My dear Friend,
I cannot better give you an idea of the order and discipline observed in the hareems of the great and wealthy than by comparing each to a petty state, with its rulers and its officers. The person occupying the place of highest rank, next to the master, is the chief lady, who is often called, properly or improperly, Hánum, or, correctly, Khánum. This title, which literally signifies “My Lord,” (for Turkish ladies, whom we in England generally look upon as persons treated with little respect, are honoured with male titles) by right belongs first only to those ladies of the Sultán whom we call sultanas; that is, to any of the near female relations of the sovereign, and to any of his ladies who has borne a prince or princess; secondly, to the wives of the grand vezeer; but it is sometimes given by courtesy to the wives of grandees in general, and sometimes to ladies of inferior grades. The male title Efendim (literally “My Master”) is also given to the same ladies.
The chief lady of the hareem is the mother of the master; or, if his mother be not living, his sister, or sisters, take precedence; and next to them ranks his favourite wife. The question of priority among the wives of one man is more easily arranged than you, with European notions respecting the rights of women, could imagine possible. It is generally settled thus: the first wife, if she become a mother, retains her rank above any wife subsequently taken; but if not, she yields to another more fortunate, and consequently, more beloved and honoured. The other wives take their stations according to the preference of their husbands.
Each wife, among the higher classes, has her separate apartments, and distinct attendants; for even Eastern wives might manifest jealousy under circumstances of constant intercourse with each other. In the cases of the great, it is not unusual for each wife to occupy a separate mansion; but whether in one large house, or several smaller ones, the hareem of the grandee occupies the whole, or nearly the whole, of the abode, which is generally enclosed by garden walls as lofty as the houses in the immediate neighbourhood. Without the aid of scaling ladders, or the more effectual mean of admission—intrigue, the hareem of the Turkish grandee is well secured from illicit visitors. At the outer door is stationed a bowáb, or doorkeeper, and the second is guarded by eunuchs. Beyond the second is suspended the hareem curtain which I have before described; and in the first of the inner apartments are the black female slaves who undertake the menial offices of the hareem. After passing the outer apartments white slaves are found carrying silver sprinkling bottles of scented water, small silver censers suspended by chains, coffee, pipes, sherbet, and sweetmeats; each set of coffee-cups or sherbet-cups being placed on a small tray, and often concealed beneath a round splendidly embroidered cover, bordered with deep and heavy gold fringe. Among the white slaves may be observed several who are considered superior to their companions, walking about as though superintending their arrangements; and among the former, especially, I have found the most lovely girls in the hareems, many of them fully justifying my preconceived ideas of the celebrated Georgian and Circassian women. Excepting in two cases, cheerfulness has appeared to me to reign among these fair prisoners; entirely excluded as they are from intercourse with any persons of the other sex, except their master and his very near relations. If any other man attempted to pass beyond the first entrance, his temerity would in all probability be punished with death the moment his purpose should be discovered.
The houses of the grandees, separate from their hareem, are generally accessible; and the liberty of ingress is sometimes not a little abused. Last month Mohammad ’Alee was residing in his palace at Shubra, and two Europeans resorted thither for the purpose of seeing the gardens. They wore the Frank dress, with the exception of their having adopted the tarboosh, a shawl round the waist, and red shoes. After perambulating the gardens, they entered the palace, and meeting with no opposition, they examined one apartment after another, and at length entered the bedroom of the Pasha, where sat his highness, nearly undressed! Although taken by surprise, his Turkish coolness did not forsake him: calling for his dragoman, he said, “Inquire of those gentlemen where they bought their tarbooshes.” The Europeans replied, “They were purchased in Constantinople;” “and there,” rejoined the Pasha, “I suppose they learned their manners. Tell them so.” Judging from this retort that their presence was not agreeable, the Franks saluted the viceroy, and withdrew.
This reminds me of another late occurrence, in which, however, was exhibited only a want of knowledge of Turkish etiquette; no absence of gentlemanly mind. An European gentleman who lately visited Egypt was introduced, among others in this city, to a grandee, and was accompanied to his residence by a friend of my brother, and Mons. L——, both of whom, during many years, have resided in this country, and visited in the best Eastern society. After they had partaken of the usual refreshment of pipes and coffee, sherbet was brought, and handed first to the stranger. He looked at it for a moment, and then at the gaily embroidered napkin hung over the arm of the slave who presented it; and following the impulse given, I conclude by his preconceptions of Eastern habits of cleanliness, dipped his fingers in the sweet beverage, and wiped them on the napkin. Mons. L——, with the perfect delicacy which characterises French politeness, followed his example, dipped his fingers in the sherbet, and wiped them on the napkin. I wonder whether their host understood his motive for such strange doings. My brother’s friend sat at a little distance from his companions, and confessed that he drank his sherbet.
To return to the organization of the great hareems: the Hánum generally has four principal attendants, two of whom are elderly, and act simply as companions: the third is the treasurer, and the fourth, the sub-treasurer. The next in rank are those who hand pipes and coffee, sherbet and sweetmeats; and each of these has her own set of subordinates. Lastly rank the cooks and house-slaves, who are mostly negresses. The hareem is a little world of women, in which many have passed their infancy and their childhood; the scene of their joys and sorrows, their pleasures and their cares; beyond which, they have no idea of a wider theatre of action; and from which they anticipate no change but to the hareem of their husbands.
The ideas entertained by many in Europe of the immorality of the hareem are, I believe, erroneous. True it is, that the chief ladies have much power which they might abuse; but the slaves of these ladies are subject to the strictest surveillance; and the discipline which is exercised over the younger women in the Eastern hareem can only be compared to that which is established in the convent. A deviation from the strictest rules of modesty is followed by severe punishment, and often by the death of the delinquent. The very framework of Eastern society is so opposed to the opinions of Europeans, that I will venture to prophecy it must be the work of several generations to root up prejudice before the mind of the Eastern can be prepared for the reception of our ideas of civilization. That Christianity is the only medium through which happiness may be attained by any people is most certain; therefore as the Easterns are very far from being Christians, except in the mere dogmas of their faith (inasmuch as they acknowledge the Messiah, though denying his divine nature, and his atonement for sin), so they are very far from being really happy.
The prejudice existing among the Turkish women against the pure doctrines of Christianity is evident from occasional, or rather, I should say, from frequent remarks made in my presence, and to my friends. One lady, who gave me a general and warm invitation to her hareem, and treated me really affectionately, so far betrayed her opinions, that she exclaimed to me, and to my friend, “What a pity that you are Christians!” Alas! such feelings are too general for our minds to be blinded to the fact of their existence; and so long as martyrdom awaits the convert to our blessed faith, little or no progress will be made by those benevolent men, whose devotion of happiness and of life to our Saviour’s cause will secure for them the favour of their God, however unsatisfactory may be the results of their labours.
Of those female slaves who, after the age of childhood, have been brought from countries where they have enjoyed almost unbounded liberty, few, perhaps, become reconciled to the confinement within the narrow and limited precincts of the hareem. Some, by their personal charms rendered favourites of the master, doubtless delight in the luxurious prison. Others, who have, in addition to his favour and affection, a stronger tie to their foreign home—that of their having borne him a child, would receive their emancipation, if accompanied by a dismissal and a marriage to some other person, with earnest prayers for the retraction of the intended boon. Brought up, in general, with Muslim feelings, they become the most affectionate of mothers. Their maternal tenderness is often most especially manifested by their dread of the evil eye; a superstition which obliges me, in my intercourse with Muslim mothers, to observe the utmost caution in making any remarks upon children.