Zeynep Tarım “Topkapi Palace” Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire (EOE)

566 Topkapı Palace

the losses they were suffering due to smuggling. But the
presence of these foreign officers on Ottoman soil only
increased the resentment of Ottoman subjects toward the
Régie.
This standoff between the Ottoman government
and the directors of the Régie continued until the Young
Turk Revolution in 1908. At the time of the revolution,
the Ottoman Empire was beset by increased banditry in
rural areas, and the government decided to join forces
with the Régie’s police to suppress the bandits who in
many cases were also tobacco smugglers. In November
1914, with its entry into World War I, the Ottoman
Empire unilaterally declared that the Régie was abol-
ished, disbanded its police, and sent its other foreign
employees home. England and France did not recog-
nize the end of the Régie, however, until 1923, when the
Treaty of Lausanne between the new Republic of Turkey
and the Western powers ended the capitulations and
the Public Debt Administration.
Bruce Masters
See also coffee/coffeehouses.
Further reading: James Grehan, “Smoking and ‘early
modern’ sociability: The great tobacco debate in the Otto-
man Middle East (seventeenth to eighteenth centuries).
American Historical Review 111/5 (2006): 1352–77; Donald
Quataert, Social Disintegration and Popular Resistance in the
Ottoman Empire, 1881–1908 (New York: New York Univer-
sity Press, 1983).
four main parts: a private living area, dominated by the
harem or women’s section; an area used for education,
known as the Enderun, or inner section; an administra-
tive center where the Imperial Council (Divan-ı hüma-
yun) met; and an area for service and safety also known
as the Birun, or outer section.
There are three monumental gates in the palace: the
first or Imperial Gate (Bab-i Hümayun); the second or
Middle Gate, known also as the Gate of Salutation (Bab-üs
Selam ); and the third gate, known as the Gate of Felicity
(Bab-üs Saadet). The ramparts (left from the time of Byz-
antium) surrounding the palace, together with the main
gates, were constructed in the early 15th century. The sea,
on some sides of the palace, provided extra protection.
Between the first and second gates was a large open
area to which the public had access. In this area were
diverse facilities to meet the needs of the people including
a hospital and a bakery. During the enthronement and
accession ceremony and on other holidays (bayram),
military officials, as well as the public, gathered in this area.
Owing to their administrative duties, various officials,
such as the head of the imperial kitchen and of the royal
stables, doctors (such as the head surgeon and the eye doc-

Topkapı Palace (New Imperial Palace) Located in

Istanbul, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from the
mid-15th century until the end of the empire, the Topkapı
Palace was the most important royal palace of the Otto-
man sultans. It is set on the Seraglio Point between the
Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, its location offer-
ing the dual benefit of defensibility and beautiful views.
Started in approximately 1465 under Sultan Mehmed II (r.
1444–46; 1451–81), known as Fatih, or “the Conqueror,”
the main part of the palace was constructed over four or
five years, including the outer walls and the Imperial Gate
(Bab-ı Hümayun). Over the next four centuries, Mehmed
and his successors gradually added to the palace and its
grounds, constructing a variety of chambers, kiosks, and
other buildings, such as the Circumcision Chamber in the
fourth courtyard, the Baghdad Pavilion, and the Mecidiye
Pavilion. The Royal Gardens, which stretched down to
the seaside, were planted with flowers and used as a place
to relax and walk. One section in the garden was reserved
for growing vegetables for the palace.

ORGANIZATION
The Bab-i Hümayun, or “Imperial Gate,” was the second gate
The Topkapı Palace is constructed according to the con- of the Topkapı Palace, leading into the area that was the cen-
ventions of other Ottoman palaces and thus consists of ter of governance for the empire. (Photo by Gábor Ágoston)

