1.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
2.
Kashan
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Kashan is a city of Isfahan, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 248,789, between the 12th and the 14th centuries Kashan was an important centre for the production of high quality pottery and tiles. In modern Persian, the word for a tile comes from the name of the town, Kashan is divided into two parts, mountainous and desert. In the east side of the city Kashan opens up to the desert of Iran which the city is famous for. Kashan is also known for Maranjab Desert and Caravanserai located near the namak lake, today Maranjab and the surrounding Shifting Sands is a popular destination at the weekends. On August 9,2007 Iran placed the Historical Axis of Fin, Sialk, hence, Kashan dates back to the Elamite period of Iran. The Sialk ziggurat still stands today in the suburbs of Kashan after 7,000 years, the artifacts uncovered at Sialk reside in the Louvre in Paris and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Irans National Museum. By some accounts, although not all, Kashan was the origin of the three men who followed the star that guided them to Bethlehem to witness the nativity of Jesus. Whatever the historical validity of this story, the attribution of Kashan as their original home testifies to the citys prestige at the time the story was set down and his tomb is one of Kashans conspicuous landmarks. Sultan Malik Shah I of the Seljuk dynasty ordered the building of a fortress in the middle of Kashan in the 11th century, the fortress walls, called Ghaleh Jalali still stand today in central Kashan. Kashan was also a vacation spot for Safavi Kings. Bagh-e Fin, specifically, is one of the most famous gardens of Iran and this beautiful garden with its pool and orchards was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise. The original Safavid buildings have been replaced and rebuilt by the Qajar dynasty although the layout of trees. The garden itself however, was first founded 7000 years ago alongside the Cheshmeh-ye-Soleiman, the garden is also notorious as the site of the murder of Mirza Taghi Khan known as Amir Kabir, chancellor of Nasser-al-Din Shah, Irans king in 1852. The earthquake of 1778 leveled the city of Kashan and all the edifices of Shah Abbas Safavi, but the city started afresh and has today become a focal tourist attraction via the numerous large houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrating the finest examples of Qajari aesthetics. Notable towns around Kashan are Qamsar and Abyaneh, which attract tourists all year around, the nearby town of Niasar features a man-made cave and fireplace of historical interest. Kashan is internationally famous for manufacturing carpets, silk and other textiles, today, Kashan houses most of Irans mechanized carpet-weaving factories, and has an active marble and copper mining industry. Kashan and suburbs have a population of 400,000, there are more than 10,000 students currently studying in various fields at universities of kashan
3.
Qazvin
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Qazvin is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was an ancient capital in the Persian Empire and nowadays is known as the capital of Iran. It is famous for its Baghlava, carpet patterns, poets, political newspaper, at the 2011 census, its population was 381,598. Located in 150 km northwest of Tehran, in the Qazvin Province, the climate is cold but dry, due to its position south of the rugged Alborz range called KTS Atabakiya. The city was a capital of the Persian Empire under Safavids in 1548-1598 and it is a provincial capital today that has been an important cultural center throughout history. Archeological findings in the Qazvin plain reveal urban agricultural settlements for at least nine millennia, Qazvin geographically connects Tehran, Isfahan, and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian seacoast and Asia Minor, hence its strategic location throughout the ages. The city today known as Qazvin is thought to have founded by Shapur II, King of Persia in 250 CE, under the name Shad Shahpur. Qazvin has sometimes been of importance at major moments of Iranian history. It was captured by invading Arabs and destroyed by Hulagu Khan, after the Ottoman capture of Tabriz, Shah Tahmasp made Qazvin the capital of the Safavid empire, a status that Qazvin retained for half a century until Shah Abbas I moved the capital to Isfahan. In the middle of the century the Babi movement had one of its centers here, in the second half of the 19th century Qazvin was one of the centers of Russian presence in northern Iran. A detachment of the Persian Cossack Brigade under Russian officers was stationed here, from 1893 this was the headquarters of the Russian Company for Road construction in Persia which connected Qazvin by roads to Tehran and Hamadan. The company built a hospital and the St. Nicolas Church, in 1920 Qazvin was used as a base for the British Norperforce. The 1921 Persian coup détat that led to the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty was launched from Qazvin and it became a state in 1996. In Autumn 2015 portions of Qazvin were struck by a meteorite, the majority of the people of the city of Qazvin are Persians. The majority language is Persian with a Qazvini accent, azerbaijanis and Tats are the other largest ethnic groups of the city of Qazvin. In the middle of the city lie the ruins of Meimoon Ghaleh, Qazvin contains several buildings from the Safavid era, dating to the period in which it was capital of Persia. Perhaps the most famous of the edifices is the Chehel sotoun, Qazvin. After Islam, the popularity of mystics, as well as the prominence of tradition, religious jurisprudence, and philosophy in Qazvin, led to the emergence of many mosques and religious schools
4.
