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Harem... There are not many words in the world that could compete with this, so unbearably attractive and inexpressibly mysterious. Everyone will find in it their secret desires, fading kinship with primordial instincts or nostalgia for those times when beauty had a worthy price and sophisticated connoisseurs.

Harem(haram) - the word is Arabic, it means everything that is forbidden, as well as hidden and protected, secret and inaccessible to outsiders. When referring to the eastern house of past centuries, then haram is that part of it where women lived - mothers, wives, young children, concubines, slaves, and also eunuchs.

The European synonym for a harem is the French word "seral", which comes from the similar-sounding Persian and Turkish words (serui, saray), denoting a large house or palace. In the view of Europeans, the seraglio is the inner chambers of the eastern rulers and their families.

Today, many believe that a harem is something like an Asian-style brothel, although the difference here is about the same as between the subway for everyone and a luxury limousine for the elite.

In one form or another, harems existed everywhere, at all times and long before Islam, as a phenomenon that does not contradict nature and finds clear analogies in the surrounding world.

"Dar-us-saadet", or "House of happiness"

The harem was a kind of precious turban that towered over the state. He had little in common with society and the people outside the seraglio, although he depended on it for everything, but reflected the social system as in a distorting mirror, where not the most important thing takes on an exaggeratedly enlarged appearance. The Sultan was surrounded by an earthly paradise, and the beauty of his wives made one shudder at the thought of what kind of heavenly houris should be, if such lovely maidens could exist on earth, showing only a pale reflection of beauty of a different order.

And if a mere mortal could draw the “House of Happiness” in his dreams, then it would be the harem of the padishah.

“Midday silence reigned around the mysterious palace, where so many lovely creatures languished and missed behind the bars of the windows,” wrote T. Gauthier. - And I involuntarily thought about the treasures of beauty forever lost to human eyes, about all these amazing female types - Greeks, Circassians, Georgians, Indians, Africans, who will fade here, not immortalized either in marble or on canvas for the admiration of future centuries, about the Venuses who will never find their Praxiteles, the Violants deprived of Titian, the Fornarines whom Raphael will not see.

What a lucky ticket in the earthly lottery is the life of a padishah! What is Don Juan and his mille e tre compared to the Sultan? A second-rate adventurer, a deceived deceiver whose meager desires - the whims of a beggar - are exhausted by a handful of lovers just waiting to be seduced, most of them already seduced by others, who have had lovers and husbands - their faces, arms, shoulders, available to the eyes of everyone, the veils shake their fingers in a dance, their ears long accustomed to whispering vulgar compliments. What a pitiful fate - to stagger in the moonlight under the balconies with a guitar on his back and languish in anticipation in the company of half-asleep Leporello!

Swimming pool in the harem.

Artist Jean-Leon Gerome

And the sultan? He picks only the purest lilies, the most flawless roses in the garden of beauty, fixes his gaze only on the most perfect forms, unstained by the gaze of a single mortal, on marvelous flowers, whose life from cradle to grave flows under the protection of sexless monsters, among the sparkling loneliness of luxurious chambers, where not a single daredevil dares to penetrate, in the strictest secrecy, impenetrable even for the most vague desires.

The harem was a symbol of the ruler's power, sometimes more eloquent than an army or navy. The size and splendor of the harem inspired respect not only for the state, but also for its ruler. By the way the harem was replenished, what unthinkable amounts the agents of the court paid for rare beauties at slave auctions, they judged the subtlety of taste and masculine strength of the future owner of these houris.

At first, only slaves were kept in Turkish harems, and the daughters of Christian rulers from neighboring countries were taken as wives. This tradition changed after Bayezid II (1481-1512), when the sultans began to choose wives from among the inhabitants of the harem.

“Today, only a few pashas, following tradition or whim, allow themselves the barbaric and sweet luxury of having a harem,” wrote D. Doris. “It goes without saying that the first among these privileged persons is the Commander of the Faithful - the happy owner of a living collection of the most precious examples of oriental beauty.”

The harem rivalry of the lords sometimes overshadowed the military one, and in some cases provoked the wars themselves. It is not surprising that the ruin of the captured palaces began with the revision of the harems, if they could not be transferred to a safe place in advance.

At times, rapidly growing harems became a "state within a state", exerting a decisive influence on state policy. Their maintenance took a significant share of the country's budget. It happened that harems ruined their owners and led to the death of entire powers.

The problems associated with the maintenance of the harem are also mentioned in the “Thousand and One Nights”: “When the nine hundred and thirty-sixth night came, she said:“ It came to me, O happy king, that the number of nobles who bathed with the King that day , there were four hundred souls. And the amount of what they gave out of dinars turned out to be forty thousand, and slaves - four hundred, and slaves - four hundred, and slaves - four hundred (such a gift is enough for you!), And the king gave Abu Sir ten thousand dinars, ten slaves, ten slaves and ten slaves.

And Abu Sir stepped forward and kissed the ground before the king, and said: “O happy king, possessor of sound judgment! What place will accommodate me with these slaves, slaves and slaves? And the king said: “I ordered this to my nobles only so that we could collect a large amount of money for you. After all, you may remember your country and family and miss it and want to go home, and it turns out that you took a substantial amount of money from our country, which will help you live in your country. “O king of time, may Allah exalt you! Abu Sir said. - These numerous slaves, slaves and slaves are kings, and if you ordered me to give cash, they would be better than this army, because people eat and drink and dress, and no matter how much money I get, they not enough to keep these slaves.”

Rare lords managed to dispose of the harem in accordance with its purpose. That's why he is a harem, to deprive his master of his mind. But when the chosen one of strict rules ascended the throne, the harem became official government agency with strict rules and strict discipline, as in a model monastery.

When in 1861 the wasteful and loving Sultan Abdul-Mejid was replaced by Abdul-Aziz, changes took place not only in the state, but also in the harem. The new sultan promised to limit himself to one wife, and the brilliant harem of the former sultan moved from the sultan's palace to the Old Harem.

The people took this as a good sign, foreshadowing the deliverance from the follies and the exorbitant influence of the former harem on everything and everything.

Later, the Sultan nevertheless took two more wives, but this did not noticeably affect the relative modesty of his life. Walks on newfangled motor ships attracted him more than harem passions.

Visitors

The main, and often the only visitor to the harem was the husband, the owner of the house.

“The arrival of a husband is a real ceremony, like the visits of close relatives,” wrote T. Gauthier. “And since a husband never shares a meal with his wives, his only pastime is to smoke narghile and drink coffee or sherbet with an air of importance. According to custom, the husband announces his arrival in advance. True, if he sees that someone's shoes are standing at the door of the harem, he will never go there, because this means that his wife or wives receive their girlfriends, and girlfriends often stay for a day or two.

Islam does not prescribe the division of the house into "male" and "female" halves. It is rather a tribute to the ancient traditions that have survived to this day.

Turkish pasha surrounded by his beloved wives.

Photo from 1880

Someone will see some kind of discrimination in this, but is there a woman in the world who would refuse her own chambers, where she can retire, relax or gossip with her friends, which is not always appropriate in the presence of even a beloved spouse, mother-in-law or children?

A. Pushkin wrote in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai:

What bliss in their homes,
In charming gardens
In the silence of safe harems,
Where under the influence of the moon
Everything is full of secrets and silence
And voluptuous inspirations!
... No, Giray's timid wives,
Not daring to think, not to wish,
Blossom in dull silence;
Under guard vigilant and cold
In the bosom of desolate boredom
They don't know change.
In the shadow of the dungeon
Their beauties are hidden:
So Arabian flowers
They live behind the glass of the greenhouse.

However, the wife of the Grand Vizier Kiprizli-Mehmet Pasha Melek-Khanum in her autobiographical book“Thirty Years in Turkish Harems” looked at this question a little differently: “Men have their own interests, customs and thoughts,” Melek-Khanum wrote. - Meanwhile, on the other hand, women have their own, exclusively belonging to them. The faces, apparently representing members of the same family, actually have nothing in common with each other - no rooms, no property, no clothes, no friends, not even common hours of rest. Selamlik and the harem are two completely separate worlds, located side by side, where in each of them they live in their own way, men on the one hand, women on the other.

The famous Bakhchisarai fountain, which was sung by A.S. Pushkin in his poem

The power of the head of the family, if he is able to have it, is the only connection between the two halves of the same household. This system of secession, on which all Muslim family life is based, governed only by the prevailing law of self-interest, is such a strange feature that it cannot escape the attention of the careful observer. It becomes clear that the degree of separation that exists in Turkish households between a man and a woman can be measured by the greater or lesser wealth in which the family lives. A poor Muslim who has one or two rooms for himself and his family should observe economy, and on this basis, he, like a good father of a family, eats, drinks and sleeps with his wife and children. The middle-class man, who is better off, arranges his house in a more orthodox manner, and there is already a sharper line of demarcation between him and his harem. Two or three rooms are completely separated from the rest of the house and form a selamlik and a reception room, the rest of the house is a harem, a reserved place.

