The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-10-08
The Sultan's Seraglio.

4
extensive household arrangements
and gives some curious particulars.
He says the seIaglio buildings
stretch to the length Of mile and
a half, and contain more than three
thousand inmates. Here the gov
ernment of the empire is carried on
chiefly by women and children.
The YiZiers and ministers are but
the servants of these secluded crea-
lures, and although at times states
man, supported by a strong palace
clique, may WELD real power, he
seldom does so long. nor is his
power very great. From the mo-
ment when he enters office he is
assailed by host of enemies whom
he does not see and whom
he cannot disarm or propiti-
ate. Al he knows is that
While these foes are inrrigu-
ing against him, the women and
slaves, 10 whose influence he owed
his place. are lighting for him and
SO long as they keep the upper hand
he is safe. As for the Sultan, as a
rule he Is as much at their mercy
az his ministers. a puppet in the
hands of women he never knows
exactly who rules him, Lut IL obliged,
for peace's sake, to do as his
mother, sisters, kadines or faYorites
order. More than one Sultan,
wearied to death with seraglio in
trigues, would have been glad to
| make a clean sweep of his female
court. but any step in this direction
would have led to conspiracy and
deposition. The seraglios-for there
are two, the new one, where the
court of the reigning Sultan resides,
and the old one, to which
the faYoriteS CT departed sultans
are relegated - harbor between
them some four thousand per-
sons, and are sources Of ruinous
expense to the treasury. Not only
are the allowances of the sultanas,
kadines, ikbals' (favorites), and
guiezdes, (aspirant favorites) large,
but the ways of the palace are
extravagant. Each of the imperial
| ladies has her diara, or retinue of
companions and male and female
| servants: and all these people scat
| ter gold about without counting
whenever they have a whim to
satisfy. Sultans do not contract
Irregular marriages, ard the reigning
| lady at the seraglio is never the huS-
bands wife, but his mother. She
bears the title of Suitana Valide,
and all the inmates of the seragliO
lowe her serVile obedience. Her
| household consists of about 200
servants and guards. Next TO her
| comes the Hashadar Ousta, or
mistress of the treasury, WHO is
generally a shrewd old woman.
| promoted from the ranks
of domesticity for her talents
in gossip and housekeeping. If the
| Sultana Valide dies the HasnadaI
succeeds her as queen Of the serag-
| Ito, After the Hasnadar comes the
Sultan's semi-laWful wives and ia
vorites in the following order
| First, the four kadines, who rank
as Spouses until his majesty divorces
them and gives them in marriage tC
some pasha, which he does pretty
often; then the ikbals, or favorites
to the number of five or six, and
then the aspirant faVorites, whose
number is unlimited. AS every one
who marries from the seraglio takes
with her her clothes, jewels, furni-
ture, servants. carriage and a lump
sum in money, which often amounts
to thousands of dollars, it may be
imagined how the civil list is
mulcted when there are many
aspirant favorites. Coming to the
male members of the seraglio, We
find, in addition to the necessary
, staff Of chamberlains, secretaries
guards, eunuchs, solutions and cooks
!. a corps of 200 pages and musicians
and very large army of BARRIERS
! shampooners, tasters of the Sultan:
( food, athletes, buffoons, cock-fght
/ ers, ram-6ghters, astrologers and
grooms. The cock-fghters and ram
lighters were appointed to amus'
8 Abdul AZiZ, but they have beer
maintained by the present Sultal
> because it is almost impossible t,
' dismiss anyone who has once hell
office in the palace without givini
! him pension. The same may b
said of the astrologers, whose func
lions have become a sinecure, al
though they are occasionally sum
a moned into the harem to entertain
: the ladies by fortune-telling. A
: for the buffoons and dwarfs, the.
!, have always been numerous, TO
ladies living in seclusion must b
!, made to laugh when time hang
!, heavy on their hands and when tn
}; music and jigging of the dancin
!, girls begins to pail. These daneln
! girls form corps 800 strong, an
Q as they are splendidly kept ant
;, richly fed they cost more to kee
J. than a cavalry regiment. : NeN
9 York san,
L