Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Inalcik, Halil. Application of the Tanzimat and its Social Effects. Lisse: Peter de Ridder, 1976.
Jelavich, Charles, and Barbara Jelavich. The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 1804–1920. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
McCarthy, Justin. The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923. London and New York: Wesley Longman Limited, 1997.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Zürcher, Erik-Jan. Turkey: A Modern History. London: I. B. Tauris, 2004.
Palace
The palace, where the sultan and the royal family resided, served as the brain center of the Ottoman Empire. After the conquest of Constantinople in May 1453 the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (Fatih) decided to build a palace that would demonstrate the power and majesty of his rule. The construction of Istanbul’s Topkapi (Canon Gate) Palace, built on “Seraglio Point between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara,” began in 1465 and ended 13 years later (Ertuğ, “Topkapi Palace”: 566). Built on a hill looking down at the Bosphorus, the location of the new palace offered both defensibility and stunning views. A high wall with several towers and seven gates surrounded the palace. At the height of Ottoman power, the palace housed 4,000 residents.
The Topkapi Palace complex contained numerous buildings centered on four main squares or sections: “an area for service and safety also known as the Birun, or outer section”; an “administrative center where the Imperial Council met”; an “area used for education, known as Enderun, or inner section”; and “a private living area, dominated by the Harem or women’s section” (Ertuğ, “Topkapi Palace”: 566). Three major gates marked the passages of the palace. The first was the Imperial Gate (Bab-i Hümayun), followed by the second or Middle Gate, known also as the Gate of Salutation (Bab-üs Selam), and finally the third gate, known as the Gate of Felicity (Bab-üs Saadet).
The first palace courtyard was the largest of the four and functioned as an outer park that contained fountains and buildings such as the imperial mint. At the end of this courtyard, all those riding horseback had to dismount and enter the second court, or the Divan Square, through the Gate of Salutation, or the Middle Gate. With the exception of the highest officials of the state and foreign ambassadors and dignitaries, no one could enter the second courtyard, which housed a hospital, a bakery, army quarters, stables, the imperial council, and the kitchens. This courtyard served principally as the site where the sultan held audience. At the end of this courtyard stood the Gate of Felicity, which served as the entrance to the third courtyard, also known as the inner court, or the enderun. It was in front of this gate that the sultan sat on his throne during the main religious festivals and his accession, while his ministers and court dignitaries paid him homage, standing in front of their royal master. It was also here that, before every campaign, the sultan handed the banner of the prophet Muhammad to the grand vizier before he departed for a military campaign.
Topkapi Palace located on the Seraglio Point, a promontory overlooking the Golden Horn, served as the residence of Ottoman sultans beginning with Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople. (Robert Zehetmayer/Dreamstime.com)
Beyond the Gate of Felicity lay the inner court and the residential apartments of the palace. No one could enter this court without special permission from the sultan. In this inner section of the palace, the sultan spent his days outside the royal harem, surrounded by a lush garden and the privy chamber (has oda), which contained the royal treasury and the sacred relics, including the cloak of the prophet Muhammad, two swords, a bow, one tooth, a hair from his beard, his battle sabers, a letter, and other relics.
The audience chamber, or chamber of petitions (arz odasi), was located a short distance behind the Gate of Felicity in the center of the third courtyard. The chamber served as an inner audience hall where the government ministers and court dignitaries presented their reports after they had kissed the hem of the sultan’s sleeve. The mosque of the eunuchs and the apartments of the palace pages, the young boys who attended to the sultan’s everyday needs, were also located here. Another “important building found in the third courtyard was the Palace School,” where Ottoman princes and the promising boys of the child levy (devşirme) “studied law, linguistics, religion, music, art, and fighting” (Ertuğ, “Topkapi Palace”: 566). From its inception in the 15th century the palace school educated and prepared numerous state dignitaries who played a prominent role in Ottoman society. Only in the second half of the 19th century did the ruling elite cease using the palace school. The fourth and the last courtyard included the royal harem, which comprised nearly 400 rooms and served as the residence for the mother, the wives, and the children of the sultan and their servants and attendants.