This photo, taken by the Abdullah brothers, shows the Topkapı Palace as seen from the Sarayburnu (Library of Congress)
tor), and the sultan’s tutor and adviser went to the palace
on a daily basis. The regular workers, however, in the impe-
rial kitchen, the imperial stables, the arts and crafts studio
(nakkaşhane), as well as tentmakers and the musicians of
the imperial military band (mehterhane), were considered
the people of the Birun, or outer section of the palace.
The Second Court (Alay Meydanı, also known as
Divan Meydanı), between the second and the third
gates, was the most important administrative center
of the government. Meetings of the Imperial Council
were held in the Divanhane or Council Hall, which was
built in the second court. The Council Hall was rebuilt
in the reign of Süleyman I (r. 1520–66). At the time of
Mehmed II, the Imperial Council met every day of the
week, but in ensuing years this changed and the coun-
cil met only four times a week (see administration,
central). Accession and holiday ceremonies were also
held here. At the time of these ceremonies a throne was
placed in front of the third gate (Bab-üs Saadet) and,
with the participation of state dignitaries, scholars, and
representatives from the military, the ceremony of the
oath of allegiance to the new sultan took place. Through
Topkapı Palace 567
the second gate on the right of the second court was the
imperial kitchen, which was built in the 15th century.
However, its distinctive silhouette in the palace today
comes from later centuries.
INNER PALACE OR ENDERUN
Passing through the third or Middle Gate led to the
Third Court called Enderun, or inner section. In the first
part of the entrance of this rectangular courtyard was the
square Chamber of Petitions (Arz odası), which was built
in the 15th century. In this chamber the sultan received
state dignitaries and foreign ambassadors; it was the only
place in the palace used for receiving outsiders.
Another important building found in the third
courtyard was the Palace School, also known as Ende-
run Mektebi. This was an imperial academy that edu-
cated both the Ottoman princes and the most promising
boys of the child levy (devşirme) to prepare them to
serve as governors and in other positions of state bureau-
cracy. Students attending Enderun Mektebi studied law,
linguistics, religion, music, art, and fighting. In addition,
one group of students, known as Falconers, were attached
568 trade
to a room called Doğancı Koğuşu (Şahinciler Koğuşu in
the 15th century) where they were responsible for the
training and care of the wild birds that were symbols
of heroism for the warrior- and hunter-rulers. During
their education students were given some duties and at
same time they became officers in the palace. The Palace
School educated numerous state dignitaries and impor-
tant artists from its inception in the 15th century until
the palace ceased to be used by the ruling sultans in the
second half of the 19th century.
CHAMBERS IN THE INNER PALACE
Within the Enderun, in addition to the Palace School,
there were also a number of rooms with specialized uses.
Among these, the Privy Chamber (Has oda) was the most
important section in the inner section of the palace and
those assigned to the Privy Chamber were closest to the
sultan. In the 15th century the staff of the Privy Chamber
included 32 pages (iç oğlan), the custodian of the sultan’s
weapons, the sultan’s stirrup-holder, the custodian of
his outer garments, and the keeper of his linens. From
these modest beginnings, the number of staff steadily
increased. People working in the Treasury Chamber
(Hazine odası) were responsible for the protection and
maintenance of both the inner and outer treasuries and
they regularly went on expeditions with the sultan. The
Chief of the Treasury occupied the most important posi-
tion here; when promoted, he became the head manager
of the Abode of Felicity. Those assigned to the Commis-
sary Chamber (Kilar odası) set the table for the sultan
and helped in the preparation of jams and sherbets in the
Imperial Kitchen. They also ensured the proper protec-
tion and preservation of foods.
HAREM
The imperial harem, adjacent to the right side of the sec-
ond and the third courts, was a separate place. The word
harem derives from the Turkish haram, or “forbidden,” and
refers to the private residence of the family. In the Topkapı
Palace, the harem, called the Abode of Felicity (Darüssaade
agası), was the residence of the sultan’s family, specifically
his mother (the valide sultan), his wife or wives and their
young children, his sisters, and their servants and slave
girls (cariye). Like the favored boys from the devşirme who
were selected to become students in the Enderun School,
female slaves brought from different parts of the empire
were considered fortunate to become palace servants.
Many of them received an education in language, religion,
music, embroidery, and art in the harem. Based on these
acquirements, some were then given duties in the palace
while others might be married to state dignitaries or might
become concubines or even wives of the sultan himself.
Each sultan approached these relationships differently;
some sultans had one or two wives while others had more
than 10 wives. Typically, however, concubines needed to
prove their fertility before they could become wives.
The head of the harem was responsible for the
management of the harem, although the mother of the
reigning sultan (valide sultan) was the harem’s highest
authority. The number of people residing in the harem
increased as the empire aged. This was partly because the
harem was a place unto itself, forbidden to most outsid-
ers, and thus needed to provide for its own needs: educa-
tion, entertainment, dressing, and eating.
In 1853, after almost four centuries as the official
residence of the Ottoman sultans, the Topkapı Palace was
superseded by the newly constructed Dolmabahçe Pal-
ace, the first Ottoman palace to be built in the European
style. Today the Topkapı Palace is one of Istanbul’s most
visited museums.
Zeynep Tarım Ertuğ
Further reading: Gülru Necipoğlu, Architecture, Cer-
emonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the Fifteenth and
Sixteenth Centuries (New York: Architectural History Foun-
dation, 1991).
trade The Ottoman Empire was established along what
were then the most significant trade routes of the world,
the silk and spice routes. By controlling first the east-west
trade route, and later the north-south route, the empire
was able to maintain its trade supremacy for close to four
hundred years. While maintaining the overland trade
between Asia and Europe, the empire also built trade on
the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. Through its
success managing and supporting this expansive trading
network, the Ottoman Empire established itself not only
as an entity of great commercial significance but also as a
power of enormous political consequence.
COMMODITY TRADE
Trade in the Ottoman Empire may be understood as falling
into two categories—internal and external. So-called inter-
nal trade involved the transportation of goods from one
city in the empire to another, whether over land or by sea,
and was subject to taxation, identified as internal custom
tax. Customs were named depending on location: shore
customs, land customs, or border customs. The trade that
took place between countries, cities, or towns was whole-
sale trade and the merchants involved in this trade were
foreigners, both Muslim and non-Muslim. Caravans and
seaports were important mechanisms in this wholesale
trade and hans, or warehouses, in big cities were used to
store and distribute goods to retailers. Grain and meat con-
stituted the two most basic consumer goods. Grain came
primarily from the Balkans and the ports of Wallachia.
The Danube River and the Anatolian and Rumelian sides