Back Kafes Afrikaans Qəfəs (Osmanlı imperiyası) Azerbaijani Kafes German Altin kafes Spanish Kafes French קפס HE क़फ़स Hindi Kafes Italian კაფესი Georgian Kafesas Lithuanian
The Kafes (Ottoman Turkish: قفس, romanized: kafes, from Arabic: قفص), literally "cage", was the part of the Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Palace where possible successors to the throne were kept under a form of house-arrest and constant surveillance by the palace guards.[1][2]
The early history of the Ottoman Empire is littered with succession wars between rival sons of the deceased sultan. It was common for a new sultan to have his brothers killed, including infants,[3] sometimes dozens of them at once. This practice reduced the number of claimants to the throne, leading to several occasions where the Ottoman line seemed destined to end. The confinement of heirs provided security for an incumbent sultan and continuity of the dynasty.
- ^ Klaus Kreiser: Der osmanische Staat 1300–1922. München 2001, S. 1.
- ^ John Freely: Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of Sultans in Istanbul (Tauris Parke Paperbacks) Paperback – December 30, 2016.
- ^ Meyer, G. J. (May 30, 2006). A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918. Delacorte Press. p. 89. ISBN 0553803549.