Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire (9 page)

Topkapi Palace, harem
(interior). Hall of the Padisha (Throne Room).

EUNUCHS

As in other Islamic states, in the Ottoman Empire, the
ruler maintained eunuchs or castrated males who were brought as slaves to guard
and serve the female members of the royal household. As Islam had forbidden
self-castration by Muslims or castration of one Muslim by another, the eunuchs
were bought in the slave markets of Egypt, the Balkans, and southern Caucasus.
In the palace, there were two categories of eunuchs—black and white. Black
eunuchs were Africans, mostly from Sudan, Ethiopia, and the east African
coastal region, who were sent to the Ottoman court by the governor of Egypt.
They served the female members of the royal family who resided in the sultan’s
harem. The white eunuchs were mostly white men imported from the Balkans and
the Caucasus and served the recruits at the palace school. The black eunuchs “underwent
the so-called radical castration, in which both the testicles and the penis
were removed,” whereas, in the case of eunuchs from the Balkans and the
Caucasus, “only the testicles were removed.”

An important figure in the Ottoman power structure was the
chief black eunuch, who served as the
kızlar ağası
(chief
of women) or
harem ağası
(chief of harem). In charge of the
harem and a large group of eunuchs who worked under his direct supervision, the
chief black eunuch enjoyed close proximity to the sultan and his family.

Another important figure was the chief of the white
eunuchs, who acted as
kapi ağası
(chief of the Gate of
Felicity). Starting with the reigns of Murad III (1574–1595) and Mehmed III
(1595–1603), the white eunuchs lost ground, and black eunuchs gained greater
control and access to the sultan. Regardless of their race, ethnic origin, or
the degree and intensity of castration, the palace eunuchs received
privileges—such as lavish clothing, accoutrements, and accommodations—in
keeping with their high status. Included among these privileges was access to
the best education available. It is not surprising, therefore, that many chief
eunuchs were avid readers and book collectors who established impressive
libraries.

The
ağa,
or the chief, of the black eunuchs of
the harem was not only responsible for the training and supervision of the
newly arrived eunuchs but also supervised the daily education and training of
the crown prince and “oversaw a massive network of pious endowments that
benefited the populations of and Muslim pilgrims to Mecca and Medina.” He used
his position and access to the throne to gain power and influence over the
sultan and government officials. His daily access to the sultan, and close
relationship with the mother and favorite concubines of his royal master, made
him an influential player in court intrigues. By the beginning of the 17th
century, the chief eunuch had emerged as one of the most powerful individuals
in the empire, at times second only to the sultan and the grand vizier and, in
several instances, second to none.

PALACE PAGES AND ROYAL CHAMBERS

Four principal chambers within the palace served the sultan
and his most immediate needs. 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. 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, drumbeaters, and entertainers. Pages with exceptional
ability and talent would join the privy chamber after they had served in one of
the other three chambers. 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
simpleminded puppets of their mothers, wives, and chief eunuchs. In the
mornings, they attended to the affairs of their subjects, and in the evenings,
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 mornings, 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 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, upwards of seventy years, 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).

As the Ottoman Empire entered the modern era, the everyday
life of the sultan also underwent a significant change. The slow and easygoing
lifestyle that prevailed at the harem of Topkapi and the large ceremonial
gatherings, which 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.” He
worked with his secretaries until noon, when he sat for 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 ş
eyhülislam,
or 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. Since he could
speak only Turkish and Arabic, the sultan communicated with foreign ambassadors
and dignitaries through interpreters. 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.” After dinner, the sultan sometimes played duets on the
piano with his younger children before he retired to the royal harem. He was
fond of light music.

Palace of the Sweet Waters.
William H. Bartlett. From Pardoe, Julie,
The Beauties of the Bosphorus
(London
1839).

