Generally speaking, I frequented this class of serailis as little as the convenances of society permitted, but, on the other hand, experienced great pleasure in associating with the serailis that belonged to the respectable class, in whose society, conversing upon seraglio life, I have spent many a pleasant hour.
The amusements in the Imperial palace depend very much upon the tastes and disposition of the reigning sovereign, whose pleasure in such matters is naturally first consulted. In the days of Sultan Abdul-Medjid these amusements daily received some increase in the shape of European innovations. A theatre of great beauty was built in one of the palaces, by order of the Sultan, and a European company of actors played pieces, which the ladies were allowed to witness from behind lattices. Ballet-dancing, for which the Sultan evinced great partiality; conjurors of European celebrity; the Turkish Kara Guez, or Marionettes; al fresco entertainments, etc., were among the entertainments. Shopping in the streets of Pera was not the least appreciated of their amusements. The French shopkeeper himself played as prominent a part in the matter as the perfumes and finery he displayed and sold. There were also delightful garden-parties, when the seraglio grounds would be lighted up with variegated lanterns and fireworks, and all that the Palace contained of youth and beauty turned out; some, dressed as young pages, would act the part of Lovelace, and make love to their equally fair companions, dressed in light fancy costumes; others, grouped together, would perform on musical instruments or execute different dances; others, again, seated in light caïques, with costumes so transparent and airy as to show every muscle of their bodies, and with flowing hair to preserve their white necks from the evening dew, would race on the still waters of the lakes.
The Sultanas and hanoums, seated on carpets, beguiling the time by drinking sherbets, eating fruits and ices, and smoking cigarettes, would gaze on the scene, while strains of music and the notes of the Shaiki (songs) would be heard in all directions. All, however, both slaves and ladies, were similarly occupied with one sole object—that of rendering the scene pleasant and beauteous to the lord and master for whom it was designed. All would redouble their life and animation as the Sultan listlessly approached each group, acknowledging its presence with a sweet smile, a gentle word, or a passing caress, which he never withheld even when all the faculties of enjoyment were destroyed, and his earthly paradise of houris had become an object of indifference.
During the reign of his successor the tone of the seraglio became more serious and the life of its inmates more constrained; there was less European amusement and more Turkish; such as a Turkish theatre, whose actors and actresses, Turkish and Armenian, performed Turkish pieces, with a certain amount of success, such as the Meydan Oyoun, a coarse kind of comedy, and other representations of a similar character.
A child born in the seraglio is allowed to remain under the care of its mother, who, with the assistance of a wet-nurse and several under-nurses, has charge of its infantile wants up to the age of seven. The wet-nurse is generally sent for from Circassia. On entering upon her duties as foster-mother, she is entitled to special attention, and exercises great influence over her charge. Her own child is received as Sut Kardash, or foster-brother, of the Imperial offspring, and enjoys the privilege of becoming his playmate and companion. The two children, as they grow up together, never lose sight of one another, the fortune of the one being assured in right of the privilege of having drawn its nourishment from the same source as the other.
I obtained these details from a Pasha of high rank, who had himself the honor of being foster-brother to one of the Sultans: he said, “Before I saw the light, my mother was sent for from Circassia, and my birth, which took place in the seraglio, preceded that of his Imperial Majesty by a few weeks. As I grew up, the prosperity of my family, due to Imperial bounty, was not limited to my mother and myself, but extended to my father and the rest of my relatives, who were brought to Constantinople, and enriched with grants of wealth, rank, and position.” The results, however, of these ties are not always so favorable to the Imperial prince as to those who owe their all to his generosity. These persons, being of humble origin, on finding themselves suddenly raised to a higher sphere, do not possess the necessary qualification for making a good and judicious use of the influence they thus acquire. The foster-mother of Sultan Abdul-Aziz was notorious for her rapacity and spirit of intrigue; she had, by degrees, acquired such ascendency in the seraglio as to have it in her power to appoint or dismiss, at her will, governors-general and other important personages. One of her special protégés, on being informed that he was about to be transferred from his post as Governor-General of a vilayet of R⸺, smiled calmly, and said to me, “So long as the Sultan’s foster-mother is there to protect my interests, I am in no danger of that! The attempt made to remove me will cost a little money, that is all!”
The training of the Imperial child is not free from the many drawbacks that attend other Turkish children. From its earliest infancy, left in the hands of fond but weak and uneducated women, the child becomes wayward, capricious, and difficult to please.
This lenient treatment of the infant is continued in the more advanced stages of its life, and seriously retards its education. At this period Imperial princes and princesses command absolute attention, obedience, and respect from the legion of menials that surround them, who, anxious to lay the foundations of future favoritism, refuse nothing in their power, and pamper their vanity and precocious ideas to such an extent as to destroy in great part the effects of the teaching they receive, often rendering profitless the instruction given them in morality and good principle.
The knowledge generally acquired by Turkish princes was formerly limited to the study of Arabic, and the Persian, Turkish, and French languages, with other branches of the general Turkish education, but the harem indolence, and the maternal and paternal indulgence, sadly interrupt the course of their lessons, which are gone through in a most negligent manner, and fail to have their due effect upon the young mind that pursues them with little assiduity.
The education of the young princesses is still more deficient, both in the substance of the teaching and in the manner and time in which it is undertaken. An elementary knowledge of their native language, of music, and needlework, given at leisure and received at pleasure, is considered quite sufficient. These girls, on attaining the age of fifteen or sixteen, are richly portioned, receive the gift of a splendid trousseau, jewelry, and a palace, and are married to some court favorite. In consequence of their high birth, and the precedence they have over their husbands, these princesses are very independent, and absolute mistresses in their households.