Ottoman Imperial Court

This thesis examines the architectural works commissioned by Ottoman court eunuchs between the fifteenth and the eighteenth century, with special focus on Istanbul. As the first study that attempts to evaluate the collective behavior of Ottoman court eunuchs as patrons of architecture, it endeavors to chart particular patterns, trends, similarities, and differences among the works of eunuchs in terms of choice of architectural type, location, size, inscriptions, and decorative elements. Contextualizing individual projects within a historical narrative of eunuch patronage, it explores how the eunuchs' architectural output related to their identities, status, and power, as well as to the conceptions of propriety that informed building commissions. This thesis highlights a hitherto poorly studied part of the history of Ottoman court eunuchs, as it brings to the fore the white eunuch patrons who dominated the period before institutional change in the late sixteenth century allowed the chief black eunuch to emerge as an important figure in court politics. It is argued that the Ottoman court eunuch patronage had two main veins, one dominated by white eunuchs and the other by the chief black eunuch, two distinct eunuch identities which differ from one another on the basis of not only race, but also social origins, employment patterns, career prospects, and probably gender identities.

Jerusalem was the cradle of many civilisations in the past, and at the same time a sacred city for each of the three monotheistic religions. The Muslim dominance in the city represents a time of about thirteen centuries-except for Crusader occupation period about a century-, from the Umar's conquest (638) until the Ottoman Empire abandoned the regional government to the British (1917).
The Awqaf are one of institutions that played significant role in constructing social life in Jerusalem under Ottoman role.
Awqaf are one of intitutions that played significant role in designing social life in Jerusalem under Ottoman role. The Ottoman State primarily registered the early awqaf in Beytulmakdis, and left them in place, and by finding that not adequate established new awqaf in the areas where they needed. In addition, for ensuring the freedom of belief and worship of non-Muslim minorities living in the city, they also recognized their own awqaf and ensured the continuity of the services provided by these awqaf.
This study is aimed to make the evaluation of the decisions about the Beytulmakdis awqaf from the Imperian Council, which was the most important decision-making office of the Ottoman central government. The main source of our work constitutes Provision Books of Damascus, covering the years between 1798-1841. In this manner, relevant provisions in the books are determined; the quantities and qualifications of the decisions taken about the Beytulmakdis awqaf and the providence of the central government regarding these awqaf will be tried to be revealed.

Access to the Ottoman sultans was highly regulated in terms of both space and ceremonial. This was particularly true in the case of ambassadors arriving from foreign states to present their credentials at the centre of imperial life, Topkapı Palace. Using the example of British ambassadors in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, this paper will examine how the Ottoman state used these audience ceremonies to convey an imperial Weltanschauung. The Ottoman court was not simply the administrative epicentre of a trans-continental, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-confessional polity, but served as a space in which the notion of a universal monarchy could be played out to Ottoman elites, foreign representatives, and the inhabitants of Istanbul. Ambassadors were used as spectators and as participants in a number of events designed to impress upon them the wealth and might of the Ottoman Empire, and to place the ambassadors, as representatives of their governments, in a set position within the hierarchy of the Ottoman understanding of the political world.

U ovom radu dat je popis naselja u kruševačkom i levačkom kraju 1530. godine koji je nastao na osnovu uvida u turski popis Rumelijskog elajeta, publikovan pod nazivom "Rumelijski elajet (1514-1550)" u izdanju Osmanlijskog državnog arhiva u Ankari 2013. godine.