For some reason, we often associate harems with sultans or sheikhs. In fact, anyone who had enough money for it could acquire a harem. In pre-Islamic times, a man could have as many wives as he wanted, but the Prophet Muhammad limited the number to four. At the same time, the number of concubines was not specified, which was successfully used by lovers of female caresses. The most common harems were in Turkey, Egypt, India, Persia and various countries and tribes in Africa.

The Sultan's harem differed from the rest not only in the number of eunuchs. For many young girls, getting into the Sultan's harem was a great success and often the best turn of fate.

The girl, as a rule, was bought at a very young age, so that she had time to gain good skills in the art of seducing men.

Those who had good external characteristics received some kind of education. They were taught to play musical instruments, sing, dance and cook. Foreign women were taught Turkish. The Sultan's concubines were provided with excellent opportunities for recreation and entertainment - both in the harem itself and in the gardens surrounding it, where they played various games, including very active and noisy ones. At such moments, they gave vent to their unspent physical energy and became like children. And the harem itself, in a sense, can be compared to a school for girls, with the only difference being that in this institution they were prepared to, from time to time, surrender to their master and please him with the most sophisticated caresses possible.

Those who were guilty were subjected to physical punishment. Usually they were flogged with rods, and not hit on the heels with sticks, since this traditional Turkish punishment could cause irreparable harm to the health of the concubine, that is, make her crippled.

The inhabitants of the harems appreciated the position in which they were. They ate delicious food and drank fine drinks whenever they wanted. They had no fixed daily routine. They slept as much as they wanted, played, engaged in intrigues directed against the one who was currently the owner’s favorite, or, conversely, intrigued in her favor in the endless struggle for a higher place in the complex hierarchy of this specific institution.

If the Sultan needed concubines for any purpose (for example, he wanted to listen to the Turkish flute and singing or watch dancing), he notified the mentor on duty. She lined up the inhabitants of the harem in a line, and the monarch examined them. If he looked particularly intently at one of them, it meant that she would later have to spend the night with him. Sometimes in such cases the Sultan further specified his choice by throwing a handkerchief towards the odalisque he liked.

The one who was fortunate, and the Sultan’s attention could mean many privileges later, was prepared for a meeting with the monarch with all care. The procedures lasted, as a rule, for hours and with all their hassle, running around and bustle, they were reminiscent of the pre-wedding preparations of European brides.

Finally, several elderly black slaves led the concubine to the Sultan’s personal sleeping quarters, which were located there, in the harem. A pair of such slaves had to be in the bedroom all night, and every two or three hours one was replaced by another. Their main duty was to look after the two torches, which burned until dawn. One of these torches was near the door, and the other was at the foot of the bed.

In the morning, the Sultan was the first to get up and put on clean clothes, not the ones he came in in the evening. These clothes, along with all the money that was in the pockets and often amounted to a considerable amount, were given as a gift to the sleeping concubine.

As for the women who bore children to the Sultan, he usually no longer slept with them, but sent them to other imperial harems, from where it was not difficult for them to escape if they found a worthy couple and got married with the consent of the ruler.
One woman constantly held the reins of the entire establishment in her hands. This is the mother of the monarch, who bore the title Valide Sultan.

The name "harem" comes from the Arabic word "haram" - "forbidden". This is a women's room, the "female half", whose life has always been subject to strict rules. The head of the Sultan's harem, the mother of the padishah, "valide sultan", selected women for her son. The future depended on beauty and talent. The smartest became the wives of the Sultan and his vassals. The rest lived in the harem until old age, sometimes reaching important positions.

At any moment, the Sultan could become infatuated with a new beautiful concubine and make her his legal wife, and then he ordered the execution of the old wives. A tired wife or concubine was put alive in a leather bag, a wild cat or a poisonous snake was thrown into it, the bag was tied, and along a special stone chute they lowered it with a tied stone into the waters of the Bosphorus. Those who were guilty were considered lucky if they knew in advance that they would simply be quickly strangled with a silk cord.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

I read a review about this harem like "a place saturated with women's grief". The oppressive atmosphere of the past still makes itself felt in the present and is literally in the air...

We didn't feel any of this there. We walked through these rooms, corridors and halls, marveling at the impressionability of others and our own impressionability, but not from what we saw, but from other people’s impressions.

Upon my return, I had to run my eyes over everything that would be interesting to know about such places.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

“One woman loves,” Gyulchatay wondered from that same film, “one sews clothes, one cooks food, one feeds the children... and all alone?”

