Birûn (Ottoman Turkish: بیرون, from the Persian word for 'outside'[1]) was the term used in the Ottoman Empire to designate the "Outer Service" of the imperial court, concerned with the public affairs of the Ottoman sultans, as opposed to the private "Inner Service" (Enderûn).[2] Its name derives from the location of its offices in the outer court of the Topkapi Palace, which in turn echoed the arrangements of the palace in Edirne, the Ottomans' second capital.[3]
The scope of the Birûn was very extensive. As the Ottomanist Halil İnalcık writes, "The Outside Service comprised all the organizations regulating the sultan's relations with the outside world, comprising governmental and ceremonial offices and the sultan's standing army".[4] The Birûn included a number of senior officials, who had typically previously been enrolled as pages, educated in the palace school, and served in the Enderûn.[5] These were:
In addition, a special corps existed in the müteferrikas, sons of serving pashas or vassal rulers, who were enrolled in the Outer Service, received uniforms and pay, and participated in court ceremonies.[6]
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State organisation of the Ottoman Empire
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