Harem

Harem, Dormitory of Eunuchs

The word 'harem' which comes from the Arabic word 'haram' having the meaning of forbidden by religion' is the word describing the place where the sultan and his family live. Harem, which is a worldly application of heaven full of beauties that is promised to religious men by Islam, was an inseparable part of the Ottoman Dynasty since it was founded. After Topkapi Palace was constructed, all the government moved to this new palace, however, families of the sultans continued to live in the ancient palace in Bayezid for nearly 80 years. During the reign of Kanuni Sultan Siileyman, the sultan's family was moved to wooden buildings constructed in Topkapi

Palace due to the pressure of Hurrem Sultan, second wife of the sultan, after a fire took place in the ancient palace. Then the influence of the harem and sultan's wives living here began to increase over the government and the sultan.

Many new buildings were constructed instead of the wooden buildings that were completely destroyed during the big fire took place in 1666, and so a complex of buildings consisting nearly 300 rooms, only small part of which is open to visits, appeared. All the buildings we see today were constructed in 16th and 18th centuries. In order to visit the Harem, which was first opened to visits in 1971, one should buy a ticket from the ticket office in the second courtyard and participate the tours which are held in every 30 minutes with local guides providing service in various languages. The tour begins from the exit door of the Harem which was once used for chariots.

Harem was isolated from the outside world, and entrance was a privilege allowed for only the closest relatives of the sultan and people working here. In some certain days, men only from three profession groups had the permission to enter definite rooms of the Harem. These were the doctors who came to control patients, teachers of princes and musicians, who were called at the ceremonies. Non-Moslems were certainly not allowed.

Harem, the Royal Hall

Other than the sultan's wives and mother, also brothers and children who were prepared for the throne or who were kept at a distance from the throne and those women and men, who served for this big family, used to stay in the Harem. While some sultans were having intercourse with only four women as it is allowed in Islam, some had hundreds of women in the harem. For instance, it is said that there were nearly 1200 women in the harem of Murat III, the first sultan who spent all hjs time with women' ignoring the state works. 'Concubines' in charge of serving the sultan in the Harem were young girls who were brought from the conquered countries. They were subject to a rough trainee in the palace after changing their names and converting religions. Those who had

children from the sultan after having an intercourse with him were taken to special rooms in the harem. Others would either kept on living there and serve the imperial family by taking another duty in the harem, or by set marriages get married to a high level civil servant.

Almost all women living in the harem including wives of the sultan and the servants were either enslaved, or bought from slave merchants, or presented to the sultan and later became Moslems. These women of distinguished beauty, taken to Istanbul from all parts of the world, were very close to the sultan and gave him children, however, they were not always faithful to the sultan and the Ottoman Dynasty since they had a glittering prison life. These women, who were sentenced to live in the Harem and whose families had been enslaved or killed by the Ottomans, sometimes had not spared to undertake the leading roles in the intrigues against the sultan.

In spite of the magnificent image of the palace, the women here were actually living in a competitive atmosphere. Since sultanate passes from father to the elder son in the Ottoman Dynasty, aim of all concubines was giving birth to the first son of the sultan and so becoming 'haseki' (favorite wife) of the sultan. That was the only way of guaranteeing their future. On the other hand, it was not sufficient to be the mother of the first son, as this son had to stay alive until the sultan dies. Some concubines would sometimes try to kill other sons in order to make hers ascend the throne. Also, there were bickers between the favorites of the sultan and his mother (queen mother), who was the absolute master of Harem and second important person after the sultan regarding influencing the empire administration. The Queen Mother was the absolute master of Harem and had nearly 40 rooms and several servants for herself.

