THE SULTAN'S HAREM.
Although there are more than 2,000 women in the palace, but five of
these hold the rank of kaduns, or wives.
Mussulmans, in general, are allowed to have four wives, but sultans
can have seven.
Their superiority to ordinary men is thus attested, and the chance
made surer of an heir to the throne.
It will, therefore, be perceived that polygamy, in the case of a
sultan, is a matter of policy, and not choice; for even should he
content himself with one wife, the State would interfere.
The design of limiting his majesty's wives to seven, is to spare the
State the enormous expense attendant upon the maintenance of so many
ladies of royal rank.
The present sultan, however, in asserting his prerogative, has
limited the number to five, which, while it shows his power to
exceed the restrictions upon other Mussulmans, at the same time,
displays an inclination not to burden the State too heavily with his
private expenses.
It is true he has had children by several others, whom custom requires
to be elevated to the rank of kaduns, but he has retained them under
the title of ikbals, or favorites, for the sake of sparing the State
the additional expense which the dignity of kaduns would require.
The sultan being above all law, cannot submit to any matrimonial
bondage; he is not, therefore, legally married to any of his wives, but
those who are selected by him to share his affections, are pronounced
by him Kaduns, or ladies, and not sultanas; for none but those of the
royal blood can enjoy that title, except the mother of the reigning
sultan, who on her son's accession to the throne, takes, by courtesy,
this title, and is called Validé Sultan.
The title Sultan is equally applied to males and females, with this
difference only, that it precedes the name of the male, and follows
that of the female: thus, they say Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid, but for his
sister, Adilé Sultan.
When it is used by itself, it always implies the female branch of
the royal family, and never his majesty, who is known by the title
of Padishah, or Hünkear, or, in common parlance, Efendimiz--our Lord.
His majesty never forming an alliance with any of his subjects,
all his kaduns are originally Georgian or Circassian slaves, who
are selected for this distinguished honor and presented to him by
his mother or sisters, on Kadir Gedjessy, or the night in which the
Koran descended from Heaven.
They have each their separate establishments and retinue in the palace,
and live as much apart as if in different dwellings, seldom seeing
each other, except on occasions of state ceremony and etiquette.
The princes of the royal blood also reside in the same palace, who,
if of age, have their own odaluks, attendants, etc.
It may be supposed, that in such a royal establishment, the rising
generation is well represented; but on the contrary, few of them are
allowed to prolong their lives, while many more never see the light.
This premature destruction of life, though strictly prohibited in the
Koran, is very prevalent in Turkey. In some cases from State-Policy,
lest the heirs to the crown should become too numerous, and in
others, from a false desire in the ladies to preserve their beauty
and freshness from the toils and trial of maternity.
But very often the better feelings of their natures are sorely tried,
and two of the sisters of the present sultan pined away in sorrow,
and at last died, because their infant sons were sacrificed upon the
altar of state-policy!
Abd-ul-Medjid himself, in his younger days, was not exempt from
trials of this sort. For just before coming to the throne, he had a
favorite odaluk, to whom he was much attached. But as the princes are
not permitted to become fathers, she fell a victim in the attempt to
frustrate the probable birth of an heir, when a single week's delay
would have elevated her to the rank of first kadun to the reigning
monarch; for sultan Mahmoud died a few days after she was sacrificed.
Whenever a child is born to the sultan, or any other Oriental father,
the tidings are immediately communicated to him and the family
relatives, and the messenger handsomely rewarded. Among the Mussulmans
the father himself pronounces the future name of his offspring at
the moment of its birth.
A certain man, having scarce passed the honeymoon, for he had only been
married three months, one day, while he was in the bath, was suddenly
apprised of the birth of a son and heir. As soon as he recovered from
his surprise at such an unexpected event, he ordered him to be named
Tchapgun or racer, because, said he, he has accomplished in three
months, the customary labor of nine.
They have a singular notion that the reason a child cries as soon as
it is born is, because his satanic majesty being of course present,
cruelly pinches the tender offshoot of humanity; the only exception
on record, being the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, who were protected
from the touch of the devil by a veil, so placed by Allah himself;
thus, doubtless, accounting for the Immaculacy of the Holy Virgin.
The children, at their birth, are rubbed down with salt, and nicely
bandaged. They are placed in a cradle and secured there. The hands
and feet are bound in, so that the child cannot move. The poor little
victim becomes black and blue under this treatment, and is occasionally
relieved from its fetters to be re-enveloped in swaddling clothes;
and when the toilet is completed, it very much resembles a little
Egyptian mummy.
The child is nursed while lying down, the mother bending over it,
and tilting the cradle, until she attains the requisite position.
Owing to the bandages in which the infants are constantly enveloped,
the circulation of the blood is impeded, and they are obliged to be
relieved by occasional scarifications, and the writer still wears
the honorable scars of this traditional practice.
