The Sword of Osman is a ceremonial blade borne forth at the coronation of Crown Shazada Majid. Bound up with the rites by which a man becomes Padişah (the Sultan), it stands for authority and for the burden of rule; it was presented to Majid upon the steps of the Hagia Sophia, where he received it before a gathered multitude. As he did so, guards went among the throng distributing small bags of coin — a courtesy that soured, for certain of those present flung the gold back and cried that it belonged by right to the Janissaries.
The sword drew from the crowd a temper decidedly mixed, stirring up those old grievances that cling still to the Janissaries — that corps officially dissolved, yet forever upon men's tongues. In the scattering of coin and the protest that followed, one might read the disquiet that yet attends their memory and their bond with this same blade. Festive the ceremony was, and yet charged withal, the sword betokening at once a new beginning and the whole weight of the quarrels that went before.