Ottoman court

Ottoman court was held at the Topkapı Palace in Constantinople where the sultan was served by an army of pages and scholars.

Doorkeepers (Kapıcı) numbered several hundreds and were responsible for opening the doors throughout the entire palace.

Women not found suitable for the sultan were married off to eligible bachelors from the Ottoman nobility or sent back home.

The title literally means "Chief of the Girls," and he was charged with the protection and maintenance of the harem women.

The title directly translates as "Head Gardener" (Bostancı=Gardener, başı=head), and it was his job to quite literally "prune" the court of its dead weight and its bad apples: this is, people who committed crimes in the eyes of the court rules.

She was the absolute authority in the seraglio, and she, with the help of the Kapı Ağa and the Kızlar Ağası, often her confidantes, or even men she herself had chosen upon her accession, had a finger in every aspect of harem life.

Her elevated imperial status derived from the fact that she was the mother of a potential future sultan.

The consorts who carried title "Baş Kadın" was in the second rank and most powerful after Valide sultan in harem.

They could be promoted to Kalfas which meant they were free and earned wages, otherwise they were the property of the Sultan and would reside in the Harem.