GENERAL GLOSSARY
C - L - S
- V
Capitulations
Special agreements between the Ottoman Empire
and various foreign governments giving those governments and their citizens
and subjects specific exemptions from the law of the Empire.
Levant
Designation of the region in the eastern end
of the Mediterranean Sea, particularly Lebanon and Syria, but also for
Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt. The word
comes from French "lever" (English: to rise), and is an equivalent of the
Arabic Mashriq, "the country where the sun rises". The introduction of
the word in world vocabulary came with the French mandate of Syria and
Lebanon, which lasted from 1920 until the mid-1940s. Today there are many
Levantens living in Turkey, especially in Izmir
and Istanbul.
Sublime Gate (or Porte)
Ottoman Empire palace entrance that provided
access to the chief minister (see Grand Vizier), who represented the government and the
sultan.
Term came to mean the Ottoman government.
Vizier - Grand vizier
Minister of the sultan and member of the imperial council. Vizier was the highest
rank in the military/administrative hierarchy of the
Empire; the chief minister
(like a prime minister) was the Grand Vizier. At various times in history, the Grand (First) Vizier was
often given full deputy powers by the sultan over the
Empire. And under a weak
or incompetent sultan, the Grand Vizier ruled the
Empire.
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