When the sultan wends his steps from the Mabeyn to the Harem, the
black gentlemen on guard at the door of the ladies' apartments, proceed
immediately to announce his majesty's approach to the Haznadar-Ousta,
or the lady treasuress.
This personage, is a very important character in the royal household;
being the keeper of all the jewels and other treasures, and the
mistress of ceremonies; she is, in a word--
"That dame who keeps up discipline among
The general ranks, so that none stir or talk
Without her sanction on their she-parades:
Her title is, the mother of the maids."
There is always one of these Haznadars attached to the harems of
the wealthy; and the individual who fills this office, has been the
nurse of the head of the family in infancy; so that this "mother of
the maids" feels almost a maternal interest in his majesty's happiness.
The Haznadar-Ousta immediately proceeds to the salon, where she awaits
the entrance of the sultan, who, after receiving her salutations, in
the course of conversation, inquires after the health of one of the
Kaduns, which is taken as an indication that her company is desired
by his majesty.
This Kadun now enters the royal presence alone, or perhaps with
one of her children, while her train of attendants remain within
call. Like all other Orientals, the Padishah delights in the company
of his children, and they are often seen in public with him, or in
the royal Mabeyn. His first-born was a daughter, and lately married
to Aali-Ghalib Pasha, the son of Reshid.
The children of the sultan precede their mother in rank, for they
are of royal blood, while she is but a slave.
Hence the mother always takes a secondary position in cayiks,
carriages, or in the saloon of reception. This apparent superiority
never elates the children, nor in any way lessens the respect which
they feel for their mothers. For whilst they are flattered and
worshipped as Shah-zadés and Sultans, or Princes and Princesses, the
general deference paid to their mothers is undiminished. They have
a proverb which is very expressive of their feelings on this subject,
"Dagh kadar babam olajaghina,
Yüksük kadar anam ola."
"Rather than a father the size of a mountain,
Give me a mother, small as a thimble."
The late Validé-Sultan, or mother of the sultan, was one of the most
powerful individuals in the realm, and her patronage most assiduously
courted.
His majesty and his harem are frequently entertained with the graceful
movements and merry castanets of the dancing girls. The Osmanlis
are very fond of dancing, but consider it inconsistent with their
own dignity; they always have beautiful young slaves trained in this
accomplishment, and also made proficient in the music of the country.
Turkish music is very unlike that of European countries, where there is
a general similarity. Although the Orientals have very good ears for
music, and treat the subject scientifically, yet it is strange that
they do not understand the harmony of sounds--for all their concerts,
both vocal and instrumental, consist of solos, that is, they all sing
and play only the air or tenor, and never the bass and contralto, etc.
The natural tones of their voices are very sweet; and of late years
the military music having been arranged in European style, they have
made great proficiency in this art.
The opera house in Pera is also very attractive to the Turkish
gentlemen, and much frequented by them. The sultan has his loge,
or box there, and sometimes honors the house by his royal presence.
Recently the piano has also become very fashionable among them, and
it is to be heard incessantly jingling in all the harems. The sultan
being himself an amateur, frequently plays on that instrument, and has
also an Italian Opera attached to his palace for the entertainment
of his ladies, where many of the female slaves are trained to sing
and act à la Italienne, in the costumes of both sexes.
The ladies of the palace are also amused with other exhibitions,
which they witness through latticed partitions.
From the preceding sketch, it will be readily understood, that all the
ladies in the royal palace, are in reality slaves from the regions
of Circassia, but they are always well treated, and even addressed
by the title of Hanums, or ladies; and we may say their greatest
hardship is being lightly clothed all seasons of the year; their feet
without stockings, and their dresses made of the lightest fabrics,
from which fact many of them fall easy victims to consumption.
These ladies are not allowed to go abroad as freely as Turkish hanums
in general, on account of the restrictions of court etiquette; this
confinement is also very injurious to their health, and their ennui
is often insupportable. Sometimes, after a due warning to all the
gardeners and other gentlemen to quit the premises, they are allowed
to stroll in the palace gardens, and occasionally the Validé Sultan
takes pity on some of them, and permits them to enjoy a promenade
in her own train, when the exuberance of their spirits often tempts
them to the most childish acts of coquetry. Indeed, so great is their
longing to encounter the lords of creation, that a feigned sickness
affords an occasion of seeing a doctor, and their favorite remedy
for all ailments is bleeding, or the bleeder!
These beautiful girls having no other ambition than to be as
fascinating as possible, and such aspirations sometimes seem to be felt
in more enlightened bosoms, they do not like to waste their sweetness
on the desert air; as they are consequently a little mischievous,
the practice of locking up each one in her own apartments has been
deemed advisable. When the muezzin proclaims the hour of evening
prayer, the disconsolate ladies are severally consigned to a state
of security by the sable turnkeys of the palace.
This is not, however, so dismal a fate, when we remember that a short
time ago, all the inhabitants of Stamboul were obliged to be within
their own domiciles, about two hours after sunset; and awhile since,
there was the curfew bell even in good old England.