View source for Enderûn

{{Short description|Interior Service of the Ottoman Imperial Court}}
[[File:Musée des anciens costumes turcs d'Istanbul (Jean Brindisi, 1855) - 20 - Enderoun Houmayoun Itch-Aghalar, Djudjé, Enderoun Houmayoun Dilcisi.jpg|thumb|right|Pages of the {{Transliteration|ota|Enderûn}} (Inner Service) with a [[court dwarf]] and a deaf-mute ({{Transliteration|ota|dilsiz}})]]
'''{{Transliteration|ota|Enderûn}}''' ({{langx|ota|اندرون}}, from [[Persian language|Persian]] {{Transliteration|fa|andarûn}}, {{lit.|inside}}) was the term used in the [[Ottoman Empire]] to designate the "Inner Service" of the imperial court, concerned with the private service of the [[Ottoman sultans]], as opposed to the state-administrative "Outer Service" ({{Transliteration|ota|[[Birûn]]}}).{{sfn|Parry|1965|pp=697–698}} Its name derives from the location of the sultan's apartments in the inner court of the [[Topkapi Palace]], which in turn echoed the arrangements of the palace in [[Edirne]], the Ottomans' second capital.{{sfn|İnalcık|2000|p=76}}

The Inner Service was divided into departments (termed {{Transliteration|ota|oda}}, 'chamber'). Four were dedicated to the Sultan's personal service. In descending order of importance, these were the Privy Chamber ({{Transliteration|ota|hass oda}}), the Treasury ({{Transliteration|ota|hazine}}), the Privy Larder ({{Transliteration|ota|kilar-ı hass}}), and the Campaign Chamber ({{Transliteration|ota|seferli oda}}).{{sfn|İnalcık|2000|p=80}} The head of the Inner Service—and until the rise of the [[Kizlar Agha]] the most powerful person in the palace after the Sultan—was the [[Kapi Agha]] or chief white eunuch.{{sfn|Parry|1965|pp=697–698}}{{sfn|İnalcık|2000|p=79}} After the Kapi Agha came a number of senior officers or aghas: the head of the Privy Chamber ({{Transliteration|ota|hass oda başı}}), who on account of his permanent proximity to the Sultan was a very influential individual; the Sultan's stirrup-holder ({{Transliteration|ota|rikabdar}}); the keeper of the Sultan's outer garments ({{Transliteration|ota|çuhadar}}); the keeper of the Sultan's linen undergarments ({{Transliteration|ota|dülbend oghlanı}}); and the Sultan's confidential secretary ({{Transliteration|ota|sır katibi}}).{{sfn|İnalcık|2000|p=80}}

The Kapi Agha was also the head of the forty white eunuchs or White Aghas ({{Transliteration|ota|ak agha}}s) whose responsibility was to run the [[Enderun School|palace school]],{{sfn|Parry|1965|pp=697–698}} where princes were trained along with selected young Christian boys, gathered through the {{Transliteration|ota|[[devşirme]]}} system—from the 17th century, however, Muslim boys were also admitted. These boys received a thorough education and were destined for the highest state offices, beginning their career as pages in the Inner Service, and were known as {{Transliteration|ota|[[içoğlan]]ı}} ('lads of the interior').{{sfn|Lewis|Ménage|Pellat|Schacht|1971|p=1006}}{{sfn|İnalcık|2000|pp=78–79}} The most able of these pages entered the service of the Great and Little Chambers ({{Transliteration|ota|büyük/küçük oda}}) which were, and after four years the best were sent to one of the four chambers dedicated to the Sultan's personal service, the remainder finding their way to the elite [[Six Divisions of Cavalry|Kapıkulu cavalry divisions]].{{sfn|İnalcık|2000|pp=79–80}}

The Inner Service was notable for its employment of [[deaf-mute]]s ({{Transliteration|ota|dilsiz}}), at least from the time of [[Mehmed II]], to the end of the empire. They acted as guards and attendants, and due to their particular nature were often entrusted with highly confidential assignments, including executions.{{sfn|Lewis|1965|p=277}} Their number varied but they were never numerous; they had their own uniforms, their own superiors ({{Transliteration|ota|başdilsiz}}), and although many were literate, they also communicated in their own special [[sign language]].{{sfn|Lewis|1965|p=277}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{Imber-The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650}}
* {{cite book | last = İnalcık | first = Halil | author-link = Halil İnalcık | title = The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600 | publisher = Phoenix Press | location = London | year = 2000 | origyear = 1973 | isbn = 978-1-8421-2442-0}}
* {{EI2 | volume=3 | title = Ič-Og̲h̲lani̊ | page = 1006 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/ic-oghlani-SIM_3469}}
* {{EI2 | volume=2 | title = Di̇lsi̇z | first = Bernard | last = Lewis | authorlink = Bernard Lewis | page = 277 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/dilsiz-SIM_1856 }}
* {{EI2 | volume=2 | title = Enderūn | first = V. J. | last = Parry | authorlink = | pages = 697–698 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/enderun-SIM_2189 }}

{{Organisation of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enderun}}
[[Category:Ottoman court]]
[[Category:Topkapı Palace]]