The largest harem, as usual, was, of course, the Sultan's. And of all the sultans, the largest harem was the sultan named Selim. According to various sources, there were from 365 to 500 women in his harem.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

The most famous harem concubine in history is Roksolana. When Suleiman married Roksolane this caused a wave of indignation in society. Traditionalists of that time did not understand how the Sultan dared to pay attention to only one. For that time it was absolutely unnatural.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

Because the Roksolana came to the harem through the slave market and as a result was presented to the Sultan, the opinion that people did not enter the harem of their own free will is very widespread. In fact, many (and after the abolition of slavery, almost everyone) the Sultan's wives came to the harem "almost voluntarily"- most of the girls were sold by their parents to a special school at the harem, where they were trained.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

Fathers sold their 5-7 year old daughters and signed a document agreeing to never see their own child again. The girls received a new name and began a long training in various feminine wisdom.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

There was a strict hierarchy in the harem. And the main thing here was not the Sultan, but his mother. She was rightfully considered the most powerful inhabitant of the harem, followed by the Sultan’s unmarried sisters, his daughters, and only then his wives. You could become the Sultan's master's favorite by giving birth to a son. Considering the number of competitors for this position, this was not the easiest way to win his favor.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

However, more boys than girls were born in harems.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

If for nine years the Sultan never had a chance to be alone with his concubine, then she received the status of a free person. She had the right to leave the harem, sometimes a husband was chosen for her and even provided with a dowry.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

The inhabitants of the harem changed quite often. After 35 years, women usually retired. And they even received some payments when they were no longer at court.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

A harem could be called a kind of female dorm, but... There were also rooms for eunuchs. And an absolutely reliable fact is interesting that the life expectancy of eunuchs was approximately 15-17 years longer than the life expectancy of men in similar conditions of existence.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

At the palace there were huge kitchens, where a couple of thousand people worked around the clock to feed all the inhabitants of the palace. According to some reports, together with regular or visiting guests Sultana, the inhabitants of the palace were slightly less than 12 thousand people.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

The Sultan ruled the country, and the Sultan was ruled by his women. So, for example, through the gifts of the Sultan’s mother, he was influenced.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

There are many legends associated with harems. For example, how a man recognized his beloved among all three hundred inhabitants of the Sultan’s harem. In Russian folk tales, by the way, there is a similar plot, only, of course, without mentioning the harem.

// pollydelly.livejournal.com

Or about how the Sultan could give as much gold as she weighs for a girl he especially liked. Here it immediately becomes clear where all these stories about the prohibitive wealth of the Sultan and the bottomlessness of his treasuries come from.

A harem is an image of a separate world, a closed environment of luxury and sexual excitement with a flavor of cruelty and danger. The Venetian Ottaviano Bon, a traveler of the Renaissance, describes the harem this way: “In their home, women live like nuns in a monastery.” And a little lower: “Girls break all previous ties once and for all as soon as they enter the seraglio. They get new names...

The eastern harem is the secret dream of men and the personified curse of women, the focus of sensual pleasures and the exquisite boredom of the beautiful concubines languishing in it. All this is nothing more than a myth created by the talent of novelists. A real harem is more pragmatic and sophisticated, like everything that was an integral part of the life and way of life of the Arab people.

A traditional harem (from the Arabic “haram” - forbidden) is primarily the female half of a Muslim home. Only the head of the family and his sons had access to the harem. For everyone else, this part of the Arab home is strictly taboo. This taboo was observed so strictly and zealously that the Turkish chronicler Dursun Bey wrote: “If the sun were a man, even he would be forbidden to look into the harem.” The harem is a kingdom of luxury and lost hopes...

Haram - forbidden territory
During early Islam, the traditional inhabitants of the harem were the wives and daughters of the head of the family and his sons. Depending on the wealth of the Arab, slaves could live in the harem, whose main task was the harem household and all the hard work associated with it.

The institution of concubines appeared much later, during the Caliphates and their conquests, when the number of beautiful women became an indicator of wealth and power, and the law introduced by the Prophet Muhammad, which did not allow having more than four wives, significantly limited the possibilities of polygamy.

In order to cross the threshold of the seraglio, a slave underwent a kind of initiation ceremony. In addition to testing for innocence, the girl had to convert to Islam.

