The Kapi Agha (Turkish: Kapı ağası, "Agha of the Gate"), formally called the Agha of the Gate of Felicity (Bâbüssaâde ağası), was the head of the eunuch servants of the Ottoman Seraglio until the late 16th century, when this post was taken over by the Kizlar Agha. In juxtaposition with the latter office, also known as the Chief Black Eunuch as its holders were drawn from Black African slaves, the Kapi Agha is also known as the Chief White Eunuch.
Hadım Şehabeddin Pasha (Old Turkish: Şihābüddīn; fl. 1436–53), also called Kula Şahin Pasha, was an Ottoman general and governor that served Sultan Mehmed II (r. 1444–46; 1451–81). Brought to the Ottoman court at a young age, Şehabeddin started as a court eunuch (hadım), then advanced to become Kapi Agha, a close advisor to the Sultan, before being appointed governor (sanjakbey) in Albania, and then at the height of his career, provincial governor (beylerbey) of Rumelia (1439–42). Şehabeddin was known as ardent supporter of the expansionist policy of Ottoman Empire. He commanded the Ottoman forces that captured Novo Brdo in 1441. After his forces were heavily defeated in a battle with forces of Janos Hunyadi in September 1442, he was dismissed from the position of beylerbey. After 1444 he was again briefly appointed to the position of beylerbey of Rumelia. Şehabeddin died in 1453 in Bursa.
Enderûn (Ottoman Turkish: اندرون, from Persian andarûn, lit. 'inside') was the term used in the Ottoman Empire to designate the "Inner Service" of the imperial court, concerned with the private service of the Ottoman sultans, as opposed to the state-administrative "Outer Service" (Birûn). Its name derives from the location of the sultan's apartments in the inner court of the Topkapi Palace, which in turn echoed the arrangements of the palace in Edirne, the Ottomans' second capital.
The Inner Service was divided into departments (termed oda, 'chamber'). Four were dedicated to the Sultan's personal service. In descending order of importance, these were the Privy Chamber (hass oda), the Treasury (hazine), the Privy Larder (kilar-ı hass), and the Campaign Chamber (seferli oda). The head of the Inner Service—and until the rise of the Kizlar Agha the most powerful person in the palace after the Sultan—was the Kapi Agha or chief white eunuch. After the Kapi Agha came a number of senior officers or aghas: the head of the Privy Chamber (hass oda başı), who on account of his permanent proximity to the Sultan was a very influential individual; the Sultan's stirrup-holder (rikabdar); the keeper of the Sultan's outer garments (çuhadar); the keeper of the Sultan's linen undergarments (dülbend oghlanı); and the Sultan's confidential secretary (sır katibi).