No Turkish wife of the better class is ever expected to do any domestic labor whatever, nor to make any of the household linen, nor any garments for herself or members of the household, nor to sew any buttons on, nor, above all, to make her husband’s shirts; therefore it can be seen at once that almost every source of domestic disagreement is done away with, and the Turkish husband never expects his wife to get on her knees to hunt for his collar button, nor scold her if the dinner is badly cooked; so that in many respects life in a harem is not so very bad after all, and one-tenth of a good husband is better than the whole of a bad one.
Secrets of the Harem.
The harem is that part of a polygamist’s house which is set apart for the use of his wives and their attendants; it also denotes this collective body of women. In all Mohammedan countries it is customary for wealthy men to keep a harem; for, though four is the number of wives to which the faithful are restricted by the Koran, there is no limit to the number of concubines a man may have, except his ability to maintain them. The mention of a harem naturally suggests to most people the female portion of the royal households of Turkey and Persia and Egypt. In the sultan’s harem each wife—he alone can have seven—has a separate suite of apartments, and a separate troop of female slaves to wait upon her and do her bidding.
All the female slaves or odalisques throughout the harem are, however, at the disposal of their royal master. She who first gives birth to an heir, whether wife or slave, is instantly promoted to the rank of chief wife. The title sultana is borne, not by the sultan’s wives, but by his mother, sisters and daughters. The real ruler of the harem is the sultan’s mother, but under her is the lady superintendent of the harem, usually an old and trusted favorite of the sultan. The duties of guarding the harem or seraglio, as it is sometimes called, are intrusted to a small army of eunuchs, the chief officer of whom generally enjoys considerable political influence. The inmates of the harem lead a very secluded life.
The Sultan’s Seraglio.
Seraglio is the palace of the sultan at Constantinople. It stands in a beautiful situation on a head of land projecting into the sea, known as the Golden Horn, and is enclosed by walls seven and one-half miles in circuit. Within the walls are a variety of mosques, gardens and large edifices, capable of containing 20,000 people, though the whole number of the inhabitants scarcely ever reaches the half of this.
The principal entrance is a kind of pavilion, which is constantly guarded by capidjis, or officers of the seraglio, and consists of a group of houses and gardens, one of each being possessed by each of the sultan’s wives, and of the habitations of the concubines and slaves.
The harem is ruled by the Kiaja-Khatun, or inspector of the women, who is under the sultan’s authority alone, and is supplied with what they require by the Kislar-aga or chief of the black eunuchs, who form the principal or inner guard of the harem. The second and outer guard is given to the white eunuchs under their chief the Kapu-agassy, or Kapu-oghlan.