The General Secretary of Yıldız Palace (Yıldız Saray-ı Hümâyûnu Mâbeyn Başkâtibi) is the official heading the unit that conducts the editorial office of the court. In other words, he managed the correspondences between the grand vizier on the top of the government organization and the Ottoman sultan. Yıldız Request Registries (Yıldız Mâruzât Defterleri) contain the daily records of the formal and personal requests prepared by the Başkitabet to be presented to the sultan at Yıldız Palace. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this series are: 1298-1327.
This fonds constitutes a very rich collection of documents resulting from the assortment of documents belonging to the rule of Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1909). It includes 1618 files, 626000 documents and 15679 notebooks. It appears that it includes important documents for this period, which is a fresh field for the research in the history of management. Yıldız catalogues (series) are collected in five main groups; the Main Documents of Yıldız Palace (Yıldız Esas Evrakı), the Official Documents of Grand Vizierate (Sadâret Resmî Maruzât Evrakı), the Officially Presented Documents of Grand Vizierate (Sadâret Husûsî Maruzât Evrakı) and the Daily Documents of Yıldız Palace (Yıldız Perakende Evrakı).
This subseries includes the letter-like documents written to the sultan and on behalf of him; letters written by the prince, kings, emperors and other state presidents to the sultan through Palace Secretariat Başkatipliği, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies and the letters written by the sultan; the sultan’s letter of thanks and congratulations to his relatives and others on the occasions of (accession to the throne), bairams, condolence, and so on. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1284-1327.
The subseries called the Officially Presented Documents of Yıldız Grand Vizierate (Yıldız Sadâret Husûsî Maruzât Evrakı) includes the private requests presented to the court by the Grand Vizierate office so as to inform the sultan about the domestic or foreign problems and events. The documents deal with Şarki Rumelia and Armenia questions, Crete question, Egypt question, Italia’s intervention in Africa and so on. It also includes writings about international affairs and Ottoman State’s policy, foreign press’ articles about the Ottoman State, and correspondence regarding these writings. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1294-1326.
This subseries largely includes the opinions of the Railway Board, The Directory of Roads and Bridges (Turuk ve Meabir İdaresi), the Agricultural Bank (Ziraat Bankası), the Imperial Press and the Ministry of Commerce and Public Works engineers; the contracts with Hamidiye-Hedjaz Railway Commission, Construction Directorate and foreign companies; the official price lists promulgated by Istanbul Broker Exchange; and the correspondences with Hedjaz Railway Commission, Anatolian Ottoman Railway Company, the Translation Office Clerkship of Ministry of Trade and Public Works (Ticaret ve Nafia Nezareti Tercüme Odası Katibliği), the Public Works Commission of Ankara Province (Ankara Vilayeti Nafia Komisyonu) and trade courts. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1284-1327.
This series includes documents written by the Private Secretariat of the Sultan head clerk to the provincial governorships, sub-provincial governorships, commanderships, embassies and inspectorships and to the ministries in the capital city; it also includes the official letters and their summaries written by the Private Secretariat of the Sultan head clerk to the sultan about various issues. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this series are: 1272-1330.
The tables prepared by the Palace Secretary occupy an important place in the Yıldız Daily Documents’ section. 15754 tables, prepared for different purposes between 1295-1328, lists, envelopes, (the condensed reports drawn up at the Porte for submission to the Sultan) and similar documents are brought together in this catalogue. Pertaining to the record of telegraphs, dispatches, petitions and letters presented in an official and personal style, these tables and lists were arranged in different forms for the type of procedure, the office to which they were sent, and special days, thus revealing the working styles of the Palace Secretary Head-clerkship (Mabeyn Başkatipliği). The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1295-1327.
“The Regulation of Council of Minister” (Meclis-i Vükela Dahili Nizamnamesi), dated 1 March 1879, subordinated the whole performance and all the actions of the government to the permission of the sultan, so it was necessary for the Grand Vizierate office to give the sultan information about anything that the government would do and to take permission from him. This series includes official letters written to the court by the Grand Vizierate but did not have an imperial rescript. Grand Vizierate Official Requests with an imperial rescript are in the section of “Assortment of Imperial Rescripts”. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1293-1327.
This subseries includes the documents with the letterhead of the Office of Imperial Protocol (Teşrifat-ı Umumiye Dairesi); translations of the documents from the ambassadors and the speeches and addresses that the ambassadors made with the sultan; the dinner parties with the state presidents, ambassadors and so on; the documents concerning the content of the meetings; and the documents about the selamlık and awarding ceremonies for the kings, princes, ambassadors and so on. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1293-1326.
This subseries includes correspondence between Yıldız Palace and embassies, Consulates and the attaches’ offices. There are also writings directly sent by the embassies, consulates and attaches’ offices to the court; documents directly sent to the court by the committees, companies and similar organisations abroad; and documents sent by the Counsellor, interpreter and Acting ambassador at the embassies with their own stamps to the Private Secretariat of the Sultan head clerk. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1293-1326.
