Iç oğlan

The term iç oğlan ("Inner [Palace] Boy") refers to the boy servants or pages who were taken from Christian parents in the Balkans and converted, according to the devşirme system in the Ottoman Empire, and who worked in the Enderûn, that is, the Inner Palace, one of the three parts of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. In other words, they were the Inner Palace servants, the staff serving in the private apartments of the Sultan and his family.^[1]

Iç oğlan from the Ralamb Costume Book, 17th century