Qom
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Qom, also spelled as Ghom, is the eighth largest city in Iran. It lies 125 kilometres by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province, at the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036, comprising 545,704 men and 528,332 women. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River, Qom is considered holy by Shiʿa Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Mæsume, sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Rida. The city is the largest center for Shiʿa scholarship in the world, Qom is famous for a brittle toffee called “Sohan”, considered a souvenir of the city and sold by 2,000 to 2,500 “Sohan” shops. Qom has developed into an industrial centre owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil fields were discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956, Qom, the capital of Qom province, is located 125 kilometers south of Tehran, on a low plain. The shrine of Masoumeh, the sister of Imam Reza, is located in this city, the city is located in the boundary of the central desert of Iran. At the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036, Qom is counted as one of the focal centers of the Shiʿa both in Iran and around the globe. Since the revolution, the population has risen from around 25,000 to more than 45,000. Substantial sums of money in the form of alms and Islamic taxes flow into Qom to the ten marja-i taqlid or “Source of Imitation” that reside there. The number of schools in Qom is now over fifty. Its theological center and the Fatima al-Masumeh Shrine are prominent features of Qom, another very popular religious site of pilgrimage formerly outside the city of Qom but now more of a suburb is called Jamkaran. Qom’s proximity to Tehran has allowed the clerical establishment easy access to monitor the affairs, many Grand Ayatollahs possess offices in both Tehran and Qom, many people simply commute between the two cities as they are only 156 kilometres or 97 miles apart. Southeast of Qom is the ancient city of Kashan, directly south of Qom lie the towns of Delijan, Mahallat, Naraq, Pardisan City, Kahak, and Jasb. The surrounding area to the east of Qom is populated by Tafresh, Saveh, Qom has a hot desert climate with low annual rainfall due to remoteness from the sea and being situated in the vicinity of the subtropical anticyclone aloft. Except for its hot and extremely dry summers, which are due to the relatively low altitude among the hottest in inland Iran. The present town of Qom in Central Iran dates back to ancient times and its pre-Islamic history can be partially documented, although the earlier epochs remain unclear. Its true function is still a matter of dispute, but the contributions by Wolfram Kleiss point to a Parthian palace that served as a station on the highway and was used until Sasanian times
5.