Entering a harem was in many ways reminiscent of being tonsured as a nun, where instead of selfless service to God, no less selfless service to the master was instilled. Concubine candidates, like God's brides, were forced to sever all ties with the outside world, received new names and learned to live in submission. In later harems, wives were absent as such. The main source of the privileged position was the attention of the Sultan and childbearing. By paying attention to one of the concubines, the owner of the harem elevated her to the rank of temporary wife. This situation was most often precarious and could change at any moment depending on the master’s mood. The most reliable way to gain a foothold in the status of a wife was the birth of a boy. A concubine who gave her master a son acquired the status of mistress.

From slaves to sultanas

The largest harem in the history of the Muslim world was the Istanbul harem of Dar-ul-Seadet, in which all the women were foreign slaves; free Turkish women did not go there. The concubines in this harem were called “odalisque”, a little later the Europeans added the letter “s” to the word and it turned out to be “odalisque”.

The Sultan chose up to seven wives from among the odalisques. Those who were lucky enough to become a “wife” received the title “kadyn” - madam. The main “kadyn” became the one who managed to give birth to her first child. But even the most prolific “Kadyn” could not count on the honorary title of “Sultana”. Only the mother, sisters and daughters of the Sultan could be called sultanas. Just below the “kadyn” on the hierarchical ladder of the harem stood the favorites – “ikbal”. These women received salaries, their own apartments and personal slaves. The favorites were not only skilled mistresses, but also, as a rule, subtle and intelligent politicians. In Turkish society, it was through “ikbal” that for a certain bribe one could go directly to the Sultan himself, bypassing the bureaucratic obstacles of the state. Below “ikbal” were “konkubin”. These young ladies were somewhat less fortunate. Conditions of detention are worse, there are fewer privileges.

It was at the “concubin” stage that there was the toughest competition, in which daggers and poison were often used. Theoretically, the Concubins, like the Iqbals, had a chance to climb the hierarchical ladder by giving birth to a child. But unlike the favorites close to the Sultan, they had very little chance of this wonderful event. Firstly, if there are up to a thousand concubines in the harem, then it is easier to wait for the weather by the sea than for the holy sacrament of mating with the Sultan. Secondly, even if the Sultan descends, it is not at all a fact that the happy concubine will definitely become pregnant. And it’s certainly not a fact that they won’t arrange a miscarriage for her. Old slaves watched over the concubines, and any noticed pregnancy was immediately terminated. In principle, it is quite logical - any woman in labor, one way or another, became a contender for the role of a legitimate “kadyn”, and her baby became a potential contender for the throne. If, despite all the intrigues and machinations, the odalisque managed to maintain the pregnancy and did not allow the child to be killed during an “unsuccessful birth,” she automatically received her personal staff of slaves, eunuchs and an annual salary “basmalik.”

The joy of those not honored However, the lowest layer of the harem also had its own hope for happiness. For example, only they had a chance for at least some kind of personal life. After several years of impeccable service and adoration in their eyes, a husband was found for them, or, having allocated funds for a comfortable life, they were released on all four sides. Moreover, among the odalisques - outsiders of the harem society - there were also aristocrats. A slave could turn into a “gezde” - awarded a glance, if the Sultan somehow - with a look, gesture or word - singled her out from the general crowd. Thousands of women lived their whole lives in the harem, but they didn’t even see the Sultan naked, but they didn’t even wait for the honor of being “honored with a glance.” If the Sultan died, all the concubines were sorted by the gender of the children they had managed to give birth to. The girls’ mothers could easily get married, but the mothers of the “princes” settled in the “Old Palace”, from where they could leave only after the accession of the new Sultan. And at this moment the fun began. The brothers poisoned each other with enviable regularity and persistence. Their mothers also actively added poison to the food of their potential rivals and their sons.

A few words about eunuchs

In addition to the old, trusted slaves, the concubines were watched over by eunuchs. Translated from Greek, “eunuch” means “guardian of the bed.” They ended up in the harem exclusively in the form of guards, so to speak, to maintain order. There were two types of eunuchs. Some were castrated in early childhood and had no secondary sexual characteristics at all - a beard did not grow, a high, boyish voice and a complete lack of perception of a woman as a member of the opposite sex. Others were castrated at a later age. Partial eunuchs (that’s what those castrated not in childhood, but in adolescence were called) looked very much like men, had the most low masculine basque, sparse facial hair, broad muscular shoulders, and, oddly enough, sexual desire. Of course, the eunuchs could not satisfy their needs naturally due to the lack of the necessary equipment for this. But as you understand, when it comes to sex or drinking, the flight of human imagination is simply limitless. And the odalisques, who lived for years with an obsessive dream of waiting for the Sultan’s gaze, were not particularly picky. Well, if there are 300-500 concubines in the harem, at least half of them are younger and more beautiful than you, what's the point of waiting for the prince? And in the absence of fish, even a eunuch is a man.

