The Imperial bî‘at ceremonies in the Ottoman Empire: their formation and transformation until the eighteenth century

Abstract

This study examines the formation and transformation of the Ottoman bî‘at ceremonies (ceremony of oath of allegiance) within the context of Ottoman political culture roughly between the late fifteenth and early eighteenth centuries. The thesis focuses on two particular forms of bî‘at ceremony, one that was held during the accessions of the sultans and the other during the celebrations of the two religious festivals in the Ottoman court (mu‘âyede). By using the descriptions of the bî‘at ceremonies that were narrated in the contemporary chronicles, law books on court etiquette (teşrîfât kanunnâmeleri) and the collections of customary practices and rules on the Ottoman court ceremonial, this study intends to unearth different phases of the ceremonial formation to understand what bî‘at meant in the Ottoman political culture, whether this meaning changed in time parallel to the changes happened in the structure of the ceremony. The thesis aims to propose a novel and nuanced understanding of the bi‘at ceremonies for the period in concern. On one hand, it shows the politically-oriented nature of bi‘at ceremonies as they were equally affected by the alterations that happened in the Ottoman methods of rule, hierarchies within the court. On the other hand, it points out the diversities of the form and function of the bi‘at ceremony during the mu‘ayede and the royal accessions.