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Rarely have women in history played a more deliciously mysterious role than that of the 600 years of the Ottoman Empire, when what is modern-day Turkey and lands from the Balkans to Syria sat at the center of a great Empire. These were the days of the harem, when women - and girls as young as seven years old - were held in a secret world where they could be governed, educated, and primarily enjoyed by the sultan and his court.
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Like a scene right out of the Arabian Nights
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being a part of an Ottoman harem was to live a life suspended
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in a secret paradise full of sensual delights. Derived from the Arabic word haram, meaning sacred or forbidden
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the harem was subject to a powerful patriarchy that bottled the essence of woman, captured it in all its glory
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and used it solely for its own amusement. Today, we're going to give you a glimpse of life
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in an Ottoman sultan's harem. We're doing all right with the sultans, with the sultans of swing
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During the 8th and 9th centuries, Turkish nomads were driven from their homes and eventually
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converted to Islam after the Mongols arrived on the scene. By 1299 CE, the Ottoman Empire
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which has nothing to do with footstools, was established. The Ottomans brought a lot of
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changes to the region, including taxation, social shifts, and of course, a great deal of religious
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indoctrination. Between 1299 and 1923, the empire also brought with it a cultural phenomenon known
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as the imperial harem, which held all the wives, servants, female relatives, and sultan concubines
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in the court. As the Ottomans expanded their territory, sultans came and went, social institutions
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evolved from the Byzantine empire, and Islam became the law of the land
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The entrance to a harem was typically hidden away in the center of an elaborate court
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The women who occupied it were rarely allowed to leave, which isn't great, but at least their surroundings
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were quite opulent. The harem was an ethereal world of green and blue tiled rooms
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outlined in gold and lined with plush furniture. From there, the outside world seemed a distant notion
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and was only glimpsed through the occasional view of the sea. The women of the harem were monitored by eunuchs
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and no one was allowed to see the women unless they were first inspected by officials
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to ensure no funny business was going on. The women who lived in the harem
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if they were smart and lucky enough, could also achieve great authority, respect, and wealth
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within the imperial court. The physical surroundings of the harem were beyond stunning
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The center was a great pavilion with a giant courtyard where the women could bathe in a pool or gaze upon a garden
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It was a peaceful, quiet place designed for contemplation. The courtyard also served as a gathering spot
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for the women to read together pray together or just escape the gilded interiors of their confinement The imperial harem typically housed dozens of women including the sultan wives mothers daughters
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female relatives, and servant girls. Interestingly, the sons of the sultan also lived in the harem
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until they were about 12 years old, at which point they were considered men
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The harem was considered a private place upon which no man outside of the sultan's inner circle
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could lay his eyes. As a result, the harem had to be guarded by someone who was domineering
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yet somehow not sexualized as male. The solution was to use eunuchs. These castrated men were
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considered to be something physically and symbolically in between the male and female
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worlds. They were seen as a hybrid gender, fit to fully partake in both realms. As a result
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the eunuchs could become quite powerful in the court. You are the king's hand, and the king
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is a fool. Your friend I know but a fool. Eunuchs were typically slaves who had been captured in war or purchased in places like
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Ethiopia or Sudan. There were two kinds of men in this role, black and white, and their
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appearance in general roles were considerably different. The black eunuchs, or sandali
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had their genitals completely removed during the process and were the most preferred for
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harem service as a result. The white eunuchs were allowed to keep at least some of their
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beans and franks. Is it the frank or the beans? I don't know. It looks like, I think it's a little
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bit of both. And were thus awarded fewer harem duties, as there was always a risk they might
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use what little they had left. The units would serve under a chief eunuch known as the master
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of the girls. The black eunuchs were charged with guarding the women and often rose in rank
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occupying many positions in the palace like confidant, vizier, or even general. Meanwhile
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Meanwhile, the white eunuchs often handled state matters for the sultan. Though their status was limited, the women of the harem
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were by no means weak. In so much as the men deemed acceptable
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women within the harem were able to exert considerable influence over the Ottoman Empire
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In fact, during the 16th and 17th centuries, they exerted so much influence, the era is now
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known as the sultanate of women. This situation came about because many
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of the sultans of the time were minors who were adhering to their mother's dominion. Nonetheless
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it was an unusual development, especially given the slave origins of many harem women
