Most Ottoman sultans married slaves. From the 16th century on no Ottoman sultan was married to a free woman.Turkish sultans were allowed four wives and as many concubines as they wanted. The Topkapi Harem (left of the second court, near the entrance gate) is contains the secluded quarters where the women lived, the chambers where they entertained the sultan and the swimming pool where they frolicked and swam laps.
.jpg)
During Ottoman times the sultan was the only man who still retained his plumbing that was allowed to enter the Harem; uninvited guests sometimes ended up with the traitors at the front gate. The word “harem” is derived from the Arabic word “harim,” which means “inviolable area.”
Expanded by Murat III in 1589 to 400 rooms, the harem in Topkapi was the largest harem in the world, requiring a staff of 1,200 servants to keep it running smoothly. The complex included the sultan's bedroom pavilions, quarters for the sultan's mother, baths for the sultan and his mother, quarters for the princesses, dormitories for the girls and eunuchs, swimming-pool-like marble baths for the girls, latrines, a hospital, a domed hall, a dungeon and special rooms where the sultan's brothers were confined to keep them from hatching plots and conspiracies.
The sultan and his ladies were entertained by troubadours and jesters in the grand audience hall, which was equipped with fountains to foil eavesdroppers. The quarters for the sultan and his mother were quite grand. The bedroom of Murad II was a collection of rooms designed by the great architect Sinan.
It contains Iznik tiles, a marble fountain and a plume-shaped bronze fireplace. The fountain was used to conceal the sound of voices. Accommodations for the wives, concubines, dwarfs and other retainers in the palace in many ways was more like a prison than a palace. Most people lived in dormitories. Those who lived alone lived in small misshapen rooms with no windows. As their importance to the sultan diminished so too did their room size.
Members of the Sultan's Harem
The harem was organized under a seniority system. The ruler of the harem was the sultan's mother, who was often the second most powerful person in the empire. At the bottom of the hierarchy were new girls who were often treated like slaves by the women who had been around for while. There was a lot of scheming and plotting inside the Harem, and the goal of every woman was to produce the future sultan. Watching over them to make sure they didn't get too out of line were white and black Eunuchs from the Caucasus and the Sudan. Eunuchs that misbehaved were thumbscrewed, strung up by their wrists and beaten on their feet.