The Cost of a Royal Marriage
In this passage, the author continues to explain why Ottoman sultans generally avoided taking legal wives. He states that if a sultan chose to marry, he would have to provide his wife with a large financial settlement. This payment was not called a kabin (the ordinary marriage settlement), but rather paşmaklık, which literally means “money for her shoes.” In reality, the term referred to the lands and revenues assigned to support the expenses of women in the imperial household Customized Tours Balkan.
The author explains that this allowance was far more than a simple gift. A royal wife would also receive expensive jewelry, luxurious clothing, valuable presents, numerous servants, and a large household. According to him, her yearly income could equal that of the Valide Sultan, the mother of the reigning sultan, which he estimates at four or five hundred thousand dollars in annual revenue. Although this figure reflects the currency values used by European writers of the seventeenth century, it demonstrates the enormous wealth associated with the Ottoman court.
Protecting the Empire’s Finances
The author believed that one reason Ottoman sultans avoided marriage was financial. If an extravagant ruler married several noble women, enormous sums of money would be spent maintaining their households. He argues that this could drain the empire’s treasury and divert public wealth away from more important purposes.
According to the writer, the state’s income should support the government, the army, public administration, and the welfare of the empire rather than being spent on royal luxury. He believed that limiting the expenses of the imperial household helped preserve the financial strength of the Ottoman state.
Modern historians agree that controlling palace expenses was an important concern for Ottoman rulers, although they consider it only one of several reasons behind the practice.
Avoiding Powerful Family Alliances
The author then presents what he believes was the most important reason for the Ottoman custom. If a sultan married the daughter of an influential family, that family would immediately gain great political power. Relatives of the queen might expect important government positions, military commands, or special privileges simply because of their connection to the ruler.
The Ottoman dynasty deliberately tried to avoid this situation. By choosing concubines, who usually entered the palace as slaves without powerful noble relatives, the sultans prevented outside families from becoming too influential at court. This policy helped reduce political rivalries and protected the authority of the ruling dynasty.
Today, historians generally agree that this was one of the principal reasons why Ottoman sultans preferred concubines rather than legal wives for many centuries.
The Example of Sultan Osman II
The author refers to the fate of Sultan Osman II (reigned 1618–1622), whom he calls the tenth emperor of the Turks. He states that one accusation made against Osman was that he had married a Sultana, thereby creating political alliances that violated the traditional principles of the Ottoman Empire.
The author suggests that this decision contributed to the rebellion of the Janissaries, the elite Ottoman soldiers, who eventually overthrew and killed the young sultan.
Modern historians believe that Osman’s death resulted from many different causes, including his attempts to reform the Janissary corps and reduce their political power. While questions about his marriage may have influenced public opinion, they were only one part of a much larger political crisis.
A Historical Perspective
This passage illustrates how European observers tried to explain the unusual marriage customs of the Ottoman dynasty. The author correctly recognized that Ottoman sultans rarely entered into legal marriages and that this policy helped prevent powerful noble families from gaining influence over the throne. However, his explanation gives too much importance to financial concerns alone.
Modern scholarship shows that the Ottoman system was carefully designed to strengthen the authority of the sultan and reduce political competition within the ruling elite. By relying on concubines instead of royal marriages, the Ottoman dynasty avoided the powerful in-law families that often played a major political role in many European kingdoms. This unique institution became one of the defining characteristics of the Ottoman imperial court and contributed to the stability of the empire for several centuries.