If we now pass to the rich, for example, to a three-bunch pasha, or to a minister with a briefcase, we find that his palace is built on a big footing and the separation of men from women is more complete. The selamlik of such an aristocrat occupies a whole separate building, and the harem has the size of a huge palace, with iron doors, windows with bars and a garden surrounded by a high wall. Men and women, locked in these two separate rooms, are completely isolated from each other and have no other intercourse with each other than with the help of eunuchs, or with the female Christian servants who are with the harem. The pasha, his sons and close relatives, who alone have the right of free access to the harem, can enter there, so to speak, through the washer, surrounded by iron bars - something like a secret passage through which they go, accompanied by a eunuch.

If, on the one hand, men are wasteful and do not spare their money, then on the other hand, women do exactly the same. The effort made on both sides to prevail and surpass each other in splendour, results in nothing like a competition between the two elements. The master of the house, whether pasha or efendi, whoever he may be, usually plays the role of mediator between the various members of the seraglio; but this participation, rendered more only for show than with a real desire for reconciliation, generally boils down to two points - to be able to fully use the harem, and also to keep the splendor of the selamlik. If the pasha achieves his goal and gives complete pleasure to the harem, satisfying himself in the male half with secular pleasures, he no longer pays attention to everything else and closes his eyes both to the theft committed by servants, and to tricks and tricks. extra expenses their wives. Pashas, caring only about pleasures and rewards, usually give the management of their house into the hands of the manager, who, at the same time, is concerned only about his own benefits, but not at all about the benefits of the owner, and therefore often brings the latter into debt. The pashas know this, but still they prefer to profit by means of advantageous places in the public service, than to befool their heads by sorting out the petty swindles perpetrated by their managers and servants. Thus, there is something in the role of a silent agreement between the master and his servant; each of them steals as far as possible, one - in bulk, the other - on trifles.

Pasha, once freed from worries about his private affairs, becomes more a guest in his house than a host. He usually spends the day at work, where he discusses political and social affairs with his comrades, travels around the city on visits, visits his friends and supporters, sets up networks for future political intrigues. In the evening, around 5-6 o'clock, His Excellency, accompanied by his adjutants and retinue, makes a solemn entry into his palace. Having reached the stairs, he does not enter the selamlik, but, in order not to lose time, he goes straight to the large door leading to the harem. The eunuch on duty, standing at the door, opens them with the required ceremonial and introduces the pasha into the abode of bliss. In the reception room, his wife, or the head of the harem, meets him, and she has the honor of leading the pasha to the inner rooms.

In addition to the ruler, noble ladies and relatives of the inhabitants of the seraglio could visit the harem, in front of whom the wives could not cover their faces with a veil.

“Ladies of ministers and courtiers quite often visit the Sultan's harem,” wrote D. Doris. - Their visits are not furnished with any protocol rules and complex formalities. The ceremonial attire, however, is strict: the girls are in white, the ladies are in a black dress, long coats, berets of the color of the ferage with diamond aigrettes, jewelry in their hair, and, of course, an open face: for the caliph is the only one among Muslims who has the right to see the face of women without a yashmak - this obligatory veil (today already transparent), which mysteriously fogs the features, insulates the freshness of the colors of the face in perfect whiteness and makes beautiful black eyes sparkle with a magical brilliance.

Sometimes visiting male royalty from friendly states were allowed into the harem, but only Muslims. Thus, the power of the sovereign and his special mercy were demonstrated. But even these rare visits took place with all delicacy and within a rigid ceremonial framework.

This is how T. Gauthier describes a visit to the house of a pasha (Turkish dignitary) T. Gauthier: “The owner received us in a simply cleaned room with a gray wooden ceiling in bluish patterns, all the furnishings of which consisted of two cupboards located opposite each other, a manila straw mat and a sofa covered with colorful fabric; the pasha was sitting in the corner of the sofa, turning over a sandalwood rosary in his hands.

The corner of the sofa is a place of honor that the owner of the house never leaves, except when he is paid a visit by a person of a higher rank than himself.

Don't let the simplicity of the setting surprise you. Selamlik is, in a sense, an outer chamber set aside for the outer life, something like a hallway beyond which strangers are not allowed. All luxury is reserved for the harem. This is where carpets from Isfahan and Smyrna are spread, brocade pillows and soft, silk-covered sofas beckon with bliss, tables inlaid with mother-of-pearl sparkle, gold and silver filigree incense burners smoke. Venetian mirrors twinkle here, rare flowers stand in Chinese vases and clocks with music evoke whimsical melodies, here intricate arabesques entwine the ceiling, stalactites of Marmara marble hang and streams of fragrant water murmur in white shells. In this mysterious refuge passes the real life of the Turks, a life of pleasure and family intimacy, neither relatives nor closest friends are ever invited here.

In exceptional cases, doctors, teachers, jewelry dealers and those who were admitted at the whim of the lord of the harem could be invited to the harem.

It was such a wonderful event that happened to the hero of the fairy tale "Caliph for an hour." The merry sultan decided to let him rule a little, arranging it so that the intoxicated poor fellow fell asleep in his bed and woke up in the caliph's bedchamber.

“And Abul-Hasan began to look around to the right and to the left, looking at himself, and peered into all these things, turning his head and laughing, and then he seated several slaves near him, while others stood holding golden fans in their hands. He looked at the slaves he had placed next to him, and saw that none of them were eating anything, and he began to treat them, and even fed some with his own hand. Then he began to ask the slaves what their names were, and one answered: “My name is Daurat al-Qamar,” and the other said: “My name is Shams an-Nahar,” and the third answered: “Sukkariya,” and another : "Malihat al-Qadd", - the other: "Budur", - and the third: "Nasim as-Saba". And the caliph became more and more amused and laughed, seeing how Abu-l-Hasan looked at the slaves and asked what their names were.

When the slaves saw that Abul-Hasan had finished eating and was full, they shouted to the chief eunuch: “Hey, aha, the ruler of the faithful has finished eating!” - and the chief eunuch came up and took Abu-l-Hasan by the hand, and lifted him up, and sat him on the bench. He brought a bowl and a jug and washed Abu-l-Hasan's hands, and one slave girl held a jug for him, and another carried a towel, and a third a censer with aloes and ambergris. And when Abul-Hasan washed his hands, he got up, and the chief eunuch went ahead of him, along with the slaves and slaves. He was taken to another room, not the one where he had been before, and when Abu-l-Hasan entered there, his head was clouded - it was such a beautiful room: tidy, painted on the walls with patterns and covered with luxurious carpets. And there he found many slaves, even more beautiful than those he had already seen, and each of them held some musical instrument in her hands, and when Abu-l-Hasan entered them, all the slaves stood up and at once began to sing to one tune. , striking the strings, and any of them, with their beauty and charm, could turn a pilgrim into an atheist. And Abul-Hasan looked and saw that the table had already been set and on it fruits of all kinds and clear wine, and goblets and bowls were lined up in rows and dishes were lying in golden dishes adorned with precious stones.

No matter how fantastic this story may be, it nevertheless contains many realities related to the life of the sultans and his entourage.

Harem device

At first, harems existed separately from the palaces of the rulers. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II rebuilt it to his own taste. One of the main attractions of modern Istanbul - the giant palace (seral) Topkapi was erected in the 1470s. Over time, the Sultan's harem, which flourished under Suleiman the Magnificent, also migrated here. Perhaps this happened not without the influence of the famous Roksolana, which will be discussed later. In any case, this resettlement brought the inhabitants of the harem a new status and great opportunities to influence the Sultan and affairs in the state.

The best part of the palace was reserved for the harem. In other parts, guests were received, diplomatic receptions, parades and other ceremonies were arranged.

A contemporary left us the relevant explanations: “Seraglio means palace: this name is given to the residence of the sovereign, as well as to the residences of governors who govern provinces on behalf of the sultan. under the word seraglio of course, the totality of palace buildings inhabited by both women and men. The most common part of these buildings is given to women and is called a harem. In another part of the seraglio, men are placed and ceremonial receptions are performed; this is where the word comes from selambic, which means the place of ceremonies. However, the word selambic in the palace is replaced by the louder, although expressing the same concept, the name of the imperial mobile.

The seraglio, in which the sultan usually lives, is a huge marble building, four times larger than the Petersburg one. Winter Palace. Three-fourths of this mass of buildings constitute the harem, while the mobane, relatively speaking, is only an addition to the rest of the building.

Between the mobile and the harem there is a huge hall, with special staircases, entrances and its own door of honor, designated for official receptions of foreign monarchs, envoys, ministers, etc.

Regardless of this main building, there are still many annexes to the seraglio, extensive buildings that serve as stables, kitchens, warehouses, barracks, etc. All these buildings make up, as it were, a small city stretching along the Bosphorus for about two kilometers.

The harem consisted of several thousand premises for various purposes, of which only about three hundred have survived, which are now shown to tourists.

The harem complex adopted a lot from the arrangement of "women's houses" in the palaces of the Byzantine emperors, it was constantly expanded and rebuilt, especially after fires and earthquakes. And he also acquired "branches" - villas on the Bosphorus and in other wonderful corners of nature.

The main task of the architects and other organizers of the "House of Happiness" was to create possible, and sometimes impossible according to ordinary concepts, amenities, beauty and a special atmosphere, conducive to enjoying life and stimulating the inhabitants to more fully surrender to the joys of love.