In 1856 the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid (Abdülmejid) (r. 1839–1861) moved to a new palace, called Dolmabahçe (Dolmabahche), which was built in the Beșiktaș district of Istanbul on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait. Dolmabahçe “embraced a European architectural style” and “was designed with two stories and three sections, with the basement and attic serving as service floors” (Ertuğ, “Dolmabahçe Palace”: 186). The “three sections of the palace were the official part (mabeyn-i hümayun), the ceremonial hall (muayede salonu), and the residential area (harem)” (Ertuğ, “Dolmabahçe Palace”: 186). The “official section was used for affairs of state and formal receptions,’ while the second section “was used for formal ceremonies” (Ertuğ, “Dolmabahçe Palace”: 186). The harem or the “private residential area of the palace” occupied “the largest area of the palace” and included “the sultan’s personal rooms: a study, a relaxing room, a bedroom, and a reception room” (Ertuğ, “Dolmabahçe Palace”: 186). The mother of the sultan also had her own rooms “for receiving, relaxing, and sleeping” (Ertuğ, “Dolmabahçe Palace”: 186). Each of “the princes, princesses, and wives of the sultan (kadinefendiler) also had his or her own three-or-four room apartments in the palace, living separately with their own servants” (Ertuğ, “Dolmabahçe Palace”: 186).
In 1880 the Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II moved the royal residence to the Yildiz (Star) Palace, where an Italian architect, Riamondo D’Aronco, was commissioned to build new additions to the old palace complex. The new structures, built of white marble, were European in style and contained the sultan’s residence, a theater and opera house, an imperial carpentry workshop, an imperial porcelain factory to meet the demands of upper-class Ottomans for European-style ceramics, and numerous governmental offices for state officials who served their royal master. The only section of the Yildiz Palace accessible to foreign visitors was the selamlik, or the large square reception hall, where the sultan received foreign ambassadors (Davey: 1:150). In the royal harem, which was hidden within a lush and richly wooded park and was known for its rare marbles and superb Italian furniture, Sultan Abdülhamid received his wives and children. At times he spent the evening there with a favorite wife and children and played piano for them (Davey: 1:151). Within the park there also lay an artificial lake, on which the sultan and his intimates cruised in a small but elegant boat (Davey: 1:51).
See also: Empire and Administration: Harem; Palace Pages and Royal Chambers; Sultans: Abdülhamid II; Mehmed II; Primary Documents: Document 1; Document 3; Document 6
Further Reading
Davey, Richard. The Sultan and His Subjects. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1897.
Ertuğ, Zeynep Tarim. “Dolmabahçe Palace Topkapi Palace.” In Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Gábor Ágoston, and Bruce Masters, 186–188. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2009.
Ertuğ, Zeynep Tarim. “Topkapi Palace (New Imperial Palace).” In Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Gábor Ágoston, and Bruce Masters, 566–568. New York: Facts On File Inc., 2009.
Palace Pages and Royal Chambers<
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Four principal chambers within the palace served the sultan and his most immediate needs (Inalcik: 80). The privy chamber served his most basic needs, such as bathing, clothing, and personal security. The sultan’s sword keeper (silahdar ağa), the royal valet (çohadar ağa), and his personal secretary (sir katibi) were the principal officials in charge of the privy chamber (Inalcik: 80). The treasury chamber held the sultan’s personal jewelry and other valuable items. The third chamber, the larder, was where the sultan’s meals were prepared, and the fourth, or campaign chamber, was staffed by bathhouse attendants, barbers, drummers, and entertainers (Shaw: 1:115). Pages with exceptional ability and talent would join the privy chamber after they had served in one of the other three chambers (Inalcik: 80; Shaw: 1:117). From the time the sultan woke up to the time he went to bed, the pages of the privy chamber accompanied him and organized the many services that their royal master required.
Surrounded and served as he was by an elaborate hierarchy of pages, eunuchs, and attendants, access to the sultan became increasingly difficult, and the number of individuals who could communicate directly with him decreased significantly. One result was a rapid and significant increase in the power of the royal harem. Starting in the second half of the 16th century, the sultan’s mother and wives began to exercise increasing influence on the political life of the palace and the decision-making process. They enjoyed direct access to the sultan and were in daily contact with him. With the sultan spending less time on the battlefield and delegating his responsibilities to the grand vizier, the mothers and wives began to emerge as the principal source of information and communication between the harem and the outside world.
