year 1847, and detailed historical studies revealed large exports of butter, meat and calves Cattle, butter, and even peas, beans, rabbits, fish and honey during the same famine period.
In 1849, the English poet and social reformer Ebenezer Jones reported shocking figures about Irish exports of food in 1846, including wheat, barley, flour, grains, and meat. This was confirmed by historian Cecil Woodham Smith in his book "The Great Irish Famine" considering that no issue raised much Of the anger and bitterness in relations between England and Ireland "as an indisputable fact that huge amounts of food were exported from Ireland to England throughout the period when the people of Ireland were starving to death."