In addition to the fact that the eunuchs monitored order in the harem and at the same time (in secret from the Sultan, of course) consoled themselves and women yearning for male attention in every possible and impossible way, their duties also included the functions of executioners. They strangled those guilty of disobedience to the concubines with a silk cord or drowned the unfortunate woman in the Bosporus.

12.08.2015

Probably, many men find the idea of ​​becoming the owner of their own harem tempting. Being surrounded by young, beautiful and absolutely submissive women is a man’s pipe dream in the era of the heyday of feminism. As for modern women, they, for the most part, consider the harem to be savagery that has no right to exist. Was the harem so terrible for its inhabitants, and did it seem like a paradise to the Sultan? Today it is difficult to judge this, especially since outsiders were not allowed there for centuries. The curious could only compose and speculate. The 10 most interesting facts about the harem will help you understand a little about how things really stood there.

10. Haram, haraam or hareem?

Researchers are puzzling over the origin of the name of a special part of the palace where exclusively the Sultan’s women lived. The fact is that the vocabulary of modern Arabic has in its arsenal as many as three words consonant with the name “harem”. Thus, the word “haram” means a sacred place or thing. Haraam is something forbidden and unworthy. But “harim” is nothing more than privacy. Having studied in detail the way of life in the harem, most historians are inclined to the latter version. For in the Sultan's palace the harem was securely hidden from prying eyes. All in the name of maintaining the privacy of the Sultan's romantic relationships. And the strict rules that reigned in the harem sometimes made it look more like a boarding house for noble maidens than a nest of vice.

9. Reliable harem security

Apart from the Sultan and his sons, there could be no other men in the harem. The exception was the eunuchs, who performed the heavy work of servicing the everyday life of the concubines, and also provided their protection. Interestingly, Islam strictly prohibits castrating both animals and people. Therefore, all eunuchs in Turkey were foreigners, castrated at a young age against their will, or who did it deliberately in the name of a career in the harem. The greatest trust was enjoyed by eunuchs, who became such in childhood. Most often these were black slaves, whose bodies were effeminate, their voices were high, and their faces were devoid of any hair. They were the ones who were supposed to guard the inner chambers. Men who became eunuchs at a later age were, at first glance, no different from ordinary men. In addition, they did not lose interest in the opposite sex, and, therefore, could pose a threat to the honor of the inhabitants of the harem. Therefore, their lot was to guard exclusively the external approaches to the harem.

8. Ticket to the harem

Oddly enough, not only slaves bought at slave markets could end up in the Sultan’s harem. For some girls, their own parents could purchase a ticket to the harem. In addition to the fact that the family could thus get rid of an extra hungry mouth, the father could also get a good amount of money for his daughter. It didn’t matter which way the girls got into the harem, the requirements for everyone were the same and quite strict. In addition to a pleasant appearance and a good figure, the girl had to have excellent health. She was supposed to be innocent. The average age of the harem inhabitants was 17 years.

7. The art of being a concubine

Despite the serious selection, not every girl could count on the Sultan’s favor. But everyone had to prepare for a long time to meet him. The first thing the girl needed to do was convert to Islam. Then she had a long time to study. After all, to please the Sultan, bright appearance was not enough. At that time, in the Ottoman Empire, a woman could receive the best education in a harem. The inhabitants of the harem were taught to read and write. Special attention was paid to speech literacy, especially since Turkish was a foreign language for the girls. They were also taught to dance and play musical instruments. Well, why not the Eastern analogue of the Institute of Noble Maidens? As for the art of love play, the students’ knowledge, although extensive, was exclusively theoretical. Most often, it took at least 2 years to train new recruits. After which they were examined in order to determine their future fate. Those who had difficulty studying could only count on the role of maids and kitchen assistants. Diligent students had a chance to move up the hierarchical ladder. However, many of them, having never achieved the attention of the ruler, left the Sultan’s harem after 5-7 years. They were married off with a generous dowry. Sometimes the Sultan gave his nobles one of the girls as their first wife. It was a great honor to receive an educated, beautiful and innocent girl with a good dowry as a wife.

