Harem

1
Harem

• Powerful Women of the
• Ottoman Empire

2
What We Do And Dont Know

• It was forbidden to write or speak about life in
  the harem so there are many things we do not
  know.
• Women in the harem had the best food, the best
  music, the best clothes, the best books, etc.

• Unlike western fantasies, the harem was not a
  place of sexual abandon among lots of beautiful
  women. It could be viewed more as a university or
  finishing school, from which is was
  impossible to leave.
• The women were taught court etiquette,
  embroidery, and to read and write. Also, since
  most of the women were Christian upon entering,
  religious training in Islam was necessary.

3
Alexandra Lisowska

• Alexandra Lisowska was the daughter of a
  Ukrainian priest. In 1520 she was brought to the
  sultans harem. She was between 14 and 20 years
  of age.
• Upon entering the harem, Alexandra became part of
  the hierarchy of the place. As a newcomer she
  would have been called cariye.
• Alexandra would have been thoroughly examined to
  make sure she had no physical defects or
  diseases.
• She would have been given new clothes and taken
  to the hamam where she would have been cleaned
  and taught how to wash herself before prayer.

4
Hürrem, the Laughing One

• Alexandra was renamed Hürrem because of her
  playful attitude.
• Starting out at the bottom of the harem
  hierarchy, Hürrem had to become known to and get
  on good terms with the sultans mother, because
  she chose the women from whom the sultan would
  select, the gedikli.

• The mother looked for women who were not only
  attractive, but healthy and shrewd, as well. This
  would ensure that they would produce healthy
  heirs and be good advisors to them.

5
Getting Ready to see the Sultan

• Before a visit to the sultan, Hürrem was taken to
  the hamam where she was given special face and
  body treatments.
• All body hair was removed using a smelly paste
  that had arsenic in it. If left on for too long
  it could cause severe burns. Mussel shells were
  then used to scrape the hair off.
• Her hands, hair, and lower abdomen were then
  decoratively painted with henna.

6
Visiting the Sultan

• While music is played, the women sing before her
  and conduct her to the door of the chamber where
  there is a eunuch who tells the sultan of her
  arrival and has her enter when the sultan
  commands it. As soon as she sees him, she must go
  to him running and kneel at his feet and he
  receives her and holds what conversation seems
  good to him, the womens music continuing to play
  at the door while she is with him.
• Albert Bolovy, court musician

7
Rivalry Within The Harem

• While we do not know the details of what went on
  that night, its obvious that Süleyman wanted it
  to continue. He invited Hürrem again and again,
  becoming his new favorite, the new ikbal.
• The sultans old favorite, Mahidevran or
  Gülbahar, the bas kadin (mother of the oldest
  son), was jealous of Hürrems new position and
  insulted her, saying she was just a slave, just
  spoiled meat. This started a cat fight between
  the two women.
• The next time the sultan called for Hürrem, she
  turned him down, saying she was only spoiled
  meat and was not worthy of his attention. This,
  of course piqued the sultans curiosity and he
  called for Hürrem again. She took this
  opportunity to tell him what happened and to
  discredit her rival.

8
The Favorite Above All Others

• In 1521, Hürrem, by giving birth to a son,
  ascended again up the harem hierarchal ladder and
  became a kadin. According to tradition, Süleyman
  should have moved on to another concubine, but he
  didnt. He went on to produce two more sons by
  her.
• This made the people very uneasy. They called her
  a witch, saying she had put a spell on him.
• More women were brought into the harem to try to
  get the sultan to sleep around a little more. Two
  of the women were Russian with the same
  highly-prized looks as Hürrem.
• Hürrem was so put out by this, that she
• threw a fit, and Süleyman was forced to
• give his concubines away to keep her
• happy!

