San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-10-12
THE sULTAN's SERAGLIO.
Some PeeularItIss OF the Grand Turks pomes'
tic Arrangements.

siye household arrangements, ana giVe'
some curious particulars. He says the
seraglio buildings stretch to the length
of n mile and half and contains more
than 5000 inmates, Here the Govern
ment Of the empire is carried on chiefly
by women and children. The viziers
and ministers are but the servants OF
these secluded creatures, and although
at times a statesman, supported ny .
strong palace clique, may WELD rear
power, he seldom does so long, nor IL
his power very great. From the mo-
ment when he enters Office, he is Sc
cretly assailed by host OF enemies
whom he does not see, and whom he
can not disarm or propitiate. All he
knows is, that while these foes are In
triguing against him the women ana
slaves, to whose influence he owes his
palace, are fighting for him. and 80
long they keep the upper hand ne
will be SAFE As for the Sultan, as a
rule he was as much at their mercy as
his ministers. A puppet in the hands
of women, he never knows exactly who
rules him, but is obliged, for peaces
sake, to do as his mother, sisters, ka-
dimes, or favorites order. More than
one Sultan, weary to death OF seragno
intrigues, would have been glad 10
make a clean sweep of his female court
but any step in this direction would
have led to conspiracy and decomposl-
ton. The seraglios for these are two
the new one, where the court OF the
reigning Sultan resides, and the OLD
one, to which the favorites OF departed
Sultan are relegated-harbor between
them some 1900 persons, and are q
source of ruinous expense to the treas
ury. Not only are the allowance OF
the Sultan, as kadines, ikbats (faVorltes)
and guides (aspirant favorites) LARGE
but the ways of the palace are eztraVa-
CANT. Each. of the imperial ladies has
her diara, or retinue of companions,
and male and female servants, and oil
these people scatter gold about without
counting whenever they have a Whlm
to satisfy. Sultans do not contract
regular marriages, and the reignlng Ia
dy at the seraglio is never the Sultan's
wife, but his mother. She bears the
title of Sultana Valide, and all the IN
mates of the seraglio owe her serVlle
obedience. Her household consists OF
about 200 servants and guards. Next
to her in rank comes the Hasnader Gus
ia, or Mistres of the Treasury, who IS
generally shrewd old woman, promo
ted from the ranks of domestlclty Tor
her talent in gossip and Housekeeping.
If the Sultana Valide dies, the Hasna-
der succeeds her as Queen OF the Sc
raglio. After the Hasnader comes the
Sultan's semi-lawful wives and favor
ties in the following order: First, the
four kadines, who rank as spouses until
his Majesty divorces them and gives
them in marriage to some Pasha, which
he does pretty often; then the lkbats,
or favorites, to che number of five or
six, and then the aspirant favorltes,
whose number is unlimited. AS every
one who marries from the seraglio takes
with her her clothes, jewels, furniture,
servants, carriage, and a large sum IN
money, which often amounts to thou
sands of dollars, it may be imagined
how the civil list is mulched when
there are many aspirant favorites. Com
ing to the male members of the serag-
Ito, VIC find, in addition to Unnecessary
staff of chamberlains, secretaries, guards,
eunuchs, solutions and cooks, and corps
of 200 pages and musicians, and very
large army of BARRIERS, shampoOers, tas-
tiers Of the Sultan's food, athletes, buff
foons cock fighters, ram-tighters, astrol-
ogers, and grooms. The cock-fghters
and ram-fghters were appointed to
amuse Abdul Aziz, but they have been |
by the present Sultan, be-
cause it is almost impossible to dismiss
any one who has once held Office in the
palace without giving him a pension.
The same may be said of the astrolo-
gers, whose functions have become a
sinecure, though they are occasion
ally summoned into the haremilk |
TO entertain the ladies by fortune tell
ing. As for the buffoons and dwarfs,
they have always been numerous, for
adde's living in seclusion must be made I.
70 laugh when the music and iigging of
the dancing girls begin to pail. These
dancing girls form corps Of 800 strong,