6. Career growth in a harem

Most of the girls in the harem had the status of odalisques, which means they played the role of maids for more successful beauties, and did not even dare to hope for the favor of the Sultan. The iqbal – “the happy” ones – were considered much more promising, since they managed to attract the attention of the ruler. After spending the night with the Sultan, the girl immediately received many new outfits, separate chambers and a staff of servants. It was possible to rise to the next level of the harem hierarchy only through motherhood. But few people managed to get pregnant after a single night with the ruler. Even fewer women could hide their situation long enough and, therefore, keep the child. The competition in the harem was incredible, because most pregnancies ended in miscarriages or the death of babies during childbirth. But for those who still managed to give birth to a boy, the Sultan’s harem became practically paradise. These women became haseki kadyn, and, therefore, unofficial wives of the Sultan and very influential persons. But the greatest authority and power in the harem was possessed by the only woman - the Sultan's mother. It was the Valide Sultan who decided who to punish and who to pardon. And her power was not limited to the harem. Often the Sultan's mother was aware of all state affairs and could influence the fate of the country.

5. Before the date

Obviously, a ticket to the harem did not at all guarantee access to the Sultan’s bedroom. But if the choice fell on one of the lucky ones, it took several hours to prepare for the meeting. First of all, the girl spent 3-4 hours in the hammam, where, in addition to washing, she received a massage. Then, the concubine got rid of all hair on her body. Hair removal at that time looked like this: a mixture of egg whites and sugar was applied to the body, a linen napkin was placed on top, which after a while was sharply torn off. Even barely noticeable vellus hairs on the girl’s arms and back were removed. After this, the woman’s body was rubbed with incense, and her hair was arranged in a beautiful hairstyle. And finally, the beauty was dressed in light, spacious clothes, soaked in fragrant smoke, and escorted to the Sultan’s chambers.

4. Bonus from your pocket

The influential sheikh was a hostage to traditions and palace ceremony, even during intimate meetings. And contrary to the prevailing stereotype, the nights in the harem were very restrained. Rumors of orgies with several girls are nothing more than a myth, since group sex was strictly prohibited by religion, as well as many other excesses. However, this does not mean that the lovers were alone in the chambers. There were always two elderly women in the room during meetings. They both watched the torches that lit the room. One sat all night at the entrance to the room, the second was provided with a torch at the head of the bed. The girl had to crawl to the bed, thereby demonstrating complete submission. The next morning the Sultan changed into fresh clothes, leaving his clothes from yesterday in the room. The contents of the pockets, which could be large sums of money and precious stones, the concubine had the right to take for herself. And he also sent a luxurious gift to the girl who particularly impressed the Sultan.

3. Deprived son-in-law

The harem was not the exclusive privilege of the Sultan. His nobles also maintained harems, which, of course, were much more modest. For this purpose, the house was divided into male and female halves. The women's quarters were locked with a key, which was kept by the owner of the house. The food that the women prepared for the rest of the inhabitants of the house was served through small hatches. But there were also men in the Muslim world who were forbidden to have a harem. This ban applied to the Sultan's son-in-law. The husband of the Sultan's daughter, a damat, could have only one wife, giving only her all the care and warmth.

2. The harem is not only for the Sultan

Contrary to popular belief, it was not only Turkish sultans who kept harems. Thus, history remembers the 700 wives and 300 concubines of King Solomon. The affairs of the heart of Prince Vladimir the Great are also stunning in their scope. The chronicles say that during the period of worship of pagan gods, the prince had more than 800 concubines. The number of official wives is also impressive. It is known that he was married to at least five women at the same time. But having adopted Christianity, Prince Vladimir changed his attitude towards marriage. From that moment on, he was married twice. The prince's first wife was the Byzantine princess Anna. Having been widowed, Vladimir married again, but history has not preserved the name of his wife. And today it is too early to call harems a relic of the past. Rumor has it that the pirate Ben Bela, who robs ships off the coast of Malaysia, maintains a harem of 900 women. The Sultan of Brunei is surrounded by the attention of 700 concubines, many of whom entertain him exclusively with songs, dances and intimate conversations. In addition, the sheikh pays attention to his official wife. Today, after divorcing his second and then his third wife, the Sultan is married to only one woman. But since polygamy is not prohibited in this country, the family can be replenished with a new wife at any time.

1. History of harems

The Ottoman Empire existed for 624 years, during which time the country had 36 sultans. This means that history remembers 36 harems. After all, after the death of one sultan, all the inhabitants of his harem were released. Most of them perceived this fact without much enthusiasm. After all, life in a harem was more comfortable and safe than outside its walls. Only women who gave birth to sons to the Sultan did not leave the palace. They were moving to a spacious house on its territory. And the new sultan acquired his own harem. But with the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1924, the Sultan's harem ceased to exist. The new government took care of its abolition.
The ancient walls of the harem remember not only the cruel intrigues and tears of the concubines about a distant home. Sometimes love arose here. And despite everything, she was pure, devoted, selfless and reciprocal.