The Dining Room of Sultan Ahmet III	Except for nearly 300 rooms, there were 46 toilets, 8 Turkish baths, 4 small kitchens, 2 mosques, 6 pantries, a swimming pool and a hospital in the Harem which was built on a total area of 6.700 m2. The Harem is usually composed of 3 large courtyards and rooms surrounding them. These rooms belonged to the Queen Mother, wives of the sultan and the crown prince, to the concubines and to 'Black Eunuchs' responsible for protecting the harem. Black Eunuchs were very strong black men who were taken captive during the wars in Africa as slaves or bought from slave merchants. There were about forty of them living in the Harem and they had duties demanding man power. Chief Black Eunuch was the third most important person after the sultan and Queen Mother. During the tour with a local guide in the Harem, visitors may see everything at a sclose range: rooms of the black eunuchs, the tiled courtyard, the school of the Crown Prince, courtyard of the sultan's wives apartments and the rooms surrounding, embroidered bed of the Queen Mother, dinner and divine service rooms, marble Turkish bath of the sultan who preferred it because of security, bedroom of Sultan Abdulhamit who reigned in the 18th century, splendid throne room of Murat III who reigned in the 16th
century, elegant library of the sultan Ahmet I, dining room of Ahmet III (the walls of this room which is called 'Yemis Odasi' are decorated with the most beautiful floral motifs) , small rooms in which sultan's brothers lived for years and 'the golden way' of 46 m. where met the sultan and his concubines. Although the exit of the Harem is in the 3rd courtyard, let us observe the second courtyard more before the third one and give some short information about a few buildings in this courtyard. The building just beside the entrance door of the Harem is called KUBBEALTI (The Dome), the administration center of the Ottoman Empire. The viziers, who got together and chaired by the grand vizier four days a week, took.important decisions about internal and foreign policy in this large embroidered room. The room behind the caged window located at the upper part of the large room was planned to enable the sultan to watch the meetings without being seen by the viziers. The Dome was also used for the negotiations of statesmen with the foreign ambassadors. The tower (forty one meters in height), located just above The Dome, was called 'THE JUSTICE TOWER' and constructed as a watch-tower and has become one of the architectural symbols of not only the palace, but also of Istanbul in the following years. The part used as Foreign Treasury in the Ottoman times and located beside The Dome is used as THE EXHIBITION OF AEMORY. In the previous ages, taxes received from various regions used to be kept here and the wages used to be paid every three months from here. The most important pieces of the armory are the swords of Mehmet II (the conqueror) and Muaviye (one of the Islam commanders), horse armour of Yavuz Sultan Selim, who conquered Middle East, many foreign guns and rifles, swords of executioners, Iranian and Turkish arrow and bow sets and other swords, pikes and armors, which are dated between the 16th - 19th. centuries.   When we pass through the Babussaded, the first building which faces us in the third courtyard is the one embellished with rich tiles named 'ARZ ODASI'. There is a throne and a fountain on the wall at the left corner of this reception hall, where the decisions taken at the Dome meetings are offered to the sultan and where foreign ambassadors were welcomed with ceremonies. The splashing sound of the fountain, which was turned on during private negotiations, avoided the unwanted listeners. The yellow, green and turquoise tiles on the walls are the finest examples of the Ottoman tile art. The designs of these tiles are often seen on the classical Turkish hand-made carpets as well. Arabic-written wall panels and sultan's monograms can be seen on the walls just opposite to the reception hall. Passing through the 2nd courtyard to the 3rd , the door facing us is named BABUSSADED or AKAGHALAR DOOR and is the third largest door of the palace. For 400 years the most important ceremonies were made in front of this door, which divides the administration area of the palace from the residential area of the sultan. Enthroning ceremonies of the new sultans, the army's being accompanied for a state of warfare, celebration of the new conquests, rewarding janissaries used to be held under the roof supported by six columns in front of this door. During the ceremonies Ottoman flag was put into the stone hole in the middle, sultan's throne was put in front of it and all high level civil servants and commanders took their place around this door forming a shape of a semicircle. The building to the right side of the third courtyard entrance was the ancient palace school, however it is now used as the office of the museum management. The first collection on the right wing of the courtyard is THE EXHIBITION OF TEXTILES in the room named 'Seferliler Kogu§u' (Travelers' Dormitory). Costumes of the Ottoman Sultans, Crown Princes and other valuable cloths are exhibited here. Fatih Kiosk near this collection, a building with two large domes, holds THE IMPERIAL TREASURY which is one of the most interesting parts of the palace.

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