Safavid dynasty
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The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran, often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history. The Safavid shahs ruled over one of the so-called gunpowder empires, the Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by spreading Shia Islam in Iran, as well as parts of the Caucasus, Anatolia. The Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be Seyyeds, family descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, There seems now to be a consensus among scholars that the Safavid family hailed from Persian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, finally settling in the 11th century CE at Ardabil. Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to the Kurdish dignitary, a massive migration of Oghuz Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries not only Turkified Azerbaijan but also Anatolia. The Azeri Turks are Shiʿites and were founders of the Safavid dynasty, by the time of the establishment of the Safavid empire, the members of the family were native Turkish-speaking and Turkicized, and some of the Shahs composed poems in their native Turkish language. Furthermore, the dynasty was from the very start thoroughly intermarried with both Pontic Greek as well as Georgian lines, Safavid history begins with the establishment of the Safaviyya by its eponymous founder Safi-ad-din Ardabili. In 700/1301, Safi al-Din assumed the leadership of the Zahediyeh, due to the great spiritual charisma of Safi al-Din, the order was later known as the Safaviyya. The Safavid order soon gained great influence in the city of Ardabil, after Safī al-Dīn, the leadership of the Safaviyya passed to Sadr al-Dīn Mūsā. The leadership of the order passed from Sadr ud-Dīn Mūsā to his son Khwādja Ali, when Shaykh Junayd, the son of Ibrāhim, assumed the leadership of the Safaviyya in 1447, the history of the Safavid movement was radically changed. Savory, Sheikh Junayd was not content with spiritual authority and he sought material power, Junayd sought refuge with the rival of Kara Koyunlu Jahan Shah, the Aq Qoyunlu Khan Uzun Hassan, and cemented his relationship by marrying Uzun Hassans sister, Khadija Begum. Junayd was killed during an incursion into the territories of the Shirvanshah and was succeeded by his son Haydar Safavi, Haydar married Martha Alamshah Begom, Uzun Hassans daughter, who gave birth to Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty. Marthas mother Theodora—better known as Despina Khatun—was a Pontic Greek princess and she had been married to Uzun Hassan in exchange for protection of the Grand Komnenos from the Ottomans. After Uzun Hassans death, his son Yaqub felt threatened by the growing Safavid religious influence, Yaqub allied himself with the Shirvanshah and killed Haydar in 1488. By this time, the bulk of the Safaviyya were nomadic Oghuz Turkic-speaking clans from Asia Minor, the Qizilbash were warriors, spiritual followers of Haydar, and a source of the Safavid military and political power. After the death of Haydar, the Safaviyya gathered around his son Ali Mirza Safavi, according to official Safavid history, before passing away, Ali had designated his young brother Ismail as the spiritual leader of the Safaviyya. After the decline of the Timurid Empire, Persia was politically splintered, the demise of Tamerlanes political authority created a space in which several religious communities, particularly Shi’i ones, could come to the fore and gain prominence. Among these were a number of Sufi brotherhoods, the Hurufis, Nuqtawis, of these various movements, the Safavid Qizilbash was the most politically resilient, and due to its success Shah Isma’il I gained political prominence in 1501
6.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
7.
Circassians
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The Circassians mainly speak the Circassian language, a Northwest Caucasian language with three main dialects and numerous sub-dialects. Many Circassians also speak Turkish, Russian, English, Arabic, and Hebrew, having been exiled by Russia to lands of the Ottoman Empire, about 800,000 Circassians remain in historical Circassia, and others live in the Russian Federation outside these republics and krais. The 2010 Russian Census recorded 718,727 Circassians, of whom 516,826 are Kabardian,124,835 are other Adyghe in Adygea,73,184 are Cherkess, the Circassians refer to themselves as Adyghe. The exonym Circassians is occasionally applied to Adyghe and Abaza from the North Caucasus, the Turkic peoples and Russians call the Adyghe Cherkess. Folk etymology usually explains the name Cherkess as warrior cutter or soldier cutter, from the Turkish words çeri, Cherkess, Circassians of Karachay-Cherkessia, one of two indigenous peoples of the republic who are mostly Besleney Kabardians. The name Cherkess is the Russian form of Circassian and was used for all Circassians before Soviet times, Adyghe, the indigenous population of the Kuban including Adygea and Krasnodar Krai. Shapsug, the historical inhabitants of Shapsugia. They live in the Tuapse District and the Lazarevsky City District of Sochi, genetically, the Adyghe have shared ancestry partially with neighboring peoples of the Caucasus, with some influence from the other regions. The Circassian language, also known as the Cherkess language, including West Adyghe, Kabardian Adyghe, archaeological findings, mainly of dolmens in Northwest Caucasus region, indicate a megalithic culture in North West caucauses. Around the beginning of the 4th Millennium BCE, the North West Caucasus region, an Adyghe kingdom was founded in about 400 BCE. As a result of Greek and Byzantine influence, Christianity spread throughout the Caucasus between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE, during that period the Circassians began to accept Christianity as a national religion, but did not abandon all elements of their indigenous religious beliefs. From around 400 CE, wave after wave of invaders began to invade the lands of the Adyghe and they were conqered first by the Bulgars. Outsiders sometimes confused the Adyghe with the similarly-named Utigurs, and both peoples were sometimes conflated under misnomers such as Utige, the Bulgar state, with its capital at Phanagoria, reached the apex of its geopolitical sway in 632–668, as Old Great Bulgaria. Under pressure from the Khazars, Great Bulgaria declined quickly and collapsed, the Adyghe, following the dissolution of the Khazar state, were integrated by the Kingdom of Alania. Between the 10th and 13th centuries Georgia had influence on the Adyghe, in the 17th century, under the influence of the Crimean Tatars and of the Ottoman Empire, some Circassians started to adopt Islam. However, former Bahri Mamluk dynasty was composed mainly of Cumans, during the 13th century the Mamluks seized power in Cairo, and as a result the Mamluk kingdom became the most influential kingdom in the Muslim world. The majority of the leaders of the Mamluk kingdom were of Adyghe origin, even after the Ottoman Turks conquered Egypt in 1517, the Adyghes continued to rule in Egypt until the 18th century. With the rise of Muhammad Ali Pasha, most senior Mamluks were killed, until the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt in the 1950s, the Adyghe formed an élite group in the country
8.
