The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-09-29
THESULTAN'S HAREM
About the Biggest MOhammedan
Matrimonial Establishments.
ITS HUNDREDS OF INMATES.
How the Sultan Chooses His Wires-What
Slave Girls are Worth Something of
the Expenses in the Palace.


CoNsTANTgNoPLE, September Q, 1850
Special Correspondence of The HER.LD.
There were more than one thousand womeI
In the harem of the last Sultan, and there
are probably as many in the imperial serag
lio of Abdul Hamid. The number is re
s.ruited every year by
SLAVES FROM GEORGIA AND cIRcAssIA,
aad It is curious thing that none bu
slave girls can be part of the Sultan!
female establishment. All Of the Sultans
AZ the past have had slave mothers and i
Is contrary to the custom of Turkey fol
the Sultans to marry. The reason for this
IS the prevention of political intrigue
(Which might arise from an extended roya
family, and Mahmound II, the grandfather
al the present Sultan, who died wher
Martin Van Buren, was President, in order
80 make his throne more safe sewed W
5be ia wives of his predecessor in sacks
loaded them with shot, and dropped them
jutO the cool waters of the Bosphorus
3e had a royal harem himself, however,
Tor all that, and when | visited the treas
airy Of the Sultan the other day / saw
ais ladies used in doing up their back hair.
{ saw
SEVERAL PECKs OF PEARLS
which belonged to his slave favorites and
those of his SUCCESSORS, and / looked at a
little gold cradle set with jewels, in which
his children were rocked The father of
the present Sultan was very fond of
women, and he spent several fortunes in
building palaces for them. He had mis-
furniture made in Europe, and it is said
that he was especially fond of blue-eyed
beauties with golden hair Abdul Azziz,
who was dethroned in 1876, and who, with
the exception of the three months reign of
Murad, was the predecessor of the present
Sultan, had 1,200 female slaves in his
harem, and he spent as high as 8, 10000 a
wear in decorating his seragliO and in graf
flying the wants of his ladies. The eX-
peHses Of his harem for presents and
dresses consumed SS0O,0OO year, and dur
. Jag some of the years of his reign he paid
SO high rs half million dollars for jewels.
THE EXPENSES OF THE PRESENT SULTAN
10 this same respect are undoubtedly enor-
nous, and though, / am told, that he over
looks the accounts himself, they can net
hut run high into the hundreds of thou
sands of dollars. There are thousands of
servants about the palaces of the Sultan.
5e has several hundred eunuchs and
SHese receive salaries according to their
position. The chief eunuch is quite as i'm
Bortant man as the grand vizier He
lakes part in the imperial councils, and is a
man OF great influence. ] saw him on the
day that the Sultan took his yearly visit
when he went to kiss the mantle of Ma
+lGmet. A tall, brOad-shOuldered negro
'lgIGh dull, black eyes, but with features
expressive of intellect and will. He was
dressed in clothes embroidered in gold lace.
Nr. F.NHga
The Sultan probably bought him as a slave
and the most ordinary
GUNUCHs ARE COSTLY ARTICLE.
They are imported by slave dealers from
Africa, where they are raised. They are
Of As different grades as are other men, and
the SIl5an has ali kinds. The more i'm
portant of them have separate establish
Inents of their own in the palace. Each of
the more favorite slaves of the harem must
nave her eunuchs to wait upon her. She
uses them as her servants, but they are
guards as well. This chief eunuch has
charge OF all the women of the palace, and
Il is through Cheir power with the Sultan
that much Of his influence comes. He is
new to his position, and he will probably
.Imass fortune before he dies The last
chief Cunuch wore uniform of scarlet and
gold, and he built mosque to serve as his
tomb. He was cOurted during his life
time, and it is said that his influence was
purchasable.
The eunuchs, however, form but a small
part of the servants of the palace There
are something like seven thousand people
abOut the Sultan, and the greater part Of
these are employees. The kitchens of the
tast Sultan had
THREE HUNDRED SERVANTS,
and it must take a number of hands to at
lend TO the thousands of horses and to
keep the 200 royal carriages in good cOndi-
tiOn. The Sultan has his BARRIERS, his
musicians and his boatmen, and l am told
that there are 100 porters at Yildiz who
10 nothing else but carry burdens.
The ladies of the harem have their
servants, and the hair dressers and the
dEess-makers must be numbered by
hundreds. The less favored among the
women sometimes act as the servants of
1hc others, but many of these ladies
have their separate establishments with
their own eunuchs, slaves, doctors and
8eggars They receive visitors in their
own apartments, and make visits to the
other ladies of the imperial city, which is
hidden behind the walls of the Sultan's
palace grounds. The feeding of 5000 or
1000 people every day, year in and year
out, costs fortune, and good part of the
SUitan's $l0,OOO,0O0 year
PASSES THROUGH THE HANDS OF HIS COOKS.
The chief part of the cooking for the
palace is done in the grounds where the
Emperor lives. The food is prepared at
the great palace of DOlma Bagtche, about
"A mile away, and it is carried on trays on
the heads of the pOrters to the harem on
the hill 1t is safe to say that a large part
,Jf the best of its dainties are served cold.
The Sultan never eats with his harem.
and it is not the custom for the sexes to
eat together in Turkey His majesty sits
down to his meals with his officers of state
he drinks his coffee out of gold cups. and
he uses a Turkish article which is as thick
AS molasses and as strong as I've He has
ms ministers of state often to dine with
him, and he gives dinners frequently to the
diplomats at Constantine Die At such din
uers he sits down with his foreign guests
save when their wives are present. and he
IS said to be very good dinner table com
panion: There are a number of little
rooms in the palace to which he retires
with such Of his friends as he wishes
70 ENGAGE IN PRIVATE CONVERSATION.
and he carries on conversation with for
.eigners through interpreters. He can
speak French, but prefers to use the Turk
ish and an Interpreter in his conversation
he believes in educating and he has a
school connected with his harem where the
little princes are taught French and the
modern sciences as well as the Koran
The guests of the Sultan never get
peep into his harem. The man who would
attempt TO enter the apartments reserved
for the women would be punished with
death, and a eunuch in COnstantinOple has
4 right to knock down any man who speaks
20 a lady under his charge. A foreigner
was nearly killed not long ago for address
ang. a lady OF high caste on the bridge
-.