This magnificent world, where the chosen ones entered through the “Entrance Gate of the Harem”, included the luxuriously decorated chambers of wives and their children, the magnificent apartments of the sultana mother, the alcoves of concubines, the school of princes, the dwellings of eunuchs and servants, rooms for recreation and entertainment, baths, gardens, ponds with exotic fish and pools, fountains, menageries, a theater, clinics and much more.

The interior of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul

The heavily guarded palace of the Sultan also included several mosques and many other premises: kitchens, barracks, stables, baths, pantries, clinics, etc.

The layout of the premises of the harem was also described by T. Gauthier:

“The rooms are arranged in an enfilade or overlook a wide corridor ...

The apartments of each of the wives have a single door that opens into a spacious passage, like the doors of cells to the gallery of the monastery. At both ends of the corridor, eunuchs or bostanjis stand guard.

Harems were supplied with food grown on special protected lands, in forbidden gardens. Fish were bred in special reservoirs. Whole divisions of slaves were engaged in this.

The merchants of the court brought the best they could find from all over the world, including jewels, fabrics and ornaments, exquisite perfumes and the latest European novelties in the field of women's passions.

In the comments of B. Riftin to historical novel"Plum flowers in a golden vase, or Jin, Ping, Mei" describes the organization of the harem of a wealthy Chinese:

Chinese concubines

So in the arrangement of the chambers of the wives of Simyn Qing, the traditional hierarchy of family relations is expressed. The living compartments of the estate are separated by a complex system of walls with various side passages and peculiar “entrance halls”, which in such houses, and at Simyn Qing, too, usually served as a kind of living room. It was such a “passage” hall that closed the courtyard in the estate of Simyn Qing from the south, in which the first three wives of the hero lived.

Behind the chambers of the eldest of them, Yue-niang, there was another small courtyard, which overlooked the kitchen and the chambers of the fourth wife of the owner, Song Xue-e, who was in charge of preparing all the delicious dishes that were served in Simyn Qing's house.

In front of the “entrance” hall in large residences (and this was the estate of Simyn Qing) there was another courtyard with outbuildings, again from the east and from the west. In the eastern wing, his daughter lived here with her husband ...

At the outer wall facing directly onto the street, there were two two-story buildings in Simyn Qing's house, in which the two most junior wives of Simyn Qing lived: the fifth lady, Pan Jin-lian, and the sixth, Li Ping-er. They lived at the greatest distance from the chambers of the eldest wife of the owner.

There are few publicly known phenomena in the world, true meaning which remains hidden by a veil of secrecy from most people. An example, however, is harems. Everyone heard about them at least once in their life, but few know about their true purpose, structure, rules of life. But almost everyone is interested in the question “harem: what is it?”

History reference

The word "harem" has an interesting history. it was borrowed from Arabic, and there it came from the Akkadian dialect. But for any nation, it means something sacred, secret, and also a place protected from prying eyes.

Sultan's harems as phenomena public life in the East originate in the distant 1365, when Sultan Murad I built a luxurious palace, reflecting the power of his supreme power. However, a classic harem with a properly organized palace economy appeared in the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed Fatih in 1453. And the need for it arose due to the fact that the aggressive and gaining power of the Ottoman sultans had nowhere to take wives. It was during this period that the real history of the harem began. Then he was replenished with concubines from different parts of the world, and the official spouses of the sultans became much smaller.

The first written mention of the harem dates back to the 15th century. Therefore, we can reliably say that at that time only slaves were kept there. The daughters of the Christian rulers of neighboring countries became the spouses of the sultans. And only at the end of the 15th century, in 1481, Sultan Bayezid II introduced the tradition of choosing wives among the inhabitants of the harem.

Harem: Factual and Fictional Facts

Now let's try to understand the question "harem - what is it?" Is it a place of constant, unstoppable debauchery, or is it becoming a "maximum security prison"?

A harem was just a part of the house closed to strangers who were not family members, where women lived, relatives of the Sultan: sisters, mothers. In some periods of time, the brothers of the ruler found shelter in it, and eunuchs and other servants also lived here. It is the closeness of these parts of the houses that explains the multiple misconceptions associated with Muslim harems. Some see them as rich castles, where many young beautiful girls in languid poses lie near the pool and live only with the thought of attracting the attention of the Sultan and appeasing his fantasies. For others, the harem seems to be a place of horrors, saturated with envy, lack of rights, captivity, murder, arbitrariness. And it is not surprising that fantasies differ so much, because only a select few managed to look into the eastern harem with at least one eye, to reveal this secret behind seven seals.

Realities of the harem

Indeed, life in different times in the harem was stormy. There were murders and depravity, but they pale in comparison with the orgies organized by European aristocrats in the 18th century.

Yes, there was Sultan Murat III, who managed to acquire 112 children in his life. You can try to imagine how much he liked his harem and the very act of love.

There were also precedents with massacres. For example, Ibrahim I drowned almost 300 inhabitants of his harem in the bay. But it was proved by medicine that he was a mentally ill person. But disorders of this kind, apparently, possessed not only Turkish sultans, but also some famous Russian personalities. For example, Lieutenant General Izmailov tortured fifty of his serf concubines to death.

In fact, even the Sultan could not so easily enter the harem. First, he had to announce his intention, and then the concubines were prepared, lined up in a row, like soldiers on a parade ground. Only then was the Sultan invited, but his entire visit was scheduled literally step by step.

The manners and customs of the Sultan's court have changed greatly over time. The rulers remained despotic, but they were not alien to them either. human feelings. If at the beginning of its existence, the new sultan who ascended the throne killed his brothers, then later the execution was replaced by imprisonment in “golden cages”, which became a relic of the past only in the 19th century. In the same century, concubines began to come to the harem either themselves, or they were brought by representatives of the Caucasian peoples.

Harem and its internal hierarchy

In fact, there was a strict system inside the harem, to which all its inhabitants had to obey. Valide was considered the main one - the mother of the Sultan. All the concubines had to obey her - odalik (odalisques), from among which the sultan could choose his wives. The wife in the harem on the steps of the hierarchy was next after the valid if the master did not have sisters.

Jariye is the lowest rung of the hierarchy - potential sultan's concubines who were able to pass the valid exam with dignity. If such a girl managed to spend at least one night with the Sultan, she became gozde (gyuzde), which means "beloved". If she turned into a favorite, then she was assigned the status of ikbal (ikbal), of which there were no more than 15 in the harem. A girl could improve her “level” if she managed to get pregnant, and then she became a kadin. The one who was lucky enough to become a legal wife received the title of kadyn-efendi. These women had privileges in the form of salaries, their own apartments and slaves.

The life of women in the harem

There were many women in the harem. Although Islam allowed to have no more than 4 legal wives, the number of concubines was not limited. In the 15th century, when morals were more strict, and girls often came here not of their own free will, they immediately changed their name. In addition, they had to convert to Islam (for this it was enough for them to raise their finger to the sky and say: “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet”) and abandon all

The opinion associated with the fact that the girls in the harem waited languidly for days on end when the Sultan would honor them with his attention is erroneous. In fact, they were busy almost the whole day. The concubines in the Sultan's harem were taught the Turkish language, reading the Koran, needlework, palace etiquette, music, and the art of love. They had the opportunity to relax and have fun playing different kinds games, sometimes noisy and moving. The harem of those times could be compared with the privileged closed schools for girls that appeared in Europe only in the 20th century.

The concubines in the Sultan's harem did not just study. They subsequently passed the exam, which was taken by the Valide Sultan herself. If the girls coped with dignity, then they could count on the attention of the master. The concubine in the harem was not a captive in the full sense of the word. Guests often came to the girls, and artists were invited to perform here. Various celebrations were also arranged, and the concubines were even taken to the Bosphorus - to ride the boats, get some air, take a walk. In a word, life in the harem was intense.

Which women were chosen for the harem: selection criteria

The women in the harem, of course, were different both in physical and mental data. Often, slaves came here from the slave market at the age of 5-7 years, and here they were brought up until they were fully physically mature. It should be noted that there were never Turkish women among the concubines of the Sultan.

Girls had to be smart, cunning, attractive, with a beautiful physique, sensual. There is an opinion that an important role in choosing a beauty for the Sultan was played not only by her physical beauty, but also by the structure and beauty of her penis. By the way, in some modern harems this selection criterion is still relevant. It was very important that the future concubine in the harem did not have a too large vagina. And before a woman was admitted to the Sultan's bed, she passed a series of tests with the retention of stone eggs and colored water, which should not have been spilled during the belly dance, into the vagina. This can explain the fact that not all the wives or favorites of the Sultan had a beautiful appearance. Some attracted the beauty of the other

The Arab harem and its way of life were arranged a little differently. At least, the harem of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, who gained power in Iran in 1848, destroyed all the stereotypes that had developed in terms of the beauty of women. Of course, as they say, the taste and color ... But the Shah's harem was clearly an amateur. Judging by the photographs (and there were many of them after this ruler, since he was fond of this occupation), he liked women in the body. The sources mention that the concubines were deliberately densely fed and did not allow them to actively move.

The eyebrows of all the girls were fused. But if we look at the history of fashion in the 19th century, we will remember that it was fashionable then, but “mustachioed” women were never “in trend”. And Shah liked them too.

