State organisation of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire developed a highly advanced organisation of state over the centuries. Even though it had a very centralized government with the Sultan as the supreme ruler, it had an effective control of its provinces and citizens, as well as its officials. Wealth and rank wasn't necessarily something one inherited, rather it had to be earned. Positions were perceived as titles such as viziers and ağas. Military service was a key to advancement in the hierarchy.

Imperial governance

With the expansion of the Empire, the need for more systematic administrative organization arose. Over time a dual system of military ("Central System") and civil administration ("Provincial Governing") developed a kind of separation of powers with most higher executive functions carried out by the military authorities and judicial and basic administration duties carried out by civil authorities. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states. Most of the areas ruled by the Ottomans were explicitly mentioned in the official full style of the sultan, including various lofty titles adopted to emphasize imperial rank and show the empire as being "successor-in-law" to conquered states.

The empire was divided on vilayets. Each Vilayet the governors were assigned to the each vilayet. The idea of vilayet originated from the Seljuk vassal state (Uç Beyliği) in central Anatolia, the Empire over the years became an amalgamation of pre-existing polities, the Anatolian beyliks, brought under the sway of the ruling House of Osman.

Central system (military administration)

The central system was composed of Sultan and his own people (book keepers, etc) under what was known as "House of Osman". The House of Osman was advised by Divan. Divan was composed of Grandvizer and ruling class (nobles). The ruling class was called the askeri, including the noblemen, court officials, military officers and the religious class called the ulema.

Divan become very powerful and after the Murat IV, sultans begin not to join to the sessions.

House of Osman

The Ottomans did not seem to have a hereditary system based on primogeniture (crown passes to the eldest son) or seniority (crown passes to the next oldest brother). The crown typically passed to the son of a sultan, but the hereditary system changed often and was inconsistently applied.

The Divan

Though the sultan was the sublime monarch he had a number of advisors and ministers. The most powerful of these were the viziers of the Divan, led by the Grand Vizier. The Divan was a council where the viziers met and debated the politics of the empire. It was the Grand Vizier's duty to inform the sultan of the opinion of the divan. The sultan often took his vizier's advices in consideration, but he by no means had to obey the divan. Sometimes the sultan called a divan meeting himself if he had something important to inform his viziers of, such as coming war. The viziers then carried out his orders. The divan consisted of three viziers in the 14th century and eleven in the 17th century, four of them served as Viziers of the Dome, the most important ministers next to the Grand Vizier. Sometimes the commander (ağa) of the Janissaries attended at the divan meetings as well.