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It's not that the men weren't concerned with the government. They were just usually too busy
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planning their next battle to keep a tight rein over the political landscape Eventually a struggle broke out between two of the most powerful female regents Qasem Sultan and Turhan Sultan It ended in 1687 and with it so did this famous period
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of female rule. The word otolisk, which was used to refer to many women
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in the harem, is derived from the Turkish word for chambermaid. However, that doesn't really capture
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what women in the harem did. Otherwise known as Iqbal's, these women were the sultan's mistresses, yet they were more than just mere bedwarmers
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Otalisks usually possessed a level of talent, whether it be in music, dancing, or singing
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The women below the otalisks were called gedek, and generally they didn't sleep with the sultan
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Mostly, these women just seductively served him baklava in the evening. Hey, it's good to be sultan
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Finally, below the gedek were basic servants. They basically did the same thing as the Gedek
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but didn't have to sport any cleavage. The harem was seen as a small world inside a larger one
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And in that small world, the Valida Sultan reigned supreme. Considered the Sultan's legal mother
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she was not only his most important relative, she was also politically and socially influential in many ways
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The Valida Sultan selected the concubines for her son, which is a weird thing to think about
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She was also the main person the women of the harem rallied around when they needed something
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wanted to make alliances, or needed to press their personal agendas. She was a queen bee, and she could decide the fate of any regular harem woman by either
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promoting her or casting her out. Having the Valida Sultan on your side was incredibly important, since a secure place
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in the imperial harem could guarantee a woman protection, food, comforts, and even status
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And if a concubine bore the sultan a son, she could feasibly take a major role in the court someday
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The Valida Sultan could control how much certain wives and their children saw the sultan and how their sons
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would be introduced to court. But of course, the Valida Sultan was only as good as her son
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and his death would mean the end of her matriarchal reign. Not all the women of the sultan's harem were slaves
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Within it were many of his wives, who were technically free, as they had been accepted in marriage of their own will
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This disparity probably created some tension with the concubines, but they didn't really have any choice
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in the matter. The women of the harem simply had to accept one another and find a way to get along Despite westernized fantasy not all harem women were expected to sleep with the sultan They all received a light education equivalent to that of a male page
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and were often bred to be married off to members of the court, outside nobility
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or political elite. They soon became absorbed into the larger system, evolving into imperial court ladies who would likely move
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on to a brighter future. Being in the harem was more complex
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than just being one of the sultan's bedmates, who was available at any hour of the day
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Despite his power, there were rules in place to dictate the station of different women
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At least there were supposed to be. In reality, the sultan generally got what he wanted, and anyone who caught his interest
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soon found themselves on his silken sheets. So while some of the women were officially slaves and some were not, they were all still
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equally subject to his desire. Like I said, it's good to be sultan
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Being in the harem required being more than just a pretty face. there was some learning required for the gig as well
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The women were taught the art of refinement and how to carry themselves with confidence and allure
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In essence, the harem was a parochial school for girls where they received the appropriate education
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on how to fit in at court and find their place in the order of things. That being said, the harem women of the Ottoman Empire
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were reputed to be among the most lovely in history. Purchased in slave markets from Turkey, Greece, Russia
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Ukraine, Iran, and various parts of Europe, These young women learned to play instruments, recite poetry, dance, and master the art of eroticism
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When older, they were offered edification in literature, geography, history, and calligraphy
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In the later years of the Ottoman Empire, many of the imperial harem women could even speak and write in French and were allowed to read foreign fashion magazines
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If there's one thing that can be absolutely said of the harem, it's that it created an incredible sense of mystery for Westerners
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No one really knew what went on in harems, and the inner workings of such a matriarchal, sexualized
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and oddly intimate realm was positively titillating to any man who took stock of the situation
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It was even fascinating to many Western women who simply couldn't imagine such an existence
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European paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries increasingly depicted odalesques. The topic even captured the minds of Enlightenment thinkers
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like Montesquieu, who looked to ancient Ottoman practices as a way to criticize the conservatism of French life
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He felt that when compared to the Ottomans, or at least the Ottomans as imagined by Europeans
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everything else seemed extraneous and tiresome. It's hard to argue with him