Eunuchs and their role in the harem

It was customary to keep a close eye on the concubines of the Sultan. This function was performed by old proven slaves and eunuchs. Who are eunuchs? These are slaves brought mainly from Central Africa, Egypt, Abyssinia, who were subsequently castrated. Preference in this regard was given to blacks, since, due to their physical characteristics, they tolerated operations well and lived to old age, while the Circassians, having more fragile health, were subjected to partial castration and often seduced their wards.

However, it should be noted that sometimes young boys themselves offered their candidacies to recruiters for the harem. What it is? The dream of becoming a castrated servant? No, just for a sneaky, cunning youngster, it was a good opportunity to gain some fortune and power in a much shorter time than if he had traded or served in the army with the Sultan. Yes, there was room to grow. The head of the black eunuchs had 300 horses and an unlimited number of slaves.

Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan (Roksolana) - "iron lady" of the harem

Despite the fact that the history of the harem as a social phenomenon is long, and the sultans had many wives, the names of only a few of them have come down to us. The harem of Sultan Suleiman became largely known precisely thanks to a Ukrainian by birth, who, according to various sources, was called either Anastasia or Alexandra Lisovskaya. The Muslims, however, renamed the girl Hürrem.

She was kidnapped during one of the raids, on the eve of her own wedding. Judging by what is known about her, we can say that she was a cunning, strong woman with an extraordinary mind. She encroached not only on the life of the sons of the padishah from the first wife, on the life of her mother-in-law, but also on the life of her own youngest son. But she was truly extraordinary if she was able to drive Sultan Suleiman away from the harem for 15 years and become the only female ruler.

Topkapi - the eternal haven of the harem

The Topkapi Palace Complex was founded by Sultan Mahmed as the official residence of the Ottoman rulers. And the well-known harem of Sultan Suleiman also lived here. It was at the suggestion of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (or Roksolana) that the largest reconstruction of the palace ensemble was carried out in its entire history. At different times, from 700 to 1200 women could be located in the harem.

For a person who came to Topkapi for the first time, the harem and the palace itself will seem like a real labyrinth with many rooms, corridors, courtyards scattered around it.

All the walls in the harem at that time were lined with exquisite Izna mosaic tiles, which have survived to this day in almost perfect condition. Even today it continues to amaze tourists with its beauty, brightness, accuracy, and detail of the drawing. Decorating the walls in this way, it was impossible to create two identical rooms, so each boudoir in the harem was special.

Topkapi occupy a vast territory. The palace has 300 rooms, 46 latrines, 8 baths, 2 mosques, 6 storerooms for supplies, swimming pools, laundries, hospitals, kitchens. Whether all this was located in the harem, or whether part of the premises were assigned to the Sultan's part of the palace, is not known for certain. To date, only the first floor is open to tourists. Everything else is carefully kept hidden from the prying eyes of tourists.

All windows in the harem were barred. However, there are also several clearly residential premises in which there were no windows at all. Most likely, these were the rooms of eunuchs or slaves.

But no matter how beautiful and interesting it is in the harem, it is unlikely that any girl will want to be in it as a guest. Life in a harem has always been subject to strict internal rules, laws and regulations, which we still do not know about.

Modern harems

No matter how paradoxical it may sound, there are no harems in modern Turkey (at least in its central part). But the Turks themselves, smiling, add that this is only according to official data, but in rural areas, especially in the southeast, this way of life remains relevant.

Polygamous marriage is a given for 40% of women living in Jordan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Madagascar, Iran, Iraq and the countries of the African continent. But it is worth noting how the harem remains the privilege of rich men, because only they are able to support their official wives in financial equality, of which there can be four in total. Each spouse should have her own house (well, or at least a private bedroom with its own entrance), jewelry, outfits, servants.

Most women in the modern harem are in this position of their own free will, but some, as before, are held by force. But there are times when contracts are concluded with women, after the expiration of which they can return to their usual life, having become noticeably richer. After all, there are rumors about the generosity of modern sultans.

As before, women for the harem are not selected by its owners themselves, but by “specially trained people” - the so-called mashate, who scour the world in search of another beauty. But a beautiful face is far from the only "passing ticket" to the harem. A girl must be passionate enough in bed, be able to seduce her master, must understand how to extinguish conflicts and quarrels. To establish all the criteria, there are special checks (or, if you like, tests), only after passing, which the woman is shown directly to the owner of the harem.

After all of the above, the impression of the harem still remains ambiguous. Some will continue to perceive it as a relic of the past with limited freedom and infringement of women's rights, others as an opportunity to get rich and provide for themselves for a while, and some as a chance to find their real prince on a white horse. But all this is a harem. What it is for you is up to you to decide.

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Oriental harem: life behind the canopy of mystery. The embodiment of a man's dream is a place where dozens of women dependent on you are ready to fulfill your every whim.
On the other hand, it is memorable: “If there are three wives, there are also three mother-in-laws ...” And on the third, even if you manage to start a frank conversation with a Muslim who is married, as permitted by Sharia, to three or four women, you will find out a striking thing: life in such a family is so scheduled and regulated by strict customs and rules that there can be no question of any "embodiment of a man's dream" ...
Harem... The focus of oriental exoticism and bliss...

Often the beys' concubines turned out to be European, including Russian girls, who were especially valued by the nobles of the East. This is an institution of initiation, similar to a Christian monastery, where girls receive a new name, are trained in religious reverence and absolute submission. The esoteric symbolism of the Sufis, combined with the explicit erotic orientation of the rituals, conceals, surprisingly, the religious service.
What secrets did the harems keep, where women had to realize themselves at the cost of abandoning themselves?

In the strict sense of the word, a harem is a room specially designed for women and located inside a palace or any other big building. The Muslim dwelling is traditionally divided into two completely different parts: "selamik", the male half, and "garenlik", the area where women are doomed to spend their whole lives. Here the ladies drink, smoke, sleep, meet friends, sing, dance, do small handicrafts and, above all, scrupulously follow the prescriptions of the Muslim religion.

In the golden age of the Turkish Empire, about 4 thousand people lived on the territory of the Topkany Palace. The complex included four large palaces and a harem. "Harem" sometimes means "sacred" or "one whose boundaries are inviolable." Persons of the opposite sex are forbidden to enter this place, except for eunuchs and the ruler himself, the owner of the house. Crossing the threshold of the harem inevitably entailed the loss of the head of the violator of this law.

The life of Muslim women passed only here, while the men calmly walked the streets, sometimes worked, paid visits to each other or just chatted in the main square. The woman, on the other hand, remained unknown to practically no one, with the possible exception of her husband's closest friends.

Yes, and in the Islamic East she is the ruler and mistress of the house. But inside the harem, she shares her life with other women of the same status or maids and even slaves. And there inevitably a pyramidal hierarchical structure is created, on top of which stands the first wife, who gave birth to her husband's son-heir.

The curtain of mystery opens

The first European to see the inside of the harem was Thomas Dallan, who was sent to Constantinople in 1599 to tune the organ that the Spanish Queen Isabella once presented to the Sultan. The Turkish ruler was so angry at the ignorance of his subjects, none of whom knew how to play this instrument, that he showed great disposition to Dallan and even offered him two of his concubines. To do this, he brought the guest to the palace, while he himself remained outside. The Briton describes his experience very vividly: “When I got closer, I noticed that the outer wall was very wide, but through the bars you could see about thirty concubines of the Great Lord who were playing ball. At first glance, I took them for boys, but then I saw that their hair falls on their shoulders in pigtails, in which bundles of pearls are woven, and some other signs by which I understood that women were in front of me.On their heads they wore nothing but a golden cap, some were wearing leggings, others walked with bare legs , with gold earrings on bracelets at the ankles; others wore velvet shoes eight centimeters high. This observation ended with the fact that Dallan decided to flee the city before the Sultan came to his senses - he was afraid that visiting the harem would cost him his life.

The bazaars of Moorish Spain are comparable only to African slave markets. Concubines got into the harem from the slave market in Constantinople. Most of them, captured in other countries as girls, were trained " good behavior", playing musical instruments and dancing, and then presented to the Sultan as a gift. Once in his harem, they were converted to Islam after pronouncing a simple traditional phrase: "La illahe illa alla, mohamet rasul alla" (a different transcription is possible, but the meaning is the same: "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet").

Another Renaissance traveler, the Venetian Ottaviano Bon, describes the harem as follows: "In their dwelling, women live like nuns in a monastery." And a little later he adds: "Girls break all their old ties once and for all, as soon as they enter the seraglio. They get new names."

These two pieces of evidence seem to be very significant: the appearance of the girl in the harem and her residence there were associated with religious rituals. As you know, Islam does not know monasticism - neither for men nor for women; however, the harem is nearly equal to a Catholic nunnery in its importance.

Women receive initiation with a new name, they must also leave all their former lives in order to be accepted into the harem, and they must also retain their virginity.

Just as a Muslim man realized himself in pious meditations, in holy war or consecrated work, women realized themselves by renouncing themselves and fulfilling their maternal and conjugal duties. And here we have in mind not only, and not so much the harem, but the most ordinary Muslim home, the family of the faithful.

As for the harem, here the concubines had to revere their master as a superhuman being and obey him absolutely. The custom, for example, compelled the concubine, who was chosen to spend the night with her master, to enter his private chambers dressed in festive clothes and with great humility. It was a symbol of her humility that she herself had to throw off her shirt, climb on the couch from the side of her legs and wait there for her lover.

