Enderun School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Enderun School (Turkish: Enderun, Ottoman Turkish: Enderûn) which meant "inner most" was a free-boarding school for the Christian Millet of the Ottoman Empire, which recruited students among Devshirmeh, (Ottoman Turkish:Devşirme).[1] Enderun was fairly successful in this trans-[or forced] culturation of students, which many statesmen were products of this process. Enderun School functioned strictly for bureaucratic purposes and (ideally) the graduates were permanently devoted to government service and had no interest in forming relations with lower social groups.[2] The incoming students were called the inner boys (Ottoman Turkish:iç oglanlar). Their professional development took many years, exactly seven years to graduate. The graduates, Devshirmeh, (Ottoman Turkish:Devşirme) become servants to the sultan or other notables, to serve in the Six Divisions of Cavalry, or to serve as Janissaries. Some of the most talented Devshirmeh worked in Topkapı Palace, where they were trained for high positions within the Ottoman Divan (court-Council) or military.
In-service training consisted of going through seven consecutive grades (levels) (in Turkish chambers or gates) The first one was called "the little room" which students trained in respect, resourceful, and reliability (concentration) (the 3-R's); the second one was the "big room", which students began to acquire specialized techniques; as they developed they become the "hawk" (taking care of the Sultan's hunting birds/animals), the Wardrobe (in charge of clothing), the "butler" (catering), the "treasury" (the Sultan's valuables) and the last one "private" (tr:Hass) being in charge of sultan's daily activities.
