Abstract
Ottoman imarets or public kitchens are usually described as one of a complex of buildings centered on a mosque and including other institutions like schools, the founder's tomb, a caravansaray, or a bath. They were built throughout the empire, mostly in towns, in larger numbers in ana-tolia and the Balkans than in the arab provinces. The majority were built before the year 1600, and some continued to function for decades and even centuries. all imarets prepared meals to distribute at no charge to a mixed clientele of mosque employees, medrese teachers and students, sufis, government officials on the move, travelers of other types, and local indigents. In some places, non-muslims received food as well, a fact mentioned both in muslim Ottoman sources and in the accounts of non-muslims. however, imarets do not appear to have served food to military units, nor to have been incorporated into military operations in any way. The longstanding and widespread occurrence of imarets, as well as the variety of their clients and the longevity of their operations, all suggest that closer and more extensive research on the establishment and maintenance of these kitchens will lead to new understandings of Ottoman policies of expansion, settlement and governance.
