The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-29
IN THE SULTAN'S HAREM.
KEEPS HIS COLLECTION OF
BEAUTY.


BEAUTY.
Most of the OdaIisques Are Circas-
sian slave Girls, Bought When
Young. and Selected for Their
Grace and LOveIiness-Some Are
Abducted by Local Tyrants, Who
send Them to the sultan 10 Curry
Favor with Him-once in the
Harem They Are Trained in All
the Arts of PIensing-COmpletei
shut on From the outer world,
They Become Childish in Their
Pastimes and Amusements, Play
ing with Dolls and Initiating the
erie. of Acknowledgement ally
One is Presented to Some Omctai
on Whom She Acts ms a spy-in-
stances of Adults Caprice.
The following description of the life
led by the inmates of the most secret
institution in the world is from re-
narkable book by NJ. George Dorys,
.pThe Private Life of the Sultan" a
translation of which is soon to be pub
lished in this country. Not only has
Abdul Hamid II endeavored to have
the book suppressed in all the coun-
tries of Europe where 1t appeared, Dut
he has also sentenced the author OF
it to death, a sentence which is not
likely to be carried out. as M. Dorys
left Constantinople before the book was
published, and is now in Paris. He is
a son of the late Prince Samos. who
was one of the Sultan's ministers. M.
Dorys familiarity with the extraordi-
nary political world which ferments
around Yildiz Palace is such that he
has had unexcelled opportunities for
knowing the Utmost secrets of the
Sultans court.
Few. nowadays are those Pashas
who, as much by tradition as personal
prediction, indulge in the barbarous
luxury of a harem. 1t goes without
the SAYING that first among these
privileged beings is the Commander or
the Faithful, Abdul Hamid II, who, in
fact, owns a living collection of the
most precious specimens of oriental
beauty. The curiosity aroused by this
mysterious word Harem, the fugitive
vision it evokes of a fairy-like and I'M
make the western mind forget all there
is cruel and revolving in this whole
sale sequestration of young, beautt-
full and ardent women, whose charm,
freshness and even their lives belong
absolutely to one master-a melancholy
and deformed old monomaniac.
The closest confinement rendering
impossible all communication with the
outside world a humiliating part to
play, unquestioning obedience to the
most fantastic whims of a feared and
detested despot-such are the sad con-
ditions in which the three hundred un-
fortunates of the seragliO pass their
lives. The Yildiz Harem is their en-
tire universe. They have been brought
there as children, they are guarded
there like a wretched and valuable
\ herd of cattle, and they live and die
there, knowing nothing of the world
outside their prison. without the slight
est notion of what life really is.
The harem contingent is recruited
almost exclusively among the several
varieties of the Circassian race, the
NEST beautiful in the East, but it in
cludes also specimens of the Syrian
and Roumeliot races. Chosen for their
precocious graces, the odalsques are
almost all bought at a tender age. by
special agents of the palace under the
orders of the Yessirdji- Bachi, (grand
master of the slaves Hussein Effendi.
Often, too, the governors of the prov
1nces, displaying a zeal that is disap-
proved of nowadays by all civilized
Turks, abduct beautiful young girls
from their parents or purchase them
TO present them to His Majesty; and
the cousins and aunts of the sover-
eign also exert every effort to find for
him rare beauties. and display a friend
ly rivalry in seeking the pearl most
worthy to present to him during the
Bairam festival.
When they cross the threshold of
the palace the new recruits admitted
to the imperial harem must abandon
and forget everything-their parents.
their relatives. their homes, their very
names. Existence begins anew for
them. A special training in all the
arts of pleasing is given to each new
conner by the Bach-Kalfa (head slave)
under the supreme control o fthe VAL
OF woman is taught by oriental exper-
This course of instruction is unite
special and is intended solely to de-
Velop in the young beauties of the Sc
raglio every art calculated to please
the most blase senses. Grace in de-
pertinent, walk and gesture, melodious
singing, attractive dancing, poetic and
picturesque speech, eloquent gentleness
or expression-everything in short
that art can add to the natural charm.
of woman is taught by oriental exper-
fence to innocent beauty in this Acad-.
envy of Love.
Generally this special instruction
lasts two years and is terminated by
solemn examination, presided over by
the Nalide Sultana. Each of her pref
~ pupils must then be proficient in
the manner of waiting upon the Sultan
and serving him with his favorite bev-
erages. She must be familiar with his
preferences, his antipathies, his ca
prices, and his manias before she Is
permitted to consider herself a menu
Der of the harem. Even then II NAV
be long before she attracts the i'm
perial notice. She has 800 companions
in the harem possessing the same
beauty, having the same ambition, and
among her rivals there are several ia
Vorites. Moreover, outside rivals may
enter the lists.
1t sometimes happens that the Pad
ishah takes caprice for some slave
OF the Sultan's, his relatives. or of the
princesses, his daughters. One night
when Abdul Hamid gave a dance and
ballet in his harem he noticed among
the dancers young slave named Mes
te Alem, in the service of the Princess
Zekkie, his eldest daughter. The next
day two of the Sultan's eunuchs ar
rived in haste at the Princess palace
and Informed her that they came IN