Ottoman court
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Ottoman court was the culture that evolved around the court of the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman court was held at the Topkapı Palace in Constantinople where the sultan was served by an army of pages and scholars. Some served in the treasury and the armoury, maintaining the sultan's treasures and weapons. There was also a branch of servants that were said to serve the chamber of campaign, i.e. they accompanied the sultan and his court while on campaign. The best of the pages were chosen to serve the sultan in person. One was responsible for the sultan's clothing, one served him with drinks, one carried his weaponry, one helped him mount his horse, one was responsible for making his turban and a barber shaved the sultan every day. At the palace served also a great number of stewards who carried food, water and wood throughout the palace and lit the fireplaces and braziers. Doorkeepers (Kapıcı) numbered several hundreds and were responsible for opening the doors throughout the entire palace. The chief doorkeeper was responsible for escorting important guests to the sultan.
The harem was under the administration of the
The
Court positions
Şeyhülislam: The
Kızlar Ağası: The
Kapı Ağası: Whereas the Kızlar Ağası was responsible for guarding the virtue of the
Bostancı-başı: The Bostancı-başı of the Ottoman Court was his Chief Executioner. The title directly translates as "Head Gardener" (Bostancı=Gardener, başı=head), and it was his job to quite literally "prune" the court of its dead weight and its bad apples: this is, people who committed crimes in the eyes of the court rules.
Valide Sultan: The Valide sultan was the mother of the reigning Sultan, and the most powerful woman in the Imperial Harem, not to mention the Empire. She was the absolute authority in the seraglio, and she, with the help of the Kapı Ağa and the Kızlar Ağası, often her confidantes, or even men she herself had chosen upon her accession, had a finger in every aspect of harem life.
Haseki Sultan: This was the title reserved for a favorite consort and sometimes lawfully wedded wife of the Ottoman Sultan.
Kadın: Among the concubines of the Imperial Harem, the Kadın is the woman (or women) who have given the Sultan a child, preferably a son. Kadin was equivalent to a consort.
Baş Kadın: The first/most senior consorts were called Baş Kadın or Birinci Kadın. The consorts who carried title "Baş Kadın" was in the second rank and most powerful after Valide sultan in harem. She had a great influence in harem. Before creation and after abolition of the title haseki, this title (Baş Kadın) was the most powerful position for the consorts of Sultan. A sultan did not have more than four Kadin (same law used for legal wives in Islam)[2] Their position as the possible mother of a future Sultan gave them much influence and power in the harem.
Ikbal: Beneath the Kadın was the Ikbal, the harem concubine with whom the Sultan had slept at least once. These women need not necessarily have given a child to the Sultan, but simply need to have taken his fancy. Many of these women were referred to as Gözde (meaning "Favorite"), or "in the Eye," having done just that: caught the eye of the Sultan.
Cariye: These were the women who served the Valide Sultan, Ikbal's, Kadin's and the Sultan's children. They could be promoted to Kalfas which meant they were free and earned wages, otherwise they were the property of the Sultan and would reside in the Harem. Such women were free to go after nine years of service.
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ Though his haseki, Kösem Sultan was never married to Ahmed I.
- ^ "Glossary of Ottoman titles". TheOttomans.org.
- Lewis, Raphaela (1971). Everyday Life in Ottoman Turkey. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-7134-1687-4.