Abbas I of Persia
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Shāh Abbās the Great or Shāh Abbās I of Persia was the 5th Safavid Shah of Iran, and is generally considered the strongest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda. Although Abbas would preside over the apex of Irans military, political and economic power, under his weak-willed father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Irans enemies, the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks, in 1588, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. But Abbas was no puppet and soon seized power for himself, under his leadership, Abbas created numerous opportunities for thousands of Circassians, Georgians, and Armenians to join the civil administration and the military. These actions, as well as his reforms of the Iranian army, enabled him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and he also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals and expanded Iranian rule and influence in the North Caucasus, beyond the traditional territories of Dagestan. Abbas was a builder and moved his kingdoms capital from Qazvin to Isfahan. In his later years, following a court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, at the time of his birth, Abbas grandfather Shah Tahmasp I was the Shah of Iran. Abbas parents gave him to be nursed by Khani Khan Khanum, when Abbas was four, Tahmasp sent Abbas father to stay in Shiraz where the climate was better for his fragile health. In 1578, Abbas father became Shah of Iran, Abbas mother soon came to dominate the government, but she had little time for Abbas, preferring to promote the interests of his elder brother Hamza. Mohammad was a sovereign, incapable of preventing Irans main rivals, the Ottoman Empire. The young prince, Hamza, was promising and led a campaign against the Ottomans. At the age of 14, Abbas had come under the guardianship of Murshid Qoli Khan, when a large Uzbek army invaded Khorasan in 1587, Murshid decided the time was right to overthrow Shah Mohammad. He rode to the Safavid capital Qazvin with the young prince, Mohammad made no objection against his deposition and handed the royal insignia over to his son during the following year on 1 October 1588. The kingdom Abbas inherited was in a desperate state, the Ottomans had seized vast territories in the west and the north-west and the Uzbeks had overrun half of Khorasan in the north-east. Iran itself was riven by fighting between the factions of the Qizilbash, who had mocked royal authority by killing the queen in 1579. First, Abbas settled his score with his mothers killers, executing three of the ringleaders of the plot and exiling four others and his next task was to free himself from the power of Murshid Qoli Khan. Murshid made Abbas marry Hamzas widow and a Safavid cousin, and began distributing important government posts among his own friends, meanwhile, the Uzbeks continued their conquest of Khorasan
9.
