The Ottoman Court Life

Hello, this is my story about life in the Ottoman times I hope you like what I have written.

The Sultans of the Ottoman court lived in absolute luxury. It is said that his officials were like his personal slaves. The sultan also had entertainment. He had a room called the harem which was filled with women selected for brains as well as beauty. If he was still not amused he could go and relax in his garden which was tended by some of the best gardeners in Europe.

True or false?

Nobody was allowed in the harem except the sultan?

FALSE : The Sultan's family were allowed in and the special servants.

Besides all this luxury, the sultan still had to do some work. He was the master. It was him who made all the decisions. But he needed some advice. For this the sultan had some advisers. The most important and highest in rank was the grand vizier The whole group was called the divan. If you were not in the capital you would be tried by a qardis, members of the ulema. They respected the koran and you could not be punished without their permission.

Life in the Ottoman Empire

A main part of the Ottoman Empire was trade. A market was called a bedestan. Most food was brought in by traders and furniture. Here are some goods:

China: silk, ink and peacocks

India: rubies, silver, ebony and dyes

The profit made by traders was immense. Sometimes they gave some of this money to charity. This was used for hospitals.

Mehmet II allowed skilled craftsmen to also settle as well as artists and schools were funded by the palace for poets, architects and artists.

Outside Istanbul there were schools called medreses and they were free for muslim boys. The boys were taught Islam, grammar, geometry and astronomy.

Question: What do you think they imported from Russia? (clue - keeps you warm)

They imported furs from Russia What did the charity money go towards? It went towards the hospitals

Interesting facts:

Did you know? After the Ottoman Empire split up the capital of Turkey changed to Ankara and not Istanbul

Do you know who Turkey's famous leader was at the time of the split? Mustafa Kemal Attaturk was the founder of modern Turkey

With thanks to the Rise of Islam by John Child.