SULTAN ABDULHAMID II’S PASSION FOR ANIMALS: KUSLUK-I HüM？Y？N IN YILDIZ PALACE

DOI: 10.26650/TurkJHist.2018.18013 Sultan Abdulhamid II who ascended the throne in 1876, preferred to stay in Y？ld？z Palace. Many species of animals have been housed in many kinds of cages and poultry in various places of the Y？ld？z Palace gardens. In the memoir books about the period of Abdulhamid II, Sultan's interest in animals is mentioned and they emphasize the zoological nature of this curiosity. Reflections of this situation on Ottoman archival documents point to many aspects of Abdulhamid II's activities related to animal raising. In this study, kushane, arslanhane, ceylanhane, geyikhane, sulunluk, barn and other animal places built in Y？ld？z during Abdulhamid II period are mentioned. Based on the Y？ld？z Palace records and Hazine-i Hassa registrations, the kinds and number of animals, duties, salaries and numbers of zookeepers are revealed. So, the activities of Abdulhamid II regarding this issue are put forward along with concrete evidence. The organizational structure and income-expenditure data is evaluated. Besides the many species of animals that Abdulhamid II brought from various parts of the world both to satisfy his personal curiosity and to exhibit them, it is clear that many species of animals that gave the place a quality of the farmhouse establishment in Y？ld？z were used for different purposes. This fund which Abdulhamid II brought together with great effort during his reign of thirty-three years became unclaimed in 1909 and unfortunately it has been condemned to disappear