Imaret

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An imaret is one of the names given throughout the Ottoman Empire and Muslim world referring to a soup kitchen, for travelers and the poor amongst others. This soup kitchen is often part of a larger complex known as a Waqf complex which could include hospices, mosques, caravanserais and colleges[1] just to name a few. Depending on the space or money allocated by the government for the project more additions to this complex could be found. The complex itself was usually associated with larger cities because they were destinations for travelers of all sorts and because the poor populations were usually situated within the walls of cities. This however did not mean they were exclusive to large urban centers, smaller complexes containing an imaret could be found along long trade routes in order to accommodate traveling merchants amongst others.

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[edit] Background

Between the 14th and 19th centuries Waqf complexes were built and maintained throughout the Ottoman Empire, and were the main venue for state sponsored charity. "Thanks to the fact that road-inns, caravanserais, roofed-in markets, storehouses and other facilities for commerce and light industry became current among the urban assets."[2] Not only did the Waqf complex (including of course the imaret itself) dispense kindness to the poor and other patrons along with playing a role in the local economies but it also helped in creating infrastructure. "Several important public works, such as the paving of roads, the building of bridges, the digging of wells and the organization of water supply to the cities, were also carried out with the assistance of the Waqf"[3] Often cities within the Ottoman Empire had a wide variety of people within the social hierarchy, ranging from the wealthy to the poor; the latter being more focused on. In order to maintain an efficient and fully functioning empire, spanning the immense amount of territory it did require some accommodating to those less fortunate people, which is where the imaret comes into play. By implementing this social program the state showed that no matter the wealth one possessed they were important members of society. The poor and downtrodden members of society were not the only focal point for the imarets; traveling merchants were also accepted into the accommodations. These travelers were often merchants who would bring their foreign products which were in high demand throughout the empire. By accepting them into the imarets and accommodating them it was likely that the regional economies would receive a boost and thus would make it a reasonable proposition to take care of them.

[edit] Role of charity and religion

Charity although seemingly noble often took on different roles throughout history; this being particularly true within the Ottoman Empire. It was often seen as a means of attaining salvation in the afterlife; by helping the poor or socially burdened members of society one could attain favour in the eyes of the church and subsequently attain the favour of god. “The express goal of the founders was to draw closer to God and attain a place in paradise after death.” [4] This of course is not the whole truth of the matter, since these complexes were state sanctioned they proved that the rulers really did care about helping their citizens and ultimately bettering society itself.

[edit] Recipients and recipes

The food served within the imaret was often a staple of Ottoman diet, consisting of various types of soup differing depending on the season. And a special menu was concocted for holidays and other special days on the Ottoman calendar, and was based on ceremonial staples enjoyed across the empire. “At such times, dane (mutton and rice) and zerde (rice sweetened with honey and saffron) replaced the regular evening wheat soup. These two special dishes were familiar ceremonial staples, expected to be on every table, no matter the rank of the guest. For example, they appeared on the tables of rich and poor alike at the circumcision feast of Süleyman’s sons, the Princes Bayezid and Cihangir, in 1539.” [5] The recipients of this courtesy were all those working in the Waqf complex, along with patrons and students of the mosque, the poor and the traveling merchants staying in the residence.

[edit] Examples

"The first institution of this kind is said to have been founded in 1336, by Sultan Orhan I, in Iznik, Anatolia. Ever since, such imarets became an inseparable part of the urban landscape in most of the Muslim cities of the Ottoman empire.”[6] Although many Imarets sprung up across the empire after the first one in 1336, one of the most famous was that of Hurrem Sultan, a wife of Suleiman I. Established in the late 16th century city of Jerusalem, this imaret "distributed around 1,000 loaves of bread daily. The recipients of the distributions of bread and soup included the employees, the people living in the caravansary of the imaret, the followers of a local sufi shaykh, and 400 people characterized as “poor and wretched, weak and needy."[7] This imaret ended up becoming one of the largest and best known throughout the empire, serving a wide variety of people.

[edit] See also

  • So Others Might Eat, an organization seeking to deal with poverty in Washington D.C.
  • Masbia, an organization in New York devoted to feeding the hungry in a dignified manner

[edit] References

  • Singer, Amy. "Serving up Charity, the Ottoman Public Kitchen." Journal of Interdisciplinary History 35, no. 3 (2004): 481-500.
  • Peri, Oded. "Waqf and the Ottoman Welfare Policy." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 35, no. 2 (1992): 167-186.
  1. ^ Singer, Amy. Serving up Charity, the Ottoman public Kitchen pg5
  2. ^ Peri, Oded. Waqf and Ottoman welfare policy: The poor kitchen of Hasseki Sultan in eighteenth-century Jerusalem pg 1-2
  3. ^ Peri, Oded. pg 1
  4. ^ Singer, Amy. pg 4
  5. ^ Singer, Amy. pg 6
  6. ^ Peri, Oded. pg 2
  7. ^ Singer, Amy. pg 6


[edit] Further reading

  • Barnes, Robert. 1986. An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire. Leiden: Brill.
  • Griswold, William J. 1984. “A Sixteenth Century Ottoman Pious Foundation.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 27, 2: 175-198.
  • Jennings. Ronald C. 1990. “Pious Foundations in the Society and Economy of Ottoman Trabzon, 1565-1640.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 33, 3: 271-336.
  • Singer, Amy. 2002. Constructing ottoman beneficence: An imperial soup kitchen in Jerusalem. Albany: State University of New York Press.