NOTES ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE PIOUS ENDOWMENTS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE CHIEF EUNUCH OF THE IMPERIAL HAREM DURING THE YEARS 1668-1670 (H. 1079-1080)
1668-1670 (H.1079-1080) YILLLARINDA DÂRÜSSAÂDE AĞASI NEZÂRETİNDEKİ VAKIFLARLA İLGİLİ BAZI ARŞİV KAYITLARI

Author : H. Ahmet ARSLANTÜRK -- Kadir ARSLANBOĞA
Number of pages : 15-39

Abstract

As the head administrator of the imperial harem in the Topkapı Palace, the Dârüssaâde Agha (The chief harem eunuch) enjoyed considerable political and administrative power stemming from hisproximity to the person of the sultan. Starting from 1588, the Dârüssaâde Agha became the superintendantof the most important pious endowments in the empire, namely the Haremeyn Endowments, which included royal endowments to the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. As the superintendant of the Haremeyn Endowment, the Dârüssaâde Agha was also charged with the supervision of a massive network of imperial pious endowments within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. This new position gave the Dârüssaâde Agha enormous financial and economic resources and strenghtened his political and admistrative power. The present study aims top resent a hitherto unpublished document providing a complete list of the pious endowments under the Dârüssaâde Agha in 1668-1669 (H. 1079) and the account registers of the Haremeyn Foundation dated to 1669-1670 (H. 1080). This study also examines the institutional development of the Dârüssaâde Agha as well as the evolution of the superintendant of the Haremeyn Foundation within the Ottoman administrative structure. Following a content analysis of the list and the account registers, the latinized versions of their texts are also added in the appendix.

Keywords

Pious Endowment, Endowment Account Registers, the Endowments to the Holy Cities, Superindendancy of

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