The number of captured slaves in the harem was very high, and along with the isolation of their lives and strict observance of the regime, as well as the religious veneration of their master, this gave a certain percentage of women the hope of liberation. Therefore, each of the concubines tried her best to please the master. Belly dance and seven veils

Jallaladin Rumi, the great Muslim poet, wrote that "he who knows the grace of dance lives in God..."

The dance had a special meaning for the Islamic world. Often he became the most common entertainment in the harem.

But it happened in Turkey that the dervish brotherhoods practiced ritual syncope dances in order to achieve ecstasy. The circular rotation forced the blood to move to areas of the brain where it usually does not reach in such quantities; the very effort, fatigue and trembling rhythm of the dance led to an ecstatic opening, the removal of blocks from the consciousness, allowing one to penetrate into the deepest areas of the human personality. So the dancer could achieve the mystical experience of merging with the Absolute.

As for the Muslim woman, she practiced two initiation dances, especially popular in the East: the belly dance and the dance of the seven veils.

In 1923, an Italian explorer who delved into the regions of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, then in the possession of Italy, witnessed secret erotic ceremonies performed by Muslim brotherhoods. Gallus under such a pseudonym this researcher traveled - was accepted into the esoteric circle formed around Julius Evola, the "Group of Ur", and described his experiences in a monograph entitled "Life among the Arabs."

Gallus took part in the ritual of a real belly dance. It was performed by one woman - a member of the Sufi brotherhood. The dance consisted of three parts of different rhythms and was accompanied by special hand movements and facial expressions and represented three periods of a woman's life. The last part depicted the erotic awakening of the main power of a person during sexual intercourse and was represented by movements of the abdomen and pubic region. Gallus pointed out that "the woman who performed the dance suffered as in childbirth, and behaved like a woman in labor."
An experienced dancer, familiar with Sufi practices, achieves ecstasy in the course of dancing and, more importantly, brings erotic charm to the audience in a peculiar way, which leads them to the same opening of consciousness.

As for the dance of the seven veils, their esoteric symbolism and erotic focus are very palpable. Tradition traces this dance back to the time of Ahum, the king of the Ahumites, who in 532 captured the country of the Queen of Sheba. His favorite was the beautiful Ayla Sah, whom the eunuch of the harem once caught while trying to escape with one of the guests in the palace. Ayla, in order to save her head, promised the Sultan to perform the dance of the seven veils. Cover, veil, veil - it was a symbol of purity and innocence in Egyptian and Indian societies. The shedding of each of the veils signified the attainment of the purity of the original Edenic consciousness. The covers symbolized the four elements (fire, earth, water and air) and the three foundations of the Being (body, soul and spirit). Dropping them meant achieving "quintessence" (the fifth essence, the transcendence of the four elements) and "unity" (the transcendence of the three foundations).

Sufi eroticism

The harem, the dance and the cycle of short stories "Thousand and One Nights" serve as components of Arab eroticism. It is difficult to imagine that a people so disposed to sensuality as the Arabs would not delve into the realm of sexual magic. Even today, these practices continue to be performed in the Maghreb and the Middle East. The writer Paul Bowles relates that his wife had a lesbian relationship with a Moroccan sorceress who controlled her through a single plant whose roots she wrapped in a silk cloth along with the woman's menstrual blood and antimony. It suffices to recall here that antimony is the main material used by Arab alchemists in search of the philosopher's stone.

At the heart of Arabic sexual magic is the concept of sexual intercourse as a means to engage "baraka" or spiritual power. Those who wish to engage in this kind of practice must pass a series of tests. For example, they will be required to resist hypnosis, no doubt, to prevent passivity and immobilizing fascination the moment they come into contact with a woman. And besides, these brotherhoods had at their disposal specially trained women to perform sexual rituals.

Polygamy

The Prophet, despite the fact that he introduced a strictly masculine religious tradition, allowed a woman's access to initiation. Islam affirms the fundamental inequality between man and woman, or more precisely, their complementarity. Mohammed wrote: "Three male vices turn into the virtues of a woman: greed, pride and timidity." She should be greedy for her husband, proud, refusing to talk to anyone else, and timid so that no suspicion of her virtue arises.

The key problem of polygamy is explained in the Koran (IV, 3). A Muslim can have up to four wives if he is just with them and able to support them. The Qur'anic line on this subject is full of menace: "Whoever has two wives and treats them unfairly, on the Day of Judgment will be cut in two, so that one half can never communicate with the other."

The middle position of the Arab society between the Byzantine world, Persians and Hindus led to its saturation with all neighboring traditions, and Islamic esotericism was superimposed on the Arab ethnic and cultural layer. In the harem, for example, Byzantine influence is noticeable. On the other hand, Islamic jihad - holy war - was the driving mechanism that facilitated the expansion of Islam and the creation of a special flow between the civilizations of East and West. And this led to a certain renewal: having arrived from distant Arabia, the warriors of Mohammed absorbed Greek culture Byzantine periphery and entered the cultural elite of Asia Minor and Egypt. Through Spain, this influence spread throughout the West.

Well, the reverse flow, caused by the crusades and the arrival of mendicant and military orders in the East, led to a kind of cultural "osmosis", mutual penetration. Thus, in some stories from the cycle of the Holy Grail, palaces with mysterious ladies appeared, where knights fell from time to time ...
These were the harems.

Women on the blacklist

Eunuchs were the safest inhabitants of the harem. All this cannot force one to ignore the modern social reality Arab countries, in which the instructions of the Koran are not always fulfilled. Moreover, the Arab world has not remained impenetrable to the secular influence of the West.

Such is the case of Moroccan female sociologist Fatima Mernissi, whose grandmother, Lalla Yasmina, was captured and sold in 1903 in Dar Benkiran, one of the most important slave markets. She spent 15 years in the Fez harem. Her granddaughter Fatima wrote in 1984 the book "Morocco through the eyes of women", and three years later - "Political Harem". Both books were banned under pressure from spiritual authorities, the ulema. No wonder: after all, the "Political Harem" analyzed the entire tradition coming from Mohammed in relation to a woman and, with all due respect to the prophet, put forward the thesis that his message was perverted over the centuries to justify the enslavement of women in Muslim society.
In 1989, Fatima was included in the black list of 80 intellectuals unwanted by Khomeini.

Eunuch - Keeper of the Seraglio

The harems of Constantinople, Arabia and some other countries associated with various Indian and Eastern religious concepts have always been guarded by eunuchs. And only they were allowed to go inside. Eunuchs were used out of a simple precaution - so that the concubines lived in safety and pleased only their master.

There were three types of eunuchs: full, who was deprived of reproductive organs as early as childhood; incomplete, who lost only his testicles in his youth, and, finally, the eunuch, whose testicles atrophied due to the fact that in childhood they were subjected to special friction.
The first type was considered the most reliable, the other two were not, since they were still awakening sexual desire at the beginning of adolescence. The first, due to castration, changed physically and mentally, they did not grow a beard, the larynx was small and therefore the voice sounded childish; in character they approached women.
The Arabs claimed that they did not live long and died before reaching the age of 35.

The main idea was that the eunuch was in sexual relations neutral, he had neither female nor male sex characteristics and, thus, his presence in the harem in no way disturbed the atmosphere of this special place, moreover, he remained in any case faithful to the owner of the seraglio.
So what is a harem? Most likely, a non-Muslim will never fully understand this. Nevertheless, we can say with confidence - this is an institution state power(a harem is a harem, and influential wives who kept pashas and sultans under their thumb were here too), this is a kind of Muslim convent, this is a school of female eroticism, this is ...
...And the sweet dream of the East...

Harem... There are not many words in the world that could compete with this, so attractive and mysterious. Everyone will find in it their secret desires, fading kinship with primordial instincts or nostalgia for those times when beauty had a worthy price and sophisticated connoisseurs.
"Harem" (haram) - the word Arabic, it means everything that is forbidden, as well as hidden and protected, secretly and inaccessible to outsiders. When referring to the eastern house of past centuries, then haram is that part of it where women lived - mothers, wives, young children, concubines, slaves, and also eunuchs.

The European synonym for the harem is the French word "seral", which comes from the similar-sounding Persian and Turkish words (serui, saray), denoting a large house or palace. In the view of Europeans, the seraglio is the inner chambers of the eastern rulers and their families. Today, many believe that a harem is something like an Asian-style brothel, while the difference here is about the same as between a subway for everyone and a luxury limousine for the elite.

In one form or another, harems existed everywhere, at all times and long before Islam as a phenomenon that did not contradict nature.

HAREM DEVICE

At first, harems existed separately from the palaces of the rulers. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II rebuilt it to his own taste. One of the main attractions of modern Istanbul is the giant palace (seral) Topkapi. Over time, the Sultan's harem, which flourished under Suleiman the Magnificent, also migrated here. The best part of the palace was reserved for the harem. In other parts, they received guests, arranged diplomatic receptions, parades and other ceremonies. A contemporary left us the relevant explanations:

“Serail means palace: this name is given to the residence of the sovereign, as well as to the residences of the governors who govern the provinces on behalf of the sultan. The word "seraglio" refers to the totality of palace buildings inhabited by both women and men. The most common part of these buildings is given to women and is called a harem.