SULTAN IN PUBLIC

The people of the capital could watch their sultan each
Friday, leaving his palace for Aya Sofya, the grand mosque, where he prayed.
During the classical age of the empire, state dignitaries rode in front of
sultan with their proximity to their royal master determined by the position
they held at the court and in the government. Behind them rode the sultan’s
clean-shaven pages, “beardless and clothed in red livery.” The sultan was
surrounded by foot soldiers armed with bows and arrows, and “among these, certain
others again, with the office of courier and letter bearer, and therefore
running along most swiftly” and “dressed in scanty clothes, with the hems of
their coats in front shortened to the waist, and with their legs half bare: and
all of them, wearing livery according to their office, richly attired, and
looking charming with feathers decorating their hats.” Immediately behind the
sultan rode his sword keeper and the royal valet, whose offices were highly
esteemed among the Ottomans.

One of the principal functions of the state was waging war,
and military parades held before and after a campaign provided a popular
spectacle, which was attended by the sultan, his ministers, and thousands of
ordinary people. After war had been declared, all army units were assembled and
brought to order in an enclosure, where the grand vizier held a divan, or
council, that included all the dignitaries and high officials of the government
who were to accompany him on the campaign. Once the divan had completed its deliberations,
the grand vizier and company met with the sultan, who issued his dispatch and
final command. Upon leaving his audience with the sultan, the grand vizier
mounted his horse and, accompanied by the entire court and the army units,
which had awaited him in various courtyards, set off towards his first
encampment. If the campaign was in the east, the army crossed the Bosphorus
with galleys and rowboats that transported them to the Asian shore, where the
grand vizier waited, allowing his troops to arrive, equip themselves, and
prepare for the long journey ahead. Before the troops crossed the straits,
however, the people of Istanbul flocked to the windows of their homes or the
streets to cheer them on and bid them farewell. The sultan, surrounded by his
attendants and the members of the royal family, watched the event from a tower
attached to the outside walls of the palace.

The Italian traveler, Pietro della Valle (1586–1652), who
was in Istanbul from June 1614 to September 1615, described the military parade
organized on the occasion of a new Ottoman campaign against Iran. The parade
began with a display of large red and yellow flags held aloft by men on
horseback. Behind them, riding two by two came the palace officials and
couriers whose duty it was to deliver messages and execute orders (
çavuşes)
.
Gunners and bombardiers on foot followed, also two by two and armed with
scimitars and arquebuses. Behind them came armor-clad soldiers and men carrying
a variety of weapons, including “iron clad maces, axes, and swords with double
points or blades to each hilt.” Next came the
sipahis
(the cavalrymen),
armed with bows and arrows and dressed in their special garb, which was tucked
up and adorned with diverse skins of wild animals slung across them. The
acemi
oğlans
(young recruits to be trained as janissaries or the sultan’s
elite infantry corps) were led by their
ağa,
or commander, who was
a white eunuch. They were followed by the banners of the janissaries and the
captains of the janissary corps in pairs and armed with bows and arrows. Behind
their flags and captains marched thousands of janissaries packed closely
together. They led, by hand, water-bearing horses, adorned with grass and
flowers, and festooned with rags, tinsel, little flags, and ribbons. The
janissaries were followed by men carrying axes, hatchets, and wooden swords.
Then arrived pieces of artillery and galley boats, as well as regular foot
soldiers. Finally came their
ağa,
or commander, and the
dervişes
of the Bektaşi Sufi order, singing and shouting prayers for the
glorious army.

At the end of the parade came the horses of the grand
vizier led by his pages armed with bows and arrows with coats of mail under
their trappings or clothes. They were accompanied by the
kadis
(religious
judges) of Istanbul and Galata; the two
kadiaskers,
or the army judges
of Anatolia and Rumelia (the European provinces of the empire); the
müfti
(the
chief Muslim theologian) of Istanbul; and the viziers (ministers) of the
imperial council. Finally, the grand vizier himself rode in pomp and ceremony,
surrounded by a large number of foot soldiers, with the heron’s plume emblem of
his office adorning his turban. Behind the grand vizier appeared additional
sipahi
units with their own weapons, which were lances without hilts, bows,
arrows, and coats of mail. Behind them rode cavalrymen attached to the chief
minister who served as his bodyguards. These men wore antique helmets, buckles,
and golden stirrups, and their horses were caparisoned with cloth of gold
nearly to the ground.