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).
“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.
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 includes the correspondences between the office of zaptieh and Yıldız Palace on the whole. It also includes documents resulting from the correspondences with such offices as Beyoğlu Sub-provincial Governorship (Beyoğlu Mutasarrıflığı), Üsküdar Sub-provincial Governorship (Üsküdar Mutasarrıflığı), Beşiktaş Police Centre, İstanbul Police Centre, The General Directory of Prisons (Hapishane-i Umumiye Müdüriyeti), Police Inspectors’ Petitions, Theatres’ Inspectorship and Patrols’ Inspectorship. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1282-1327.
This subseries includes the correspondences with the official persons sent by the court, governorships, lieutenant offices and state for inspection. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1251-1326.
Covering the dates 1267-1327/1850-1909 and consisting of 6485 documents, this catalogue includes the petitions and journals written to the sultan in a foreign language, the original documents without their translations and the documents in their translations though their originals are absent. Also, it has the bills presented by the foreigners in various subjects; the foreign companies’ petitions including their offers; the invoices and manifestos; the translations whose interpreters are unclear; the unsigned official letters that are interpreted; the writings in a foreign language that are not interpreted; and the printed documents in a foreign language, some interpreted and some not. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1267-1327.
This subseries includes the correspondences between the Yıldız Palace and such offices as the Tanzimat Office, the Court of First Instance, the Office of Interior Affairs of Council of State (Şura-yı Devlet Muavinliği), Council of State’s Office of Interior (Şura-yı Devlet Dahiliye Dairesi), Council of State’s members, the Court of Appeal (İstinaf Hukuk Mahkemesi), the Civil Service Office of Council of State (Şura-yı Devlet Mülkiye Dairesi) and the Committee of Statistics. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1289-1330.
Including 1076 documents, this subseries includes the correspondences between Marshall of the Sultan’s household and court and other offices. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1289-1330.
This subseries includes the correspondences between the court and such offices as Ministry of Posting and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf Nazırı), Galata Post-Office (Galata Postanesi), Manastır Inspectorship of Posting and Telegraph (Manastır Posta ve Telgraf Müfettişliği), Halep Inspectorship of Posting and Telegraph (Halep Telgraf ve Posta Başmüdürlüğü), İstanbul Centre of Telegraphs (İstanbul Telgraf Merkezi), İstanbul Centre of Telegraphs (Beyoğlu Telgraf Merkezi) and the Directory of General Correspondence (Muhaberat-ı Umumiye Müdüriyeti). The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1284-1327.
This subseries includes documents regarding Rumelia Province Inspectorship and Rumelia provinces; the official writings of the Inspectorship and Commissariats; the writings of the staff at Egypt Fevkalade Commissariat, Bulgarian Commissariat, Inspectorship and Commissariat as well as reports and rough drafts. The starting and ending Hijri dates for this subseries are: 1284-1326.