The seraglio, in which the sultan usually lives, is a huge marble building, four times larger than the St. Petersburg Winter Palace. Three-fourths of this mass of buildings is the harem, while the mobain, relatively speaking, is only an extension to the rest of the building. Between the mobile and the harem there is a huge hall with special staircases, entrances and its own door of honor, designated for official receptions of foreign monarchs, envoys, ministers, etc.

The harem consisted of several thousand premises for various purposes, of which only about three hundred have survived, which are now shown to tourists. The harem complex was constantly expanded and rebuilt, especially after fires and earthquakes, and also acquired "branches" - villas on the Bosphorus and in other picturesque places. The main task of the architects and other organizers of the "House of Happiness" was to create possible, and sometimes impossible according to ordinary concepts, amenities, beauty and a special atmosphere, conducive to enjoying life and stimulating the inhabitants to surrender more fully to the joys of love.

“The rooms are arranged in an enfilade or overlook a wide corridor... The apartments of each of the wives have a single door that opens into the Spacious Passage, like the doors of cells into the gallery of the monastery. At both ends of the corridor, eunuchs or bostanjis stand guard.

Harems were supplied with products grown on specially protected lands, in forbidden gardens. Fish were bred in special reservoirs. Whole divisions of slaves were engaged in this. The merchants of the court brought the best they could find from all over the world, including jewels, fabrics and jewelry, exquisite perfumes and the latest European novelties in the field of women's passions.

decorations

“The love of the Sultan for his wives, and there were a very large number of them, was ruinous for the country,” Melek-khanum wrote. “They acted in such a way that all their whims, no matter what kind they were, were satisfied. They assisted each other in extortion filled with diamonds, accompanied by numerous slaves, almost as richly dressed as their mistresses, the sultan's wives left in carriages, each of which, with all accessories, cost about 900,000 piastres ... The decoration of their chambers was constantly renewed new decorations. Within two years, the seraglio was renewed four times from top to bottom."

Gerard de Nerval described the chambers of the Egyptian princess (sister of the Sultan) somewhat differently: (Sitt al Mulk (the first lady of the state) was reclining on pillows in the alcove of one of the far rooms; the decoration of this room dazzled with its splendor. The vault, made in the form of small domes, resembled bee honeycombs or grotto with stalactites because of the ornately complex ornamentation, which alternated with bright red, green, blue and gold tones.Walls to the height of a man were lined with amazing mosaic tiles of glass, heart-shaped arches leaning gracefully on magnificent capitals in the form of turbans, which , in turn, rested on marble columns.Along the cornices of doors and windows were inscriptions in Karmatian script, the graceful letters of which interspersed with flowers, leaves and scrolls of arabesques. clean water rose to the very vault and fell into a round pool with a silver ringing, scattering into thousands of sprays.

Descriptions of the harem chambers were also left by foreign ladies who had a rare opportunity to visit them. One such account is given by George Doris:
"The apartments of the princesses have various kinds of meeting rooms, and I had the opportunity to examine their furnishings in some detail during my visit. It was summer: white linen completely covered the polished oak parquet. Here and there were sofas covered with red and yellow satin, gold fringe, armchairs and sofas surrounded a polished table inlaid with ivory, oriental furniture side by side with a Louis XV cabinet, the walls were hung with paintings (mostly landscapes) framed in Turkish inscriptions made in gold letters on black velvet, the painted ceiling depicted views of the Bosphorus. The entrance was masked by a luxurious curtain, against which the Sultan's tyrpa (Sultan's monogram) stood out against a pink background.

Theophile Gauthier was lucky enough to see the apartments of the first lady of the court - the mother of the Sultan:
“The chambers of the Valide Sultana - high rooms overlooking the Bosphorus - are remarkable for their ceilings with fresco paintings of incomparable freshness and grace .... These are turquoise skies of amazing blueness, covered with light clouds, then huge bedspreads of lace of a delightful pattern, then a large mother-of-pearl shell , shimmering in all shades of the spectrum, or beautiful flowers braiding a golden lattice. Sometimes the motif is a jewelry box scattered in a brilliant mess, sometimes a necklace from which pearls fall like raindrops, sometimes placers of diamonds, sapphires and rubies. Here is the plafond, as if covered in bluish smoke, rising from the golden incense burners depicted on the cornices .... Nearby, a golden-woven brocade curtain, gathered from carbuncles, reveals an expanse of blue, a little further, an azure grotto flickers with sapphire reflections. Endless weaves of arabesques, carved caissons, golden rosettes, bouquets of flowers, fantastic and natural, blue lilies of Iran and roses of Shiraz, diversify the themes, of which I have named only the main ones, without wanting to go into details - they can easily be completed by the reader's imagination.

And here is a description of the reception rooms of the wife of an important nobleman:

"Three of the four walls completely occupied the windows, generously filling the room with light and air - it is difficult to find a more accurate comparison for it than a greenhouse, because expensive flowers were fragrant everywhere here. The floor was covered with a magnificent soft Smyrna carpet; the ceiling was decorated with arabesques and wicker patterns, colored and gilded, two long sofas, covered with yellow and blue satin, stretched along the walls, another sofa, small and low, stood in the wall between the windows, from which a magnificent panorama of the Bosphorus opened, blue silk pillows were scattered over the carpet. a large, emerald-colored jug of Bohemian glass with gold streaks, which stood on a similar tray.In another was placed a chest of embossed leather with patterns, notches and gilding, very beautiful and reminiscent of the intricate decoration of the Moroccan chests that Delacroix does not miss the opportunity to depict in his African paintings. Unfortunately, European mahogany chest of drawers wedged into this Asian luxury . On its marble slab, between two vases of artificial flowers, stood a clock under a glass cover, exactly like that of some venerable Marais rentier. Similar dissonances, so annoying to the artist, are found in all Turkish houses claiming good taste. Adjacent to this room was another, more simply furnished: it served as a dining room and had access to a staircase for servants.

Gardens of Delight

In the hot climate of the East, there is nothing more pleasant than to indulge in bliss in the cool shade. blooming garden. Melek Khanum described a visit to the garden of a noble Egyptian lady: “It was amazingly beautiful. Date palms, orange trees, flowers and bushes were arranged with extraordinary art. Even the walls were, as it were, draped in greenery.”

The best gardens, of course, were in the harems of the overlords. An example of such a garden is presented in the tales of the Thousand and One Nights:

“A garden where there was everything that the soul desires and delights the eyes. There were high columns and buildings going up, and there were vaulted gates near the garden, similar to palace gates, and azure gates, similar to the gates of the gardens of Eden, the gatekeeper of which was called Ridvan, and above them were vines of all kinds of colors: red, like corals, black, like the noses of negroes, and white, like pigeon eggs ... And in this garden there were various fruits and birds of all kinds and colors: doves, nightingales, song partridges, doves and doves that coo on the branches, and in its channels there was flowing water, and these streams shone with flowers and delighting fruits ...

And on the trees in this garden there were a pair of each fruit, and there were pomegranates in it, similar to Kairavan balls, as the poet said:

You see: here are grenades with thin skin;
With a girl's breasts, this marvel is similar.
Cleaning them, you will go crazy, you will comprehend,
That there are no more expensive yachts in the world ...

And there were apples in this garden - sugar, musky
And damanian, stunning eyes ...
And there were apricots in this garden, almond and camphor, from Gilan and Ain-Tab ...

And there were plums, cherries and grapes in this garden, healing the patient from ailments and removing bile and dizziness from the head, and the figs on the branches - red and green - confused the mind and eyes ...
And there were pears in this garden - Tyrian, Aleppo and Rumian, of various colors ...
And there were Sultani peaches of various colors in this garden; yellow and red...
And there was in this garden a green almond, very sweet, like the core of a palm tree, and its pit was under three garments...
And there was a hawthorn of various colors in this garden ...
And there were oranges in this garden, like galangal...
And there were lemons in this garden, similar in color to gold, and they descended from the highest place and hung on the branches, like ingots of gold ...
And there were in this garden all sorts of fruits, flowers, and herbs, and fragrant plants - jasmine, privet, pepper, lavender and rose, in their various forms, and mutton grass, and myrtle, and all flowers completely, of all kinds. And it was an incomparable garden, and it seemed to the beholder a corner of the gardens of Eden: when a sick person entered it, he came out like an ardent lion. And unable to describe its language, such are its wonders and curiosities...

The images of the sultan's wives walking among the flowers, able to decorate the most generous fantasy of nature, haunted the painters. The figures illustrating secret life seraglios, birds flutter around the languid beauties and wonderful butterflies circle, miniature gazelles timidly caress and tame monkeys jump. Slaves offer sweets and drinks to mistresses, and musicians delight the ear with songs.

HAREM HIERARCHY

A gathering of women of different status and beauty in a closed space, even if it is a luxurious harem, has always threatened with stormy and unpredictable events. Peace and tranquility in the seraglio was preserved for the time being, and even the great ruler himself could not guarantee it. Centuries of experience proved the need for a special hierarchy, which at least partially maintained discipline in the ladies' assembly, seething with passions. This harem code, reminiscent of a "table of ranks", strictly regulated the relationships, privileges, rights and obligations of harem personnel, depending on what step of the "service ladder" this or that inhabitant of the seraglio was.

