page_title: Imperial Council (Ottoman Empire)
section_title: History and function
hierarchical_section_title: Imperial Council (Ottoman Empire) / History and function
caption_attribution_description: English: Door of the Imperial Council (Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn) in the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. Français&#160;: La porte du Conseil impérial ou salle du Divan (Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn) dans le Palais de Topkapı à Istanbul en Turquie.
context_page_description: The Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn, in English the Imperial Council or Imperial Divan, was the de facto cabinet of the Ottoman Empire for most of its history. Initially an informal gathering of the senior ministers presided over by the Sultan in person, in the mid-15th century the Council's composition and function became firmly regulated. The Grand vizier, who became the Sultan's deputy as the head of government, assumed the role of chairing the Council, which comprised also the other viziers, charged with military and political affairs, the two kadi'askers or military judges, the defterdars in charge of finances, the nişancı in charge of the palace scribal service, and later the Kapudan Pasha, the head of the Ottoman Navy, and occasionally the beylerbey of Rumelia and the Agha of the Janissaries. The Council met in a dedicated building in the Second Courtyard of the Topkapi Palace, initially daily, then for four days a week by the 16th century. Its remit encompassed all matters of governance of the Empire, although the exact proceedings are no longer known.
context_section_description: Originally, the Imperial Council was probably an informal advisory body of senior statesmen, but also functioned as a court of law. In the 14th century and until the mid-15th century, it seems to have been headed by the Sultan in person, "suggesting that relations between sultan and viziers were still informal, with the sultan’s advisors in the role of allies as much as subordinates" according to the Ottomanist Colin Imber. Meetings were often public or semi-public affairs in which the Sultan would appear surrounded by his senior advisors and hear grievances of his subjects, dispense justice and make appointments to public office. In the case of an interregnum between the death of a Sultan and the arrival of his successor from the provinces, the Council was held by the senior councillors on their own. 
  Later Ottoman tradition held that it was Muhammad II (r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481) who abandoned the practice of presiding over the council in person, instead relegating this responsibility to the Grand Vizier, ipso facto defining the latter as a distinct office from the other viziers. Muhammad II's law-code states that the Sultan would observe Council sessions behind a screen, a practice which lasted until the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566), who ceased to attend Council meetings altogether. Nevertheless Muhammad II's successor, Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512) is still recorded as openly chairing sessions of the Council in person, although by this time, these occasions were involved in elaborate ceremonial, in stark contrast to the informality of such audiences before Muhammad II. 
  After Edirne became the Ottoman capital in the late 14th century, the Council met at the palace there or anywhere the Sultan currently resided. Following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Council met initially at the Old Palace (Eski Saray), moving to the Topkapi Palace after its construction in the 1470s. There the Council had a dedicated building (divanhane) in the Second Courtyard. The present building was built in the early reign of Süleyman the Magnificent by Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, and renovated in 1792 and 1819. The council chamber proper was known as kubbealtı ("under the dome"). During campaigns, the Council met at the Grand Vizier's tent, which was always pitched near the Sultan's own. 
  The law-code of Muhammad II stipulates that the Council had to meet daily, of which four times in the Council Chamber (Arz Odası) in the Topkapi Palace, where they were received by the chief usher (çavuş başı) and the intendant of the doorkeepers (kapıcılar kethudası). By the 16th century, however, the full Council met regularly on four days of the week, on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, and sessions lasted from seven to eight hours, beginning at dawn and ending at mid-day in summer and mid-afternoon in winter. The members ate three times during each council session, breakfasting after their arrival, then after the main discussion had been concluded and finally after hearing petitions. In earlier times, the Sultan often dined with the viziers after the Council, but Muhammad II ended this practice. In addition, there were extraordinary sessions of the Council: the ulufe divani or galebe divani, convened each quarter to distribute the quarterly salary (ulue) to the members of the kapıkulu ("slaves of the Porte") corps, including the Janissaries, as well as for the formal reception of foreign ambassadors, and the ayak divani or "foot council", as everyone remained standing, an emergency session chaired by the Sultan or the army commander when on campaign.
  Although many decisions were taken outside the formal context of the Imperial Council, it was the main executive body of the Empire, conducting all kinds of tasks of government such as the conduct of foreign relations, including the reception of foreign ambassadors, the preparation of campaigns, the construction of fortifications and public buildings, the reception of reports from the provincial governors and the appointments to state office, as well as continuing to f
caption: The gate of the Imperial Council chamber at the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
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