A Medrese for the Palace: Ottoman Dynastic Legitimation in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

It is generally agreed that the Ottomans placed high value on an Islamic identity for their dynasty and realm. Far less appreciated is how the precise content of that identity varied according to the interests and needs of individual sultans. Availing themselves of the diverse, even conflicting inspirational strands of Islam, different sultans were able to cultivate or set aside symbols and rites to suit their needs. In the eighteenth century, Mustafa III (1757-74) and his successors recast the image of the sultan as scholar-master of the Ottoman religious institution (ilmiye) with the invention of a new tradition, the Huzur Dersleri. The Huzur Dersleri were classes on Koranic commentary (tefsir) offered in the sultan's presence and at his command, during the month of Ramadan. This palace medrese served a number of interrelated purposes having to do with the vulnerabilities of the Ottoman dynasty, the predilections of the sultans who sponsored the Huzur Dersleri, and the socioeconomic pressures besetting the personnel of the ilmiye in the eighteenth century. While this article analyzes the Huzur Dersleri as imperial ceremony and patronage, it focuses primarily on how this institution-representing legalist Islam and displaying to advantage the Empire's working juridical scholars-both bolstered the dynasty's moral claims and gave the sultans direct access to crucial urban allies.