Osman Bey - one of the Turkish officials in his book full of sarcasm "Turks and their women, the Sultan and his harem" wrote:

"The Eastern sages recognized this truth, which is proved by the fact that, filling their harems with hundreds of women, they found it necessary to establish a strict disciplinary system as the basis of harem life, thanks to which husbands with three or four wives can manage their harem and maintain order in it. , obedience. The same thing that the owners of bourgeois harems did, the sultans had to do, only on a much larger scale. In fact, in order to support and keep thousands of women in obedience, they had to create an entire constitution with their own hierarchical degrees, their own laws and regulations. The establishment of a hierarchy was absolutely necessary, because otherwise it would be impossible to determine the place of each member of the harem, as well as the duties that lie with each of them. This harem constitution has no founder, author, whose name would be known to posterity: it is - matter of necessity and time.

The hierarchy of the imperial harem represents the same correct plan as any other hierarchy, which has its intermediate levels and its subalterns, the relations of which are established on the basis of the rights of seniority, the rights to production, to awards, etc. The favor of the Sultan is, of course, great cornerstone the entire hierarchical building. Otherwise, however, it cannot be.

Sultan's Harem:

Valide Sultan (Sultan's mother).

Khaznedar-usta (great treasurer).

Bah-kadina (the first wife of the Sultan), the second, third and fourth kadins.

Bakh-irbal (the first favorite of His Majesty), the second, third and other irbal.

Gezde (girls seen by the Sultan, teasing or sighing).

Effendi Kadins (mothers of princes or princesses).

Sultans (unmarried princesses of the blood).

Each of the named ladies has her own special court (daire) and a retinue of women.
And now let's imagine the arrangement of our own court of the Valide Sultan, which served as a model for everyone else.

Valide Sultan

Her treasurer, secretary, keeper of the seal, first keeper of the wardrobe, first pourer of water, first bearer of coffee, first preparer of sherbet, etc., in a word, a dozen ladies called kalfa (lady). Each kalfa has at its disposal a certain number of pupils, who are called alaibr, which means slaves. All alaibra are very young - from fifteen to twenty - and constitute the lowest rung of the harem hierarchy.

Let us now turn to a more detailed description of the main steps of the harem "table of ranks".

Valide Sultan (Mother Sultana)

The mother of the ruling sultan was the pinnacle of the harem hierarchy. Her power was indisputable and undivided, like that of the empress. The "First Lady", who managed to make her son, as a rule, one of many, the heir to the throne, involuntarily inspired respect for her surroundings, and others - fear and awe. And who better than her knew the harem life with all its obvious and secret sides.

It would seem that one of the legitimate four wives of the Sultan could be the ruler of the harem, but this entailed the most dangerous intrigues, which would inevitably involve the competing clans of each of the wives. It was easier and safer to keep the wives in an equal position, leaving power to the venerable matron. And for the wives to leave the rivalry for the attention of the Sultan and the hope of making their son the next Sultan.

Valide Sultan was not only the ruler of the harem, but also a trendsetter. Ladies who dared to dress more luxuriously or wear more expensive jewelry risked serious trouble not only for themselves, but also for their spouse. Valide Sultan was called “Oh, the crown of those covered with a veil!” or "Our lady". Without her knowledge, not a single significant event took place in the harem, including departures from the seraglio or visits to relatives. Without her approval, no one could be "enlisted" in the harem, whether it be a black slave-cook or a white-skinned odalisque, who was given a captious examination.

Formally, an important dignitary was assigned to the valide-sultan, who was called valide-kiyassi, who was appointed by imperial decree. He performed administrative functions. And although he was supposed to be the "eye of the Sultan" in the harem, for the most part he was busy with the material support of the "House of Happiness", following the wishes of the valid Sultan.

Khaznedar mouth

The support of the mother-sultana in the harem itself was haznedar-usta - the chief housekeeper, who also acted as treasurer and quartermaster. This lady, usually middle-aged and very experienced, had hundreds of personal servants, assistants, slaves and eunuchs. Khaznedar ran the household, kept order and submitted regular reports to the lady.

One of her main prerogatives was the erection of the chosen ones made happy by the attention of the Sultan on the bed of the sovereign. She led this delicate ceremony with deep knowledge of the matter, after which she met and escorted the Sultan himself to the object of passion.

If necessary, she represented the valid sultan outside the harem. And she was given no less respect than the sultana-mother, on whom Khaznedar had a significant influence.

If it happened that the mother-sultana left this world, her duties and powers passed to the khaznedar-usta. However, she did not always honestly fulfill her duties. When the mother of Sultan AbdulMajid died, chaos began in the harem, which Khaznedar did not fail to take advantage of in her own interests. With her close associates, she stole the property and treasury of the harem, thus taking possession of a multi-million dollar fortune. But her power was so great that the ministers, including the Minister of Finance, who were aware of her tricks, only humbly bowed their heads before her.

Sultan's wives (Kadins-efendi)

As a Muslim, the sultan had the right to have up to four wives, that is, official wives with whom marriage contracts were concluded, weddings were played with all the appropriate ceremonies. However, this rule has changed over time. Marriage contracts were no longer concluded with everyone or were not concluded at all. The very institution of concubines was a blasphemous violation of Muslim law, because only women who were captured by Muslims during jihad - the war for faith - could be recognized as concubines. But those were few. The overwhelming number of concubines entered the harems in completely different ways, which will be discussed later.

In the end, the sultans began, without unnecessary formalities, to marry only slave girls. The wives were recognized as those of the slave concubines who gave birth to the Sultan of children who were considered legitimate heirs. Nevertheless, only four spouses were still considered the main or beloved (haseki). The first wife was called bah-kadina. Each of the main wives had daire - their own apartments with the corresponding staff of slaves, eunuchs, etc. Usually the sultan's wives lived on the upper floors, and the servants on the lower ones.

If the place of one of the wives became vacant for any reason, it was occupied by a woman who managed to attract the special attention of the Sultan. And it is not difficult to imagine what a fierce, although hidden from prying eyes, struggle was waged for the right to occupy this coveted niche.

Kadins

The main contenders for the title of one of the four legitimate wives of the ruler were simply Kadins. These ladies were also in a very privileged position, as they were either pregnant or had already managed to give birth to a prince or princess.

Gerard de Nerval, who was given a secret tour of the seraglio when there were no women in it, wrote: “These were the rooms of the kadins. The absolute similarity of these rooms surprised me, but they explained to me that complete equality reigns between the wives of the Sultan ...

As an example, the artist told me that when his highness orders boxes of chocolates for his wives in Père, usually from a French confectioner, they must be exactly the same. An extra wrapper, a special shape of the candy, even extra marshmallows or dragees, would cause unwanted dissension between these lovely creatures; like all Muslims, they have a very developed sense of equality.”

Kadins were considered recognized, albeit unofficial, wives of the Sultan. Before their rise, the kadins were in the rank of ikbal - favorites

Iqbal

A dozen charming odalisques, more successful than others in the harem sciences, constituted a kind of aristocracy of servants and surrounded the Sultan who visited the harem. The main thing was to catch the eye of the Sultan and stop his attention on himself. Some slaves were looking for such an opportunity, others the opportunity found itself. This could happen in the most ordinary circumstances - when he slept, ate, dressed. It happened that the Sultan noticed concubines at receptions, holidays or trips. Unlike all other men, the Sultan could see the female staff of any harem with open faces. This privilege of His Majesty was accepted resignedly, although it went beyond the framework of a single
for all Muslims of the law.

The Qur'an says on this occasion: “And say to (women) believers: let them lower their eyes and guard their members, and let them not show their adornments, except for what is visible from them, let them throw their veils over the cuts on their chests, let them not show their adornments, except to their husbands, or their eyes, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or the sons of their brothers, or their women, or whatever their right hands have taken possession of, or servants of men who have no desire, or children who have not comprehended the nakedness of women; and let them not beat with their feet, so that they know what ornaments they hide. Turn all to Allah, O believers, so that you may be happy!" (24:31)

“Suppose the Sultan decided to visit his mother or one of his legal wives,” writes Osman Bey. - In the chambers that the Sultan wanted to visit, a terrible turmoil began. Everyone is making noise, shouting, dressing up and decorating the apartments. When his majesty sits down on a sofa intended only for him, treats are offered to him with special ceremonies. The slave girls who serve at the reception now had the opportunity to approach the Sultan and present their natural and artificial charms to his gaze. The Sultan himself was not averse to looking at these charming girls who circled around him, serving coffee, filling his pipe with tobacco and trying in every possible way to please the ruler. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that one of these charms will be able to attract the special attention of the ruler. The sultan, captivated by the beautiful slave girl, did not hesitate to demonstrate a flared passion - with a gesture, too intent gaze, a slight smile.

What is her name? the Sultan asked.

This was enough for the slave to be elevated to the rank of gezde - caught the eye. The mother or wife of the sultan gave the slave a special sign, she approached and kissed the edge of the sofa on which the ruler was sitting. After that, he was introduced to a slave, who from that moment became a gozde.

The next day, the gozde left the daire of her former mistress and was placed in another apartment, where she was brought into the necessary form, dressed up and given the necessary instructions before the sultan wished to get to know all her virtues better.

