"كتيب تركيا الأوروبية (لندن: قسم الاستخبارات، الأميرالية؛ ١٩١٧)' [ظ‎‎٥‎٢] (٣٤٨/١٠٩)

100 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
limited liability companies which would impose upon all
foreign insurance companies doing business in Turkey the
deposit of security, fixed at £5,000 for each branch of insurance,
fire and life, and £ 2,000 for other branches, with a maximum
of £12,000 for any one company. A new law on the registra
tion of trade marks was also being prepared.
The greatest single change introduced in 1914 was the
abolition of the Capitulations by a decree of the Sultan on
September 9. It had long been felt that the extra-territorial
privileges enjoyed under the Capitulations needed revision,
especially in so far as they exempted foreigners from fiscal
burdens ; but their abolition by a unilateral Act gave rise to
a unanimous protest of the Powers, and, up to November
1914, no Power had, at any rate publicly, assented. This
step, which included the suppression of foreign post offices and
of the International Board of Health, was taken after the out
break of the European War, and the condition of Europe made
the protest of the Powers ineffective for the time being. Six
weeks after the denunciation of the Capitulations, Turkey
herself had entered the War.
The Sultanate
By the law of succession obeyed in the reigning family, the
crown is inherited according to seniority by the male de
scendants of Osman sprung from the imperial harem. All
children born in the harem, whether offspring of free women
or of slaves, are legitimate and of equal lineage. A council,
presided over by the heir apparent and comprising several
State dignitaries, the Grand Vizier, the Sheikh el-Islam, and
others, was instituted in January 1914, to regulate all matters
relating to the imperial family, including the Damads or persons
married to imperial princesses.
For centuries it has not been the custom of the Sultans of
Turkey to contract regular marriages. The inmates of the
harem come, by purchase or free will, mostly from districts
beyond the limits of the empire, the majority from Circassia.