Government
laws and religion
Government
The divan is the main authority of the day to day governmental operations in the Ottoman empire.This also falls under the jursusdiction relatively small council of ministers and that met regularly under the direction of a chief minister called the Grand Vizier, or in turkish Vezeiriazam. The opening to the places where these councils meet is called the Babiali, which means high gate, or Sublime Porte. In terms of diplomacy the Porte is another way of calling the Ottoman government. I mean, that when you say porte, you are reffering to the government of the ottoman empire itself.. This usage acknowledges the power of the grand vizier.
The Provinces of the ottoman empire was ruled under the heading of the the chief governer.called the Beylerbey. Provinces were divided into differant sanjaks, or districts and governed by the Bey. These same districts wered divided into fiefs, called timars. These were governed by members of the Cavalry. This cavalry officer was responsible for carryingout and implementing the governmental decrees., he was supposed to maintain order, collect taxes, and provide troops if the ottoman empire was thrust into a war. All of the members of the fief were surveyed at the bigining of each year, and their possessions were recorded, All of these provinces were completely under the heading of the Grand Vizier. (All information in the past two paragraphs was found in Turkey: a country study page 24.)
Religion
The head of the church in the city of Constantinople in the Ecumenical Patriarche of Constantinople. The main religion of Constantinople and actually the surrounding areas is Muslim. This however has not been true for the longest period of time, the church in Constantinople has gone over many differant reformation of church beliefs since the begining tof the Tourkokratia period.
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