Enderun Academy

In order to train administrators for his expanding empire, Mehmed II established an educational institution in the inner courtyard (Enderun) of the newly constructed Topkapi Palace. Students were chosen from among the most promising devshirme recruits (conscripted Christian youths mostly from the Balkans), and were trained in the Islamic faith, the sciences, and the military arts. They were expected to develop competency in the three languages of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. This prepared them to serve in the Sultan's household, from which they could hope to graduate as government administrators with the rank of bey or pasha. The staffing of government posts with devshirme recruits trained in the palace school and loyal to the sultan formed the backbone of the Ottoman system of patrimonial rule throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.