The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-07-23
THE SHAFTS HAREsI.
Some Accounts Of the Ladies Who Cheer the
Persian Potentate's Hours.

Some Accounts Of the Ladies Who Cheer the
Persian Potentate's Hours.
London Modern Society.
Without indiscretion, it may be noted
that the denizens of the royal seraglio be-
longing to his interesting Majesty, who are
eunuch and his fellows. are about three
hundred; that of these three hundred
many are children, and two hundred. at
least, are simply servants, a large number
being negresses. Each office of the Persian
court has its corresponding dignity in the
Anderun. Few additions have been made
OF late years to the number of inmates of
the royal seraglio, and 1t contains abso-
lutely no European or male persons over
the age of eleven. Each royal favorite has
servants, her equipages. her jewels and her
revenue. The principal favOrite generally
has some Understanding title conferred
upon her, such as the delight of the
State"
The ladies are never seen abroad un-
yelled, save one or two of the handsomer
or more Eighty of thelnumber, who some
times, when driving in their glass
coaches" puIposely give rather liberal
display of fiorid charms to passers-by in
carriages or on horseback. The legends of
tattooed Greek princes notwithstand-
ing, it is quite certain that. as
a rule. no. man save the King enters
the royal harem. or, having done so,
leaves It alive. Some years ago an unfortu-
nate workman, while engaged in excavat-
ing a water-course suddenly found himself
in the royal harem, and nearly died of fright
accordingly lby the way, the indoor dress
worn by Persian ladies has been described
as precisely resembling the costume of q
ballet girl, minus the maillOtl, but the
King, seeing how the matter stood, par
doned him.
have ceased to please is simple, and yet in
genious. There is no sewing up In sacks,
no casting from towers, no bowstring no
poisoning. Some provincial general is in
formed that he will be favored with wife
sible; the disguised lady arrives, and is
placed at the head of her new hus-
bands household. She usually insists
upon his divorcing his other wives.
servants ' and interiors. One old general
who had become the recipient of one of
these royal favors (the lady led him a sad
lifel never alluded to her but-in q whisper,
of course-as "the old camel" Beauty and
for entering the royal harem. Various ac-
complishments, such as singing, playing on
the hand drum. or tumbak, the tambourine
or the harmOnica, are often acquired after
the lady has been received into the seraglio.
Only the fresh arrivals and those who
have failed to please live together in q
sort of barrack under the supervision of
the Amin-i-Akdas, an old favOrite, who
acts as sort of mother of the maids"
Every Thursday there is kind of review,
the Shah personally inspecting the whole
establishment other than the recognized
wives and favOrites. The throwing of the
handkerchief is no invention, and
has not gone out of practice.
The number of legitimate wives Tor
akdil for every Mussulman is four.
The head wife of the present Shah, who is
his cousin also, and who bears the title of
Shuko-es-Sultana, is the great grand
daughter of Futteh Ali Shah, a monarch
whose family was so large that ITO of his
descendants were alive at his death. This
lady is the mother of the Crown Prince, or
Valliad. Her marriage with the Shah was
one of policy. The next wife in seniority is
the daughter of son of Futteh Ali Shaw.
She is only known TO rumor as having o
somewhat sharp temper.
The third wife. and the actual fayorite,
is Anys-u-DOwlet. She has been a legiti-
mate wife nearly thirteen years, is very
fat, fairly good-1ooking, and is said TO be
very g0od-tempered and attractive. She
actually accompanied the Shah as far as
Moscow on his first journey to Europe, but
the attempts to see her made by the Rus
slams of all classes were so
pointment. she was sent back to
Teheran. The Anys-u-Dowlet has immense
influence, and yet she never takes bride,
but her own family is we'll cared for, three
of her relatives filling important positions
at the court, where their reputation is not
that of her royal kinswOman. The whole
family were the children of q village mill
Ter, who lived near Dimarvend. nearly
extinct volcano, which, capped with eternal
SHOWS, towers over Teheran, and may be
seen, it is said, at a distance of 200 miles.