The majority of Ottoman sultans, however, were far from simple-minded puppets of their mothers, wives, and chief eunuchs. In the morning they attended to the affairs of their subjects, and in the evening they busied themselves with a variety of hobbies and activities. According to the Ottoman traveler and writer Evliya Çelebi, who served for a short time as a page in the palace, Murad IV (1623–1640) had a highly structured routine in his daily life, particularly during winter, when it was difficult to enjoy hunting and horseback riding. In the morning he attended to the affairs of his subjects. On Friday evenings he met with scholars of religion and the readers of the holy Quran and discussed various issues relating to religious sciences. On Saturday evenings he devoted his time to the singers who sang spiritual tunes. On Sunday evenings he assembled the poets and storytellers. On Monday evenings he invited dancing boys and Egyptian musicians, who performed till daybreak. On Tuesday evenings he invited to the palace old and experienced men, upward of 70 years old, whose opinions he valued. On Wednesday evenings he gave audience to pious saints and on Thursday evenings to dervişes (members of Sufi or mystical orders) (Evliya Çelebi: 141).
As the Ottoman Empire entered the modern era, the everyday life of the sultan also underwent significant changes. The slow and easygoing lifestyle that prevailed at the harem of Topkapi and the large ceremonial gatherings that marked the visit by a foreign ambassador to the imperial palace gave way to a simple and highly disciplined routine characterized by the informality of interaction between the sultan and his guests. Abdülhamid II, who ruled from 1876 to 1909, awoke at six in the morning and dressed like an ordinary European gentleman, wearing a frock coat, “the breast of which, on great occasions,” was “richly embroidered and blazing with decorations” (Davey: 2:34). He worked with his secretaries until noon, when he had a light lunch. After finishing his meal the sultan took a short drive in the palace park or a sail on the lake. Back at work he gave audience to his grand vizier, various court dignitaries, the şeyhülislam (the head of the ulema), and foreign ambassadors. Having abandoned the ceremonial traditions of his predecessors, who ruled from Topkapi’s inner section, the sultan placed his visitor beside him on a sofa and lighted a cigarette, which he offered to the guest. Because he could speak only Turkish and Arabic, the sultan communicated with foreign ambassadors and dignitaries through interpreters (Davey: 2:34).
At eight in the evening Abdülhamid II dined, sometimes alone and at times with a foreign ambassador. According to one source, the dinner was “usually a very silent one” with dishes “served in gorgeous style, à la française, on the finest of plate and the most exquisite porcelain” (Davey: 2:34). At times, after the dinner the sultan played duets on the piano with his younger children before he retired to the royal harem. He was fond of light music (Davey: 2:34).
See also: Empire and Administration: Administration, Central; Palace; Primary Documents: Document 1
Further Reading
Davey, Richard. The Sultan and His Subjects. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1897.
Della Valle, Pietro. The Pilgrim. London: The Folio Society, 1989.
Deny, Jean. “Abd al-Hamid II (Ghazi) (Abdülhamid)”. In Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., 1:63–65. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960.
Evliya Efendi (Çelebi). Narratives of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the Seventeenth Century. Translated by Ritter Joseph Von Hammer. London: Parbury, Allen, 1834.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Hathaway, Jane. Beshir Agha: Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Imperial Harem. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2005.
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.
Lewis, Bernard. Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Safavid Dynasty
An Iranian Shia dynasty that ruled a vast and powerful empire from 1501 to 1722. The Safavids traced their ancestry to the great mystic and theologian Sheikh Safi al-Din Ishaq Ardabili (1252–1334). He and his descendants enjoyed enormous popularity in Azerbaijan. The Safavid movement also gained strong support from the Turkoman tribal groups, which hailed from Syria and Anatolia. After several attempts to seize political power in the 15th century, the Safavids finally managed to impose their rule over Iran in the beginning of the 16th century. The Safavid state was founded by Ismail I, who crowned himself as the shah of Iran in 1501. For the next century and a half the Safavid Empire was the principal nemesis of the Ottoman state in the east. Beginning with the battle of Chaldiran (Chalduran) in August 1514 and culminating with the campaigns of Murad IV (r. 1623–1640), the Ottomans fought Safavid armies, but they never managed to destroy their stubborn nemesis.
