Abstract
Protocol which has been used in different meanings throughout its historical course was used as a comprehensive concept referring to the protocol concerning the official matters and the ceremonies related to the private lives of the palace people in the Ottoman Empire. In terms of the Ottoman history, official protocol and private protocol gained value with the features of indicating an old and established state tradition and partly of shedding light on the mystery of the private life demanded to be kept confidential, respectively. Applying the same protocol just because they were the padishah’s children, disregarding the future roles and status in the crucial points of their lives such as birth and starting schooling, made the private protocol very valuable to be able to understand and explain the Ottoman culture. Thanks to the private protocol in which the padishah’s sons seen as the prosspective padishah in the context of their roles and status and the padishah’s daughters considered as the prospective wives and mothers were equalized, women’s, in general, and specifally, the padishah’s daughters’ socio – cultural positions became clearer