STATE ORGANISATION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The Ottoman Empire developed a highly advanced organisation of state over the centuries. Even though it had a very centralized government with the Sultan as the supreme ruler, it had an effective control of its provinces and citizens, as well as its officials. Wealth and rank wasn't necessarily something one inherited, rather it had to be earned. Positions were perceived as titles such as viziers and ''ağa''s. Military service was a key to advancement in the hierarchy.

Contents

Imperial governance

Central system (military administration)

House of Osman

The Divan

Political elite

Administrative elite

Military elite

Governor (Beys)

The Imperial Government

Provincial governance (civil administration)

Millets (central representation)

Elders (local representation)

Vassal states

References

Imperial governance

With the expansion of the Empire, the need for more systematic administrative organization arose. Over time a dual system of military ("Central System") and civil administration ("Provincial Governing") developed a kind of separation of powers with most higher executive functions carried out by the military authorities and judicial and basic administration duties carried out by civil authorities. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states. Most of the areas ruled by the Ottomans were explicitly mentioned in the official full style of the sultan, including various lofty titles adopted to emphasize imperial rank and show the empire as being "successor-in-law" to conquered states.
The empire was divided on vilayets. Each Vilayet the governors were assigned to the each vilayet. The idea of vilayet originated from the Seljuk vassal state (''Uç Beyliği'') in central Anatolia, the Empire over the years became an amalgamation of pre-existing polities, the Anatolian beyliks, brought under the sway of the ruling House of Osman.

Central system (military administration)

The central system was composed of Sultan and his own people (book keepers, etc) under what was known as "House of Osman". The House of Osman was advised by Divan. Divan was composed of Grandvizer and ruling class (nobles). The ruling class was called the askeri, including the noblemen, court officials, military officers and the religious class called the ''ulema''.
Divan become very powerful and after the Murat IV, sultans begin not to join to the sessions.

House of Osman

The Ottomans did not seem to have a hereditary system based on primogeniture (crown passes to the eldest son) or seniority (crown passes to the next oldest brother). The crown typically passed to the son of a sultan, but the hereditary system changed often and was inconsistently applied.

The Divan

Though the sultan was the sublime monarch he had a number of advisors and ministers. The most powerful of these were the viziers of the Divan, led by the Grand Vizier. The Divan was a council where the viziers met and debated the politics of the empire. It was the Grand Vizier's duty to inform the sultan of the opinion of the divan. The sultan often took his vizier's advices in consideration, but he by no means had to obey the divan. Sometimes the sultan called a divan meeting himself if he had something important to inform his viziers of, such as coming war. The viziers then carried out his orders. The divan consisted of three viziers in the 14th century and eleven in the 17th century, four of them served as Viziers of the Dome, the most important ministers next to the Grand Vizier. Sometimes the commander (''ağa'') of the Janissaries attended at the divan meetings as well.

Political elite

The viziers were the core of the nobles, though they were really servants of the sultan. In addition, the viziers had their own advisers called the ''kahya''. Other noble families inhabited Istanbul and often visited the court during parties or ceremonies. The clergy was another prominent part of the court. The muftis and imams were always present at religious ceremonies, which were plentiful. The ''müteferrika'' was a sort of young nobleman's club, where the sons of effendis, paşas and other notables got together. They often accompanied the sultan when he went out hunting.

Administrative elite

The Minister (government) (tr: Nazır) had not as much influence over the sultans as the viziers, but controlled the Ministry (government department) (tr: Nezareti). The ministries and departments were important parts of the Ottoman bureaucracy. The ministries also supplied the viziers with whatever information they required.
The most important minister was the minister of justice, the ''Adliye Nazırı'', whose ministry included the civil judges (''kadis'') and the military judges (''kadiaskers'' or ''kaziaskers'') who were the highest judicial authority of the Empire after the ''seyhulislam'', the supreme religious leader of the ''ulema''. Other officials within a ministry included the ''Kethüdar'', a representative of the ministry and assistant to the minister with several clerks (''kalfas'') under him. The ''kalfa''s did all the paper-work in the Ottoman bureaucracy.

