HARĒM
History Undressed
by
Colin Falconer
The word 'Harēm'
conjures an element of fantasy for most people; of women in gauzy veils draped
languorously beside steam baths against a background of incense and marble. A
cross between a high class bordello and a spa resort.
Most men are disappointed to learn that the
Ottoman harēm was in fact run by the Sultan's mother.
She had assumed the title of 'Valide Sultan'
upon her son's ascension and thus became the most powerful woman in the Ottoman
Empire. It was the ultimate achievement for a former concubine and slave. She was
now head of a palace that had once been her prison, and also wielded enormous
influence over her son's political decisions and by extension the Empire that
had enslaved her.
She also regulated the relations between him
and his wives and children.
Do I dare say it? This caused friction.
Far from the indolent massage parlour of
male fantasy, the harēm was in fact a hotbed of intrigue and ambition. All the
women were in competition with each other; and every one of them wanted to be
the next Valide.
The Sultan was allowed just four principal
favourites but an unlimited number of concubines. Far fewer Sultans took
advantage of this arrangement than you might think. Most Sultans preferred
their favourites to a different girl every night.
The Australian actor Jack Thompson perhaps
explained the reason for this best. He lived with many years with twin sisters.
Many men seemed to think this was an ideal arrangement and one reporter
questioned him about it. Jack answered: 'You know what it's like coming home
after a night out and having to face one woman? Well imagine having to face two.'
The rank and file concubines were chosen
for their exceptional beauty and intelligence. Inside the world of the harēm they
were considered the contemporary equivalent to a 'one night stand.' Should she
be chosen for this honour and fail to arouse sufficient interest during the
encounter, she might never see the Sultan again. But if she was asked back
repeatedly she became an iqbal, a
favourite.
But pleasing the Sultan was only part of it;
it was also essential to get pregnant with a male child so that she could
become one of the Sultan's 'wives'. Then, although technically still a slave herself, she was given her own apartments,
slaves, and eunuchs.
She could
now one day become the most powerful woman in the Empire - or finish her days
in a weighted sack at the bottom of the Bosphorus.
But the
concubines and kadins were only half the story. Eunuchs
were the integral other half of the harēm.
There is a myth that once a man has been castrated he loses his desire for
women. Sadly, from my research, I learned that this is apparently not the case.
It must have been truly torturous for these men to be surrounded by naked and exquisitely
beautiful women and still retain their yearning.
There were two sets of eunuchs; the white
eunuchs came from the conquered Christian areas of Georgia, and Armenia, or as
prisoners of war from Hungary and Germany.
They were only partly castrated.
(Imagine what happens in lambing season -
it was like that.)
The black eunuchs however were completely
'shaven'. Most of these operations were performed at a Coptic monastery in
Egypt. The boys were brought there from the Sudan as young boys. Their average
age was eight. The survival rate was ten per cent.
Enough said.
Should a eunuch survive this procedure and
rise to become the Chief Black Eunuch he would then find himself the third
highest-ranking officer of the empire, after the Sultan and the Grand Vizier
and functioned as the private messenger between the Sultan and his mother. It
was also his appointed task to lead a new odalisque to the Sultan's bedchamber, and was the only
"man" who could enter the harēm should there be any nocturnal
emergencies.
Being in control of the Harēm and head of a
net of spies in his fellow Black Eunuchs, he was deeply involved in almost
every palace intrigue and these men even gained power over the Vizier and the
Sultan himself.
The Chief White Eunuch was the head of the harēm
bureaucracy and was supposed to have no contact with the harēm women, but this
was not always the case in practice. As they were not completely 'shaven', they
sometimes retained the ability to satisfy a lonely harēm girl. A few years after Suleiman's death they
were banned from the Harēm completely as too many of the girls were falling
pregnant without the Sultan's assistance.
Far from being the fantasy place of
nineteenth century art, the harēm was in fact a sad and lonely place of
intrigue and deadly spite. For young women it must have been a terrible and
dolorous place.
But oh, let me tell you; it was just a
fantastic background for a novel!
COLIN
FALCONER is the author of WHEN WE WERE GODS, ANASTASIA and many other books of
historical fiction. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. His
latest novel SILK ROAD, was published in London last month by Corvus-Atlantic.
5 comments:
Sounds intriguing!
I definitely would be interested in reading it! ^_^
Wow! That was really illuminating! I had no idea the Harem was such a powerful place. I figured it was just a bunch of beautiful girls fighting for bits of attention here and there. It does sound like a fascinating place for a story - not necessarily a happy one either.
As a "castrated" man myself - both testicles had to be removed after an accident - I can commiserate with the Harem eunuchs. It was bad enough undergoing modern surgery, but to be brutally castrated... A constant reminder of how disgustingly barbaric humanity has been.
Luckily for me, with hormone replacement therapy, despite the absence of my balls, I retain not only desire but the ability to... engage in normal sexual intercourse.
This book is our historical awesomeness. You'll never look at the reign of Suliman the Magnificent the same & will totally get the beginnings of the slow decline of the OE...if you are an APWH teacher.
And the winner is Allana! Email me at writer @ Elizaknight.com (minus spaces)!
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