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Imaret
Imaret, sometimes also known as a darüzziyafe, is one of several names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries. These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex known as a külliye, which could include hospices, mosques, caravanserais, and colleges. The imarets provided food that was free of charge to specific groups of people and unfortunate individuals. Imarets were not invented by the Ottomans but developed under their rule as highly structured groups of buildings.
The Turkish word imaret comes from Arabic 'imāra, which signified "habitation and cultivation" or "the act of building, making habitable". The shift in the word's meaning to denote a religious complex or public kitchen appears to be unique to the Ottoman context.
According to historian Amy Singer, the imaret is an institution that is "perhaps unique to the Ottomans in its proliferation and purpose." It was found throughout the Ottoman Empire and did not exist in the same manner elsewhere. The distribution of food to the public masses in times of emergency was known in the Middle East before the Ottomans, but the regular distribution of food on a large scale was not. Some exceptions to this existed in certain holy cities, namely Mecca, Medina, and Hebron. In Hebron, the simat al-Khalil ("table of Abraham") was a guesthouse that provided daily food to all visitors to the city, a practice going back centuries and described by the 11th-century writer Nasir Khusraw. Mecca and Medina also had measures in place for the regular distribution of grain since at least the Mamluk period (13th to early 16th centuries). These examples may have inspired later Ottoman rulers.
Doğan Kuban notes that in early Ottoman architecture the term imaret was employed more flexibly to denote an entire religious complex (like a külliye), typically with a zaviye at its center – a religious building that catered to Sufi brotherhoods. This term appears in the original waqf documents of these complexes. The Nilüfer Hatun complex in Iznik, for example, is called an "imaret" but consists of a large zaviye used for Sufi religious activities. In later periods, the term imaret came to denote more strictly a public kitchen. Late Ottoman sources referred to earlier imaret-zaviye buildings as mosques, regardless of what their waqf documents said (also reflecting the fact that many zaviyes had been converted to formal mosques by then).
The first few imarets were built in Iznik and Bursa in the 1330s. Over the following centuries, the number of imarets grew in the cities as the religious complexes founded by the sultans expanded in size. By the 1530s, there were 83 imarets in the Ottoman Empire. Amy Singer estimates there were around 100 imarets by the beginning of the 17th century.
Imarets and other religious complexes served as community centres of their neighbourhoods. Many such complexes were built throughout the Ottoman Empire, but particularly in the central areas of Ottoman rule such as the Balkans (known as Rumelia) and Anatolia, including the capital cities of Bursa, Edirne, and Istanbul. It is estimated that by the end of the 18th century, the imarets in Istanbul were feeding up to 30,000 people a day.
Today, the only Ottoman imaret still serving its original charitable function is the Mihrişah Sultan Complex in the Eyüp neighbourhood of Istanbul, which dates from 1796 and was founded by Mihrişah Sultan, the mother of Sultan Selim III.
Imarets served many different types of people and came to be seen as symbols of "charitable and beneficent work". They were philanthropic institutions established as part of voluntary beneficence, which was considered charity under Muslim law. Additionally, the distribution of food itself was seen as a charitable act. Imarets belong to a particular category of voluntary charity, known as sadaqa. Sadaqa as voluntary charity could take many forms, including a prayer or a blessing for the sick and disabled, or a selfless act, all contributed towards good deeds in Ottoman society.
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Imaret
Imaret, sometimes also known as a darüzziyafe, is one of several names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries. These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex known as a külliye, which could include hospices, mosques, caravanserais, and colleges. The imarets provided food that was free of charge to specific groups of people and unfortunate individuals. Imarets were not invented by the Ottomans but developed under their rule as highly structured groups of buildings.
The Turkish word imaret comes from Arabic 'imāra, which signified "habitation and cultivation" or "the act of building, making habitable". The shift in the word's meaning to denote a religious complex or public kitchen appears to be unique to the Ottoman context.
According to historian Amy Singer, the imaret is an institution that is "perhaps unique to the Ottomans in its proliferation and purpose." It was found throughout the Ottoman Empire and did not exist in the same manner elsewhere. The distribution of food to the public masses in times of emergency was known in the Middle East before the Ottomans, but the regular distribution of food on a large scale was not. Some exceptions to this existed in certain holy cities, namely Mecca, Medina, and Hebron. In Hebron, the simat al-Khalil ("table of Abraham") was a guesthouse that provided daily food to all visitors to the city, a practice going back centuries and described by the 11th-century writer Nasir Khusraw. Mecca and Medina also had measures in place for the regular distribution of grain since at least the Mamluk period (13th to early 16th centuries). These examples may have inspired later Ottoman rulers.
Doğan Kuban notes that in early Ottoman architecture the term imaret was employed more flexibly to denote an entire religious complex (like a külliye), typically with a zaviye at its center – a religious building that catered to Sufi brotherhoods. This term appears in the original waqf documents of these complexes. The Nilüfer Hatun complex in Iznik, for example, is called an "imaret" but consists of a large zaviye used for Sufi religious activities. In later periods, the term imaret came to denote more strictly a public kitchen. Late Ottoman sources referred to earlier imaret-zaviye buildings as mosques, regardless of what their waqf documents said (also reflecting the fact that many zaviyes had been converted to formal mosques by then).
The first few imarets were built in Iznik and Bursa in the 1330s. Over the following centuries, the number of imarets grew in the cities as the religious complexes founded by the sultans expanded in size. By the 1530s, there were 83 imarets in the Ottoman Empire. Amy Singer estimates there were around 100 imarets by the beginning of the 17th century.
Imarets and other religious complexes served as community centres of their neighbourhoods. Many such complexes were built throughout the Ottoman Empire, but particularly in the central areas of Ottoman rule such as the Balkans (known as Rumelia) and Anatolia, including the capital cities of Bursa, Edirne, and Istanbul. It is estimated that by the end of the 18th century, the imarets in Istanbul were feeding up to 30,000 people a day.
Today, the only Ottoman imaret still serving its original charitable function is the Mihrişah Sultan Complex in the Eyüp neighbourhood of Istanbul, which dates from 1796 and was founded by Mihrişah Sultan, the mother of Sultan Selim III.
Imarets served many different types of people and came to be seen as symbols of "charitable and beneficent work". They were philanthropic institutions established as part of voluntary beneficence, which was considered charity under Muslim law. Additionally, the distribution of food itself was seen as a charitable act. Imarets belong to a particular category of voluntary charity, known as sadaqa. Sadaqa as voluntary charity could take many forms, including a prayer or a blessing for the sick and disabled, or a selfless act, all contributed towards good deeds in Ottoman society.