Free Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire by Mehrdad Kia

those riding a horse had to
dismount and enter the second court, or the Divan Square, through the Gate of
Salutation, or the Middle Gate. With 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.
    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 of the prophet Muhammad, including a cloak, 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.” From its inception in the 15th
century, the palace school 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 four hundred rooms
and served as the residence for the mother, the wives, and children of the
sultan and their servants and attendants.
    In 1856, a new palace called Dolmabahçe replaced Topkapi as
the principal residence of the sultan and his harem. Dolmabahçe “embraced a
European architectural style” and “was designed with two stories and three
sections, with the basement and attic serving as service floors.” The “three
sections of the palace were the official part . . ., the ceremonial hall . . .,
and the residential area (HAREM).” The “official section was used for affairs
of state and formal receptions,” while the second section “was used for formal
ceremonies.” 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.” The mother of the
sultan also had her own rooms “for receiving, relaxing, and sleeping.” 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.”
    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,