Harem
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The structure of the harem and the extent of monogamy or polygamy has varied depending on the familys personalities, socio-economic status, and local customs. This private space has been understood as serving the purposes of maintaining the modesty, privilege. In former times, some harems were guarded by eunuchs who were allowed inside, there are several Renaissance paintings dating to the 16th century that defy Orientalist tropes and portray the women of the Ottoman harem as individuals of status and political significance. In many periods of Islamic history women in the harem exercised various degrees of political power, the word has been recorded in the English language since early 17th century. It comes from the Arabic ḥarīm, which can mean a sacred inviolable place, in English the term harem can mean also the wives of a polygamous man. The triliteral Ḥ-R-M appears in other terms related the notion of such as haram, mahram, ihram and al-Ḥaram al-Šarīf. In Turkish of the Ottoman era, the harem, i. e. the part of the reserved for women was called haremlık. Some scholars have used the term to refer to royal households throughout history. In Muscovite Russia the area of houses where women were secluded was known as terem. The idea of harem or seclusion of women did not originate with Muhammad or Islam and these practices were well established amongst the upper classes of Iraq, the Byzantine Empire, Ancient Greece and Persia for thousands of years before the advent of Islam. The practice of secluding women was common to many ancient near eastern communities, in pre-Islamic Assyria, Persia, and Egypt, most royal courts had a harem, where the ruler’s wives and concubines lived with female attendants, and eunuchs. The harem system first became fully institutionalized in the Islamic world under the Abbasid caliphate, Some scholars believe that Islamic culture adopted the custom of secluding women from the Byzantine Empire and Persia, and then read those customs back into the Quran. According to Eleanor Doumato, the practice of secluding women in Islam is based on both tradition and social custom. One verse in particular discusses hijab, in modern usage hijab colloquially refers to the religious attire worn by Muslim women, but its original meaning was a veil or curtain that physically separates female from male space. Leila Ahmed describes the ideal of seclusion as a a mans right to keep his women concealed-invisible to other men, Ahmed identifies the practice of seclusion as a social ideal and one of the four factors that shaped the lives of women in the Mediterranean Middle East. For example, contemporary sources from the Byzantine Empire describe the social mores that governed womens lives, Women were not supposed to be seen in public. They were guarded by eunuchs and could leave the home veiled. Some of these customs were borrowed from the Persians, but Greek society also influenced the development of patriarchal tradition, the ideal of seclusion was not fully realized as social reality
10.
Grand vizier
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In the Ottoman Empire, the Grand Vizier was the prime minister of the Ottoman sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissible only by the sultan himself. His offices were located at the Sublime Porte, the term “vizier” was originally a denomination used by the Abbasid Dynasty in the 8th century AD. This position then came to the Ottomans in the early 14th century by way of the Seljuks of Anatolia, during the nascent phases of the Ottoman state, vizier was the only title used. The first of these Ottoman viziers who was titled Grand Vizier was Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder, the purpose in instituting the title Grand Vizier was to distinguish the holder of the Sultans seal from other viziers. The initially more frequently used title of vezir-i âzam was gradually replaced by sadrazam, throughout Ottoman history, the grand viziers have also been termed sadr-ı âlî, vekil-i mutlak, sâhib-i devlet, serdar-ı ekrem, serdar-ı azam and zât-ı âsafî. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder reformed the role of the vizier in several ways, several before him held an equivalent but differently named office, he was the first who held the position of “Grand Vizier”, during the reign of Sultan Murad I. He was the first advisor with a military background – his forerunners had come from a more class of men. It is also significant that he was the first of a family that, at the time. Several of Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder’s kin went on to hold the office of Grand Vizier in the following his death. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger, the grandson of Pasha the Elder, was highly influential in shaping the role of the Grand Vizier. During the reign of Mehmed II, the Younger opposed the siege of Constantinople, two days after the siege was won by Mehmed II, the Younger was executed for his opposition. After his death, the position of Grand Vizier was chosen nearly exclusively from the kul system, often and this was usually a political move, designed to appease powerful European factions to Ottoman supremacy. Grand Viziers gained immense political supremacy in the days of the Ottoman Empire. Power was centralized in the position of the Grand Vizier during the Köprülü era, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was a powerful political figure during the reign of Mehmed IV, and was appointed to the office of Grand Vizier in 1656. He consolidated power within the position and sent the Sultan away from the city on hunting trips, next, he forcibly removed any officers suspected of corruption, those who did not leave were executed. He also conducted campaigns against Venice and the Hapsburgs, as well as quelling rebellions in Anatolia, on his deathbed five years later, he convinced Mehmed to appoint his son as the next Grand Vizier, thus securing his dynasty a position of supreme power in the Empire. It was during the Köprülü era that the Ottoman Empire reached its largest geographic expansion across Europe, Asia Minor, in Ottoman legal theory, the Sultan was supposed to conduct affairs of state exclusively via the Grand Vizier, but in reality this arrangement was often circumvented. He might, too, be inclined to take the advice of his mother