Military elite

For each military corps there was a ''Nazır'' who had the administrative power. Under him was the Ağa who had the ceremonial command of the corps.
There was also a corps of palace guards (''Zuluflu Baltaci'') under the command of the Swordmaster and palace gardeners (''Bostancı'') who also were responsible for the Sultan's luxury boat. Those taught in European etiquette and language (mainly French) served as ''Yasakçi'', guards for foreign ambassadors. Also stationed near the palace was the Six Divisions of Cavalry (''Altı Bölük'') and, of course, the Janissaries.

Governor (Beys)

The hereditary rulers of these territories were known as ''beys'' and many of the continued to rule under the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultans. The term bey came to be applied not only to these former rulers but also to new governors appointed where the local leadership had been eliminated.

The Imperial Government

Main articles: Imperial Government of the Ottoman Empire

The Imperial Government was added during the Second Constitutional Era. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was in the power; most of the ministers were from CUP.

Provincial governance (civil administration)

Townspeople, villagers and farmers formed a lower class called the reaya. This class had nothing to do with what religion one belonged to but rather meant anyone who was not ''askeri''. Nobles sometimes used the word ''Turk'' for Muslim farmers and villagers, referring to them as ignorant.
Civil and judicial administration was carried out under a separate parallel system of small municipal or rural units called ''kazas'' administered by a ''qadi'' (''kadı''). Kazas in turn were subdivided into ''nahiyas''. The qadis came from the ulema and represent the legal authority of the sultan. The civil system was considered a check on the military system since beys (who represented executive authority) could not carry out punishment without a sentence for a qadi. Likewiese, qadis were not permitted to personally effect punishment. In the areas of ''sharia'' and ''kanun'' law, qadis were responsible directly to the sultan.

Millets (central representation)

The community governing was a hierarchical system with the elders as the smallest group which forms the millets. Beginning with Tanzimat millets have their own selected councils, which was another layer between the patriarchs and elders.
Under Ottoman rule the major religious groups were allowed to establish their own self-governing communities, called millets, each retaining its own religious laws, traditions, and language under the general protection of the sultan. Millets were led by religious chiefs, who served as secular as well as religious leaders and thus had a substantial interest in the continuation of Ottoman rule.

Elders (local representation)

On a deeply local level cities and villages belonging to a millet were allowed to keep their power micro-structures that would signify a level of "autonomy", e.g. the Greek villages and cities were up to a point being steered by councils of the "Elder (religious)" (Dimogerontes, Gerontes, Prokritoi) that had the responsibility of representing their people to the Region's Pasha like it was happening during the late Byzantine years.
Quite interesting is the fact that in several well economically established areas this Prokritoi class would eventually become a type of nobility. In Athens for example the Gerousia (council of the elders) became a closed club occupied mostly by 10-13 Houses (e.g. the Houses of Benizelos, Palaiologos, Gerontas). Mehmed II used the conquering army to restore the physical structure of the city. Old buildings were repaired, streets, aqueducts, and bridges were constructed, sanitary facilities were modernized, and a vast supply system was established to provide for the city's inhabitants.

Vassal states

The Ottoman Empire had many vassal states of varying size attached to it. Vassals paid taxes to the sultan and often contributed with troops in various Ottoman military campaigns. Many of the imperial provinces were vassal states before being reduced to provinces. A vassal state that never became a province was the Khanate of Crimea in the region around Crimea, north of Black Sea - it would fall to Russia instead (1774-83; later in modern Ukraine).

★ A special case was the Greek orthodox 'monastic republic' of Mount Athos, were Istanbul was only represented by an aga (officer) as its agent in Karyaes.

★ As the empire weakened militarily, it would inevitably lose control through foreign victories (Russia took large chunks of territory; the Christian empires helped ever more parts of the Balkans secede, often after a vassalic stage, such as the hospodars) but also see real control over some if its (mainly remote) provinces slip away to a state of little more than formal sovereignty over tributary, de facto autonomous states.
This happened in North Africa: the Beys/Deys of Tunis and Algiers established themselves as 'regencies' and even Egypt went its own way under its great khedive Mohammed Ali - they would in turn be subjected to European colonial dominance (in name only protectorate) of France and Britain.

References

★ Encyclopaedia Britannica 2006