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The First Queen of the Empire

• This week there occurred a most extraordinary
  event, unprecedented in the history of the
• sultans. Süleyman
• has taken to
• himself as his
• empress a slave
• woman from
• Russia.
• Genoese banker

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Securing The Throne

• Even though Hürrem was Süleymans love, his
  favorite son was Mustafa, the son of Hürrems old
  rival.
• Mustafa was very popular with the people, the
  army, and with the grand vizier, Ibrahim.
• Spurred by Hürrem, Süleyman
• investigated the Grand Vizier and
• found him guilty of graft (bribery, etc.)
• and of being overconfident of his
• power with the sultan. For this,
• Süleyman had his childhood friend
• executed.
• Mustafa was so popular that after
• some whispers from Hürrems ally,
• the new grand vizier and husband to
• her daughter, that Mustafa was
• planning to overthrow Süleyman, the
• sultan had his oldest son strangled.

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Ottoman Princes

• Why was it so important for Hürrem to eliminate
  Mustafa as heir-apparent to the throne?
• Under Islamic law, all sons had an equal right to
  the inheritance. Because of this, any son of the
  sultan can become the new sultan. In order to
  keep the empire from falling into civil war
  because of loyalties to different princes, all
  princes but one are murdered to secure one
  princes place as sultan.
• If Hürrem did not eliminate Mustafa, the favorite
  for the throne, her own sons would be murdered.
• Lucky for Hürrem, she died before having to watch
  her own sons fight each other for the throne.

12
Nur Banu

• When Süleyman the Magnificent died, his son Selim
  II took the throne. Even before his father died,
  he had a favorite concubine from his own harem,
  Nur Banu, which means Lady Light.
• Selim could not have been a pleasant man to
  consort with. So fat he could not sit on a horse,
  and a slave to the bottle, he was known as
  Sarhos, The Sot.
• At first, Selim was faithful to Nur
• Banu, but after she produced
• only one son out of five children,
• he began to sleep around a little
• more and soon had more sons.
• After only eight years on the
• throne, Selim met with an
• untimely accidental end that was
• most likely assisted by the bottle.
• He stubbed his toe in the hamam
• and fell over, hitting his head on
• the stone and dying instantly.

13
The Busy Sultan

• When Selim died, Nur Banu hid his body until her
  own son, Murat, came back to Istanbul.
• As was customary, Murat had all his younger
  brothers strangled. The boys were so much younger
  than Murat that this was the first time the
  people of Istanbul had had to deal with so much
  fratricide right on their doorsteps.
• Like his father and grandfather, Murat also had a
  favorite to whom he was faithful, Sofia.
• Nur Banu encouraged her son to have more women,
  but it took a gift of two concubines from his
  sister to finally do the trick.
• During Murats reign, the harem went from 150
  women to over 600. It is said he fathered 112
  children in all, and had 27 daughters and 20 sons
  alive when he died.

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The Valide Sultan

• Nur Banu was so trusted by her son, that she was
  able to convince him to come and live in the
  harem, a move which gave her even more power.
• However, there was still rivalry between Nur Banu
  and Sofia. Sofia was trying to take the Valide
  Sultans privilege of finding lovers for the
  sultan.
• But Sofia never did equal Nur Banu in power or
  closeness to Murat.
• Nur Banu used her
• control to build
• mosques and military
• installations,
• demonstrating her
• power on an
• international scale.

15
The Kafes

• When Murat died, 19 of his 20 living sons were
  executed. The public outcry from this was so
  great that the tradition of killing all but one
  prince was all but abolished.
• In its place, the princes were
• imprisoned within the harem
• in a place called the kafes.
• The mothers of princes
• called their sons aslan,
• which means lion. A kafes is
• a cage used to house lions
• and tigers.

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Vocabulary words

• Aslan - lion
• Bas kadin - mother of the first born son
• Cariye - girls, slaves, novices
• Gedikli - young girls upon whom the Sultan
  rested his gaze
• Hamam - Turkish bath
• Ikbal - favorites of the sultan
• Kadin - favorite who gives birth
• to a son
• Kafes - cage
• Sarhos - the sot
• Valide Sultan - mother of the
• sultan

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Questions?

• You want to ask about Ibrahim. Trust me.