Abduljalil Celebi (Livni). Portrait of Murad IV. 17th century / Wikimedia commons
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire regularly made laws to regulate what their subjects wore. It was especially important to them that one could easily determine the social status and religion of a person simply by their appearance. For example, Muslims were instructed to wear yellow footwear wherever possible, but for persons of other religions, yellow footwear was strictly forbidden. This law was passed by Sultan Murad IV (1612–40), who, even by Ottoman standards, was considered an especially strict ruler. He once saw a pauper on the street wearing a cross around his neck and yellow boots on his feet. The pauper tried to explain that the old boots had been kindly given to him by his Muslim neighbor, but the poor man was still executed by the sultan’s personal orders.
It is worth mentioning that other sultans were much more liberal in that respect. Even though the law was in effect for several centuries after Murad’s time, other transgressors of this footwear colour rule escaped with just a fine.