Page 21 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

Fig. 3. Procession of Sultan Süleyman in the At Meydam, woodcut after
Pieter Coecke van Aelst, dated 1553 (New York, The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, 28.85.7a-b)

chief of the armed forces, and the protector of Islam. The Ibrahim, who married the sultan's sister Hadice; Rüstem, who
grand vezir represented his executive authority and held the married his only daughter Mihrimah; and Sokollu Mehmed,
highest post among the administrators, who were responsible who married his granddaughter Esmahan and held the same
for political and financial affairs. The §eyhulislam (leader or post under his son, Selim II, and grandson, Murad III. This
chief enforcer of Islam) represented the sultan's religious au- system enabled the sultan to have a fresh supply of highly
thority and headed the ulema (learned men), who were in trained and totally dedicated administrators and military per-
charge of religious, judicial, and educational affairs. The sul- sonnel whose loyalty to the sovereign was unquestionable;
tan was assisted by the Divan-i Hümayun (Imperial Council having no allegiance to region or family, their sole existence
of Ministers), which represented both sectors. The sultan's was devoted to serving the state.
primary responsibility was the enforcement of law and jus- The Topkapi Palace, founded by Mehmed II in 1459, was
tice, and the Divan-i Hümayun functioned as a supreme conceived from the beginning as the administrative and edu-
court where complaints and grievances from subjects were re- cational center of the state and designed as a fortified struc-
viewed, national and international policies discussed, and ad- ture with high walls and massive gates leading into three
ministrative procedures formulated. consecutive courtyards. 5 It occupied the northern tip of the
The Ottoman system of recruitment and training of admin- peninsula overlooking the Golden Horn, Bosporus, and Sea
istrative and military personnel was unique and formed the of Marmara, providing a magnificent vista of Istanbul.
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core of the central administration. Although a few officials Thought to have been staffed by close to twenty thousand
were the sons of administrators, the majority had been re- men, four or five thousand of whom resided on the premises,
cruited through the dev§irme system in which non-Muslim this vast palace proclaimed Ottoman power and dominance
boys were taken from the rural areas in the Christian prov- over the city that had been chosen as the capital by all its
inces and trained to serve the state. The largest group was ab- previous rulers. Originally called the New Palace, it later
sorbed into the army, particularly the Janissary Corps, while came to be known as the Topkapi (Cannon Gate) Palace after
others were sent either to the provincial courts or to the Top- one of its gates.
kapi Palace to receive training. They became important palace The palace was administered by three institutions, the Bi-
officers, military commanders, and governors, and the most run (Outer Service), the Enderun (Inner Service), and the
able and enterprising ones rose to the rank of grand vezir. Harem, the latter having developed during the reign of Süley-
Almost all the grand vezirs of the empire had risen from man. The plan of the Topkapi Palace clearly reflects its orga-
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the dev^irme ranks and many married royal princesses. nizational structure. The first courtyard, open to the public,
Among them were the celebrated grand vezirs of Süleyman: was reserved for the Birun, which included officers in charge

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