Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-01-07
#iseellaueous Rsaains.
TURKISH SLAVE MARKETS
Trade in Women Was Not So Horrible
as Appeared.

II
/ white like lily and rose were ex.
| posed for sale and in the next bootf
| Africans as black as a ravens wing. Ir
Turkish the name Of the slave market
is the Yeser Bazaar.
OF course western sentiment has al.
+; ways been Mortified at the thought o.
making merchandise Of human flesh
| But a great deal of sentiment has beer
| wasted on the Circassian and Georgian
beauties exposed for sale in the bazars
| of Constantinople. These Georgians
and Circassians, although not exactl!
Asiatics, looked upon life from an Ash
attic point of view. They were for the
most part peasant girls and were rath-
er willing victims Of the slave market
Their home life would have been one OF
| toll and penury, but by becoming the
property of the rich Turk they changed
their lot for one Of ease and luxury
The sale was conducted In much more
decorous manner than western senti-
ment pictures it. There was very little
exposure Of the person but on the con-
trary the fascination of the human
form divine was enhanced by all the
accessories of flowing draperies, white
muslin and long wells. An Englishmar
named Dr. Walsh spent years In Con-
stantinople and wrote book under the
title of Residence in Constantinople'
and here Is the way he describes the
slave market of his day:
Here decorum Is no further violated
than in the act of sale. 1t consists OF
a quadrangular building, with an open
court in the middle. Round this are
raised platforms, on which black slaves
sit; behind are latticed windows, light
ing apartments where the white and
| more costly women are shut up TIL
they are sold; and there is a certain
decency and propriety observed In the
purchase"
AS a matter of fact the slaves were
| very generally permitted to select their
own purchasers from among the bid
ders and they knew that when once re-
ceived into a Turkish family they be-
came members Of it in every sense OF
the word, almost as II born there. They
knew also that their future depended
upon themselves and that promotion
was sure to follow good conduct. In
| fact the Circassians and Georgians as 8
rule were brought to the slave market
| by their parents with the consent OF
| the girls and often at their own re-
quest. The Turkish family had volun-
| tary slaves who occupied closed apart.
ments and were scarcely seen by any
except the members Of the family. Be.
fore their purchase they were kept ir
retirement and seen only by possible
purchasers. They were not exposed tc
the gaze Of idlers, but were protected
from any unnecessary annoyance.
| The negro slaves are described as
squatting in groups upon mats all over
the floor. They laughed and jestec
while feasting upon great slices OF
pastek (watermelon,) or clusters ol
luscious grapes. They slept when they
! pleased and their looks-anxious, sulky
or sad-depended upon their own MOOD
and not upon anything that took place
around them tending to embitter theii
position. The Turks are rather a SOL
emn people and devoid Of any jest OF
making sport Of human suffering. They
scarcely regard slavery as degreda.
ton but treated the Circassian anc
Georgian girls very much as they would
a woman of their own race and the
same was true of their treatment ol
their negro slaves. .
Once admitted into the Turkish ha-
rem, life there was simple, with few
amusements but surrounded with
every luxury. The daily bath was the
great event Of the day, and the remain
| der was spent in a lazy lounging or
divans, listening to music on some in
strument accompanied by singing. The
| women glittered with jewels and were
| resplendent in silks Of the finest ia.
brice. Hours were spent In the COO
shadows of the garden listening to the
| fall of fountains and the whispering o.
leaves or the wondrous stories Of the
professional tale-teller. These sensu'
Gus enjoyments were varied by prayer
| which occurred five times day ant
was never neglected by the Turkish
women. These members Of the Turkish
harem were little like birds in cage
or captives in a cell. The Turkish veal
! Is full Of festival days, Turkish, Frank.
| ish, Armenian and Greek, and upor
such occasions the members of the ha'
rem sat upon splendid carpets or II
| carriages surrounded by their slaves II
attendance, delighted spectators of TIT
revel. They had their caiques on the
Bosporous glittering in their gliding
and protected by long wells, wrapped II
| ample mantels, and under a negro
guard, they spent hours passing from
house to house visiting acquaintances
telling and listening to the gossip o.
| the city.
From time immemorial the caravan
was a feature of eastern life. Wes'
terners have read descriptions like those
in Tom Moore's "Lallah Rookh." Will
| the spread of western civilization into
Asia bringing railroads and other fea.
lures of modern life, the caravan has
| become more or less extinct. Like sta
| tions on a railroad the public khans
marked the stopping places of these
| travelling markets, from which were OF.
| fered for sale everything known II
| eastern life. We have the word cara
vansary in our own tongue as syno.
nym for hotel, handed down through
| the ages in memory Of these Asiattt
| caravans. The kahn was great quad
rangular court surrounded by buildings
solidly constructed Of massive stone
and the interior was not unlike that Of
a Christian monastry. In combination
with the kahn there was always the
| coffee kiosk just as an eating house OF
restaurant Is found at every important
railroad depot. In a cellar under the
kahn were the counting houses Of the
merchants and upstairs was court ol
gallery open to the air supported or
arches from which the store rooms Of
the merchants might be observed. The
kahn was the department store Of Asi'
attic life, and each kind Of merchandise
| had its own section. Here were great
piles of camers hair and silk rugs fol
divans or prayer carpets. there were
piles of silks as thin as gauze or as
thick as a board, out of which the flow.
ing robes of the Turks, both men and
women, were made; in another section
were fragrant tobaccos and in still an.
other coffees from Arabia and teas
from China. Then there were sections
where artistic mosaics and porcelain
were displayed. Dr.. Walsh, from whom
l quoted before. thus escribes one o1
these public kahns as it halted at 6
Turkish hamlet in the center Of a mag.
nificent valley surrounded by branches
of the Rhodope Mountains as he travel
ed from the Dardenelles to Stamboul
as follows:
1.-The villages scattered about these
mountains are inhabited by Turks
Greeks or Armenians; If by the form
er a traveller is never admitted into q
house but must lie in the stable with
his horse in a place called kahn. This
is generally a very large edifice like
one of the great COW houses in Eng
land filled with cattle OF all kinds. Al
one end is a little inclosure separated
by low partition just sufficiently high
to prevent the cattle from walking over
i him hut In all other resDects a cOntinu