''Birûn'' is the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word for "outside".

Suburb of Central Asian city

According to

Doğan Kuban Doğan Kuban (10 April 1926 – 22 September 2021) was a Turkish architectural historian. Biography Kuban was born in Paris to a Kurdish family. He received his bachelor's degree in architecture from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). Shortly ...

and V. Barthold, in the Turco-Iranian world,

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

were usually made up of three sections: the city proper (''Shahristan''), the citadel (''Kuhandiz''), and the ''Rabat'' or ''Birûn'', standing next to the Shahristan and often being home to commercial activities.

Ottoman sultan's "Outer Courtyard"

Birûn was the term used in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

to refer to the Outer Courtyard of the Topkapi Palace, as opposed to the Inner ones (''

Enderûn ''Enderûn'' ( ota, اندرون, from Persian ''andarûn'', "inside") was the term used in the Ottoman Empire to designate the "Interior Service" of the Imperial Court, concerned with the private service of the Ottoman Sultans, as opposed to the ...

''), which were only accessible to the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

and his servants and family members. By extension, it was also applied to the Outer Service of the palace, including the administrative, military, and religious elite of the empire, as opposed to the Inner Service clustered around the Sultan's person.

References

Ottoman court {{Ottoman-stub