The Safavid dynasty traced its roots to Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili, the powerful spiritual and religious leader and founder of the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was founded in the city of Ardabil in present-day northwestern Iran in the 14th century. Though initially Sunni Muslim, the Safaviyya order began to champion Shia Islam sometime during the 15th century. They also claimed to be the direct descendants of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam through the seventh Shia imam, Musa al-Kazim. The Turkoman tribes supporting the Safaviyya movement wore red headgear with 12 gores, which symbolized their devotion to the 12 Shia imams and the Safavid shah. Hence they came to be called the Qizilbash (Kizilbaș) or the Red Heads. The relationship of the Qizilbash tribes, including the Shamlu, the Ostajlu, the Tekellu, the Rumlu, and the Du’l-Qadr, to the Safavid monarch was a mystical one, resembling the devotional ties between a Sufi master, murshid, and his disciple (murid). The Qizilbash tribes, which constituted the military backbone of the Safavid movement, hailed from Syria and Anatolia. During Safavid rule they settled in various parts of Iran, where their chiefs were appointed by the Safavid shah as governors.
The founder of the Safavid dynasty, Shah Ismail I (r. 1501–1524), resurrected Iran as a unified and powerful state in 1501. In 1510 Ismail inflicted a hu
miliating defeat on a much larger Uzbek army near Marv (Merv) in the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan (present-day Turkmenistan). The Uzbek leader, Mohammad Sheybani, was killed as he tried to flee the battlefield. Having neutralized the threat posed by the Uzbeks in the east, Shah Ismail switched his attention to the west, seizing Iraq and entering Anatolia.
As the popularity of Shah Ismail as a Shia saint and a descendant of the prophet Muhammad spread throughout Anatolia, the Ottomans realized that the only way to neutralize the magnetic Iranian monarch was to destroy his army and his followers in a single military campaign. The leadership of this anti-Shia campaign was assumed by the Ottoman sultan Selim I (r. 1512–1520). Selim’s principal objective was to revive the expansionist policies of his grandfather, Mehmed II, who had aimed at the creation of a world empire. The two principal obstacles to the creation of an Ottoman-dominated Near East were the Safavids in Iran and the Mamluks in Egypt. Between the two Muslim powers, the one that posed a direct and immediate threat to the security and legitimacy of the Ottoman state was undoubtedly the Safavids, who dreamed of re-creating the Persian empire of pre-Islamic Iran.
For Selim, the Ottoman invasion of eastern Anatolia could not confine itself to a military confrontation with Shah Ismail’s army. Aside from destroying the Safavid army, Selim was determined to uproot the social base of support and the rural and urban networks that the Safavids and their supporters had established in Anatolia. Thus, as the Ottoman army marched through central and eastern Anatolia, tens of thousands of men and women who were suspected of sympathizing with the Safavid cause were massacred and their bodies displayed on the roads as a reminder to those who contemplated joining the Shia Iranians.
The decisive battle between the Ottoman and Safavid armies was fought on the plain of Chaldiran near Khoi, north of Lake Urumiyyeh in present-day northwestern Iran on August 22–23, 1514. The Safavid army of 70,000 was defeated by a much larger Ottoman army of 120,000 after the sultan’s artillery and muskets destroyed the shah’s cavalry, which was armed principally with swords, spears, and bows. The Ottoman forces pushed into Azerbaijan and captured Tabriz, the capital of the Safavid state. However, the arrival of an early and harsh winter; incessant surprise attacks by Safavid irregulars, who harassed and cut off the Ottoman army’s limited food supplies; and increasing pressure on the sultan from the janissary units to return home forced Selim to withdraw his armies back to eastern Anatolia. The two powers did not negotiate a peace treaty, and frontier raids and skirmishes continued for more than a century.
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