George Doris described a similar situation:

“It may turn out that the choice of the padishah will fall on one of the slaves belonging to his relatives-sultanas or his daughters-princesses who live outside of Yildiz and only occasionally visit him. So, one evening, when His Majesty was giving dances and ballet in his harem, he noticed among the dancers a young slave named Meste-Alem, his servant youngest daughter- Princess Zekkie. The next morning, two of the Sultan's eunuchs arrived at the princess's palace and announced to her that they had come for the young Meste-Alem, who had received a special honor - the royal wish.

Great was the excitement of the young Circassian woman, who did not even dream of such an elevation! Her mistress hastened to arrange for her to take the traditional bath and, surrounded by her slaves, was herself present at her toilet. In the scent of perfume, in a rich outfit, the new chosen one, who still thought that she was dreaming, got into a luxurious carriage and, accompanied by riding eunuchs, arrived at Yildiz, where the Valide Sultan immediately called her and gave her the usual instructions.

However, despite the haste with which she was brought to the palace, only on the fourth day was Meste-Alem presented to the master. And either his whim passed, or the girl seemed to him not so beautiful, or he did not recognize her in her new outfit, but His Majesty, raising an eyebrow at the sight of her, said sharply: "This is not the one. Send her back." Trembling, disgraced, deeply wounded in her nascent pride, soaring so high to fall so low and so suddenly, the poor thing was escorted back to Princess Zekkia - this time without any badges of honor, accompanied by an ugly and old black eunuch .

However, she, inconsolable in her grief from the ordeal she had experienced, did not have to suffer for a long time: she became sad, languid and pale, began to cough and soon died.

The transformation of a gozde into a favorite or simply a concubine (mistress) was accomplished in a known way. And if the sultan was satisfied with his choice, the gozde received the title of ikbal, and with it - a monthly allowance, servants and eunuchs. Of Sultan Abdul-Hamid's relationship with his harem, George Doris wrote:

“Sometimes he deigns to talk with his favorites, in whose eyes it is not difficult for him to look like a person of a brilliant mind: they are all absolutely ignorant, and the superficial education that they received does not prevent them from remaining childishly naive. He initiates them - in the most general terms - into the affairs of world politics, tells them different stories, sensational anecdotes from foreign palace life (for which he himself is a big hunter) - and these are the only lessons of history that are taught to them.
... Harem - that's their whole world. They were brought here as children; here they are cherished like a precious herd; here they live and die without knowing anything about the world around them, without even realizing what life is. The favorites were also “first”, “second”, or even tenth or hundredth ... But, unlike the main wives, the primacy of the favorites was very relative. Nothing prevented the Sultan from “making happy” with his royal disposition a new slave, in order to immediately forget about her predecessor.

Melek Khanum wrote:

“I was accompanied by odalisques, whose necks were tied with white scarves with verses embroidered on them, and this meant a very favorable attitude of the master towards them.”

This kaleidoscope sparkling with passions, apparently, entertained the all-powerful Sultan, but brought a lot of trouble to the rulers of the harem. It was not easy to determine who is the real favorite today, and who is the beloved wife, given the unpredictability of the love fantasies of the padishah.

The ambiguity of the situation did not give rest to the favorites themselves. They only dreamed of getting pregnant and producing a prince or princess. In addition to the very joy of motherhood, this raised the favorites to a new level in the harem hierarchy, turning them into kadin. But along the way, almost insurmountable difficulties awaited them.

Kalfa

These old highly experienced slaves, including former concubines, knew a lot and were able to do a lot. Each kalfa was in charge of a separate “department” - servants, cooks, wardrobe, bath attendants, doctors, singers, musicians, etc. There were also kalfas - seal keepers, ceremonial masters, protocol managers, secretaries-clerks, tasters, etc.

Kalfas themselves bought young slaves, based on the needs of their “department”, dressed, fed and, most importantly, taught the newly minted maids the intricacies of the craft.

Sympathizing with the fate of the unfortunate slaves that they themselves once were, the Calphs took good maternal care over them. Anticipating how difficult it would be for them to achieve something in the harem, the kalphs did not miss the opportunity to marry off a slave if a suitable party appeared. And they even gave them a dowry, like their own daughter.

Harem professions required special skills and great responsibility. For example, Kalfa, who served as the first coffee pourer, taught her wards how to brew this very coffee, how to serve it, how to recognize good and bad coffee beans so as not to incur the wrath of their owners. Particular attention was paid to serving. Luxurious dishes in which coffee was served, as a rule, were decorated with enamel and precious stones.

Kalfas were the keepers of the traditions of the harem, its peculiar culture and customs. They themselves were already part of the harem and did not think of another fate. If one of the sultan's wives died, then her kalfa was considered the heiress, who, perhaps, once herself bought a girl in the market, and then helped her ascend to the top of the harem pyramid. When a kalfa died, all her property and even the accumulated money became the property of the sultan. Perhaps that is why the sultans were so generous with their wives that in the end everything spent was returned to them.

male servant

No matter how strict the harem rules were, no matter how chaste the inhabitants of the seraglio were, no matter how suspicious the eunuchs were, it was impossible to do without men in such a large household. Someone had to build, repair, decorate, deliver firewood and food, cultivate gardens, take care of horses, rule carriages and boats.

All these works were performed by specially selected men, who, it was believed, were not capable of arousing even a shadow of reprehensible interest in the ladies' staff. Moreover, measures were taken so that the men themselves, who were allowed outside the walls of the harem as a last resort, would not be able to see those whom they were supposed to serve. For example, those who delivered firewood (battaji) were ordered by special imperial decree to wear ridiculous uniforms. Her huge collar and other awkward additions, as Osman Bey wrote, did not allow the servants to see anything around. Thus, they resembled a procession of blind lepers with bundles of firewood on their backs, who followed a sighted eunuch guide. Other eunuchs ordered the women to hide, making sure that the battaji did not violate the legal conspiracy. Nevertheless, the efforts of the eunuchs did not always bring the desired result, and the battajs managed from time to time to make amorous connections in the harem. For some of them, the harem recluses made such patronage for the special services rendered to them that the battaji received important bureaucratic posts.

Battaji who retired were entitled to a pension and could take advantageous positions.

Kaziev Sh. Daily life of an oriental harem(excerpt)
You can download the entire book

HAREM DEVICE

At first, harems existed separately from the palaces of the rulers. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II rebuilt it to his own taste. One of the main attractions of modern Istanbul is the giant palace (seral) Topkapi. Over time, the Sultan's harem, which flourished under Suleiman the Magnificent, also migrated here. Perhaps this happened not without the influence of the famous Roksolana, which will be discussed later. In any case, this resettlement gave the inhabitants of the harem a new status and great opportunities to influence the Sultan and affairs in the state.

The best part of the palace was reserved for the harem. In other parts, they received guests, arranged diplomatic receptions, parades and other ceremonies.

A contemporary left us the relevant explanations:

The harem consisted of several thousand premises for various purposes, of which only about three hundred have survived, which are now shown to tourists.

The harem complex was constantly expanded and rebuilt, especially after fires and earthquakes, and also acquired "branches" - villas on the Bosphorus and in other picturesque places.

The heavily guarded palace of the Sultan also included several mosques.

Théophile Gautier also described the layout of the harem premises:

“The rooms are arranged in an enfilade or open onto a wide corridor ... The apartments of each of the wives have a single door that opens into a spacious passage, like the doors of cells to the gallery of the monastery. At both ends of the corridor, eunuchs or bostanjis stand guard.

Harems were supplied with products grown on specially protected lands, in forbidden gardens. Fish were bred in special reservoirs. Whole divisions of slaves were engaged in this.

Boris Riftin's commentary on the historical novel Plum Flowers in a Golden Vase, or Jin, Ping, Mei describes the harem of a wealthy Chinese:

“A manor, similar to the one owned by Simyn Qing in the county town of Qinghe, always had one central building, blocking the entire rectangle enclosed by walls, as if across. It was built in such a way as to be turned to the south, in the direction of good trends. In our case, these are the chambers of the elder wife of Simyn Qing - Wu Yue-nyan. On the sides of the courtyard in front of this building are the eastern wing - the chambers of the second wife of the owner, Li Chiao-er, and the western one, where the third wife lives - Myn Yu-lou (the east, where the sun rises, according to ancient Chinese ideas, is more honorable than the west, where it comes in). So in the arrangement of the chambers of the wives of Simyn Qing, the traditional hierarchy of family relations is expressed. The living compartments of the estate are separated by a complex system of walls with various side passages and peculiar “entrance halls”, which in such houses, and at Simyn Qing, too, usually served as a kind of living room. It was such a “passage” hall that closed the courtyard in the estate of Simyn Qing from the south, in which the first three wives of the hero lived. Behind the chambers of the eldest of them, Yue-niang, there was another small courtyard, which overlooked the kitchen and the chambers of the fourth wife of the owner, Song Xue-e, who was in charge of preparing all the delicious dishes that were served in Simyn Qing's house. In front of the “entrance” hall in large residences (and this was the estate of Simyn Qing) there was another courtyard with outbuildings, again from the east and from the west. In the eastern wing, his daughter lived here with her husband. ... Near the outer wall, facing directly to the street, there were two two-story buildings in Simyn Qing's house, in which the two most junior wives of Simyn Qing lived: the fifth lady - Pan Jin-lian and the sixth - Li Ping-er. They lived at the greatest distance from the chambers of the eldest wife of the owner.

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