There are many legends and myths about harems. Is a harem bondage, a luxurious prison or a career opportunity for an Oriental woman? From Arabic, “harem” is a “sacred place”, “forbidden”. According to Muslim traditions, this was the name of the female half of the house, and entry there for men was strictly prohibited. Only the Sultan himself and the eunuchs serving there could get there. The largest harem in history existed for five hundred years among the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Each new sultan of the dynasty replenished the harem with new concubines, so in Istanbul, about a thousand odalisques lived at the same time in the sultan’s palace.

The position of a concubine in the female half depended on how close she was to the Sultan. If the owner did not really favor her, she was forced to play the role of almost a servant, doing menial work, listening to the ridicule of more successful odalisques. If the sultan singled out a concubine from the masses, and she gave birth to an heir, then her level in the hierarchy of the harem rose sharply to the status of his beloved wife. And this already entailed significant material benefits: the Sultan presented her not only with jewelry, but also with palaces.

In addition to the concubines themselves, all the Sultan’s relatives, as well as servants and eunuchs, lived in the female half of the house. With so many people, naturally, there was some intrigue and quarrels. As in any group, different groups emerged that were at odds with each other in an effort to get closer to the ruler.

In the modern world, many women dream of the harem of some rich sheikh. You can agree to enter into a contract for a certain period of time and provide for yourself financially for life. No job will give a woman such income. It is customary for Europeans to have a sympathetic attitude towards the concubines of the harem, considering them unfortunate slaves.

Women of the East approach this differently. They consider it an honor to be chosen for the harem, knowing that their lives, as well as the lives of their children, will be financially secure. Previously, if a concubine was not in demand, she could leave the harem after 10 years. At the same time, she was given severance pay: gold and diamond items, various fabrics and everything she needed to start life in a new place. They also received a lifelong allowance from the Sultan and enjoyed great influence in society.

In the harem, women did not live a boring and monotonous life: there were theaters there, and teachers, musicians and artists were brought to the concubines. In addition, the Sultan’s beloved women were pampered with various spa treatments, carefully monitoring their appearance.

It happened that parents of girls from poor families deliberately gave their daughters to harems for payment. During the transaction, they signed documents stating that they renounced the rights to their daughter. But, if the girl had any defects in appearance or upbringing, the parents did not receive the agreed amount. They were paid less. The harem was like an educational institution. Concubines were taught various sciences, etiquette, eloquence, and the ability to please a man. Although the last skill might never be useful to many of them in their lives. Letters from the wives of the sultans that have survived to this day indicate that these women were very highly educated.

Many of the concubines, having spent years in the harem, may never have met the owner. Although the ruler’s masculine capabilities were glorified by the courtiers (for which they received money from the Sultan), he was still a mere mortal and, with all his desire, physically could not pay attention to all his odalisques. And if suddenly the padishah had no interest in the female sex at all (this also happened), then the fate of the entire harem was forced celibacy.

The structure of the harem resembled an official institution with its bureaucratic hierarchy. The surviving lists of positions of the harem residents amaze the imagination: here is the keeper of the seal, and the head of the wine cellar, and the treasurer, and a host of other positions that were well paid.
Bureaucracy extended to the ruler's bedroom. According to the law, the padishah must devote Friday night to one of his beloved wives, and not to his concubine. If the padishah neglected his marital duties, his wife could sue him. And since he had many wives, one of the odalisques kept a special journal in which she recorded the schedule of the padishah’s visits.

As we have already said, after a certain period of time, the concubine had the right to leave the harem “at her own request.” But many women refused this right, believing that life outside the harem would be much more difficult than an established life in a harem. The beloved wives of the sultans always had a very great influence on them and even interfered in state affairs. The Ottoman Empire even had a whole period of history, lasting more than a century, when women almost ruled the state. This period in history is now called the “female sultanate”.

With the ascension of each new sultan to the throne, the standards of beauty for the inhabitants of the harem also changed. For example, Sultan Ibrahim I preferred women with a body and especially for him, curvaceous girls were collected throughout the country. Having brought them to the palace, they were fed sweets and were not allowed to lead an active lifestyle, so that they would gain weight even more. The Sultan's favorite size was from 150 to 250 kg.