Baltacı was a class of palace employees in the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. (plural Baltacılar)

History

Baltacı class was established during the reign of Murat II (1421-1451) . Initially there were five divisions of baltacı (four in İstanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 and one in Edirne

Edirne

Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

) . But after 1675, the number was reduced to two. The division called zülüflü baltacı worked in the sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

's palace and the eski saray baltacısı worked in the older palace where usually the Valide Sultan

Valide Sultan

Valide Sultan was the title held by the mother of a ruling Sultan in the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish pronunciation of the word Valide is . The title is sometimes translated as Queen Mother, although the position of Valide Sultan was quite different.The position was perhaps the most important...

s resided. Although it was abolished during the reign of Mustafa III

Mustafa III

Mustafa III was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I . He was born in Edirne...

 (1757-1774) it was partially reestablished in later years to be continued up to the The Auspicious Incident in 1826.

Tasks

As the name impies, the main task of baltacı people was supplying cordwood to palaces in the capital. Later they were also tasked with other palace duties including cookery. They were also the palace guards. They accompanied the sultan to military campaigns and accompanied the harem women in İstanbul tours.

Baltacı and devshirme system

Originally the source of baltacı was the devshirme system. But beginning by the end of the 16th century, Turks

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 were also admitted to baltacı class. The accomplished members of the baltacı were promoted to the ranks jannisary. Ottoman historian Mustafa Naima

Mustafa Naima

Muṣtafa Na'īmā was an Ottoman bureaucrat and historian who wrote the chronicle known as the Ta'rīkh-i Na'īmā...

 and the grand vizier Baltacı Mehmet Pasha

Baltacı Mehmet Pasha

Baltacı Mehmet Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier. -Early years:Mehmet was born in Osmancık, near Çorum . He was of Turkish origin. He travelled to North Africa, which was then Ottoman territory...

were among the well known Ottoman people of baltacı origin.