The Valide Sultan was in charge of the eunuchs who guarded the harem. The Ottomans adopted the practice of keeping eunuchs, or castrated slaves, from the Byzantines. Part of the reason the Ottomans preferred eunuchs when choosing guards because there was little chance of them forming romantic relationships with the women in the harem. But eunuchs were also incapable of fathering children and the Sultans assumed that men who couldn’t have a dynasty of their own would be more likely to give their total allegiance to their master. The eunuchs in the harem served as advisors, military commanders, and if necessary, executioners.
Of course, the politics of the royal court were constantly shifting. And the women of the harem were often able to gain significant influence in the Empire. The Valide Sultan, in particular, was a position with a great deal of authority. As the mother of the Sultan, she often served as regent if a Sultan came to power at a young age. And many were reluctant to surrender that influence when the Sultan came of age. The Valide Sultan controlled much of the royal family’s wealth and often had the allegiance of the palace eunuchs as well, which meant she had considerable power if she chose to exercise it.
Even women in the harem who were slaves could become major players in the politics of the Empire. The Sultan was the final authority on all matters, so anyone who held significant influence over him could become very powerful. Young or weak-willed Sultans were often effectively controlled by favored concubines or the Valide Sultan. And the Sultan often gave women from his harem in marriage to nobles he wanted to curry favor with, which meant that the women of the harem formed networks of influence across the Empire. But that influence could also be dangerous.
While generally speaking the women in the harem were safe from violence, there was always the chance that the Sultan or his mother would execute those who displeased them. Usually, this was because they took part in a political power struggle and loss. But this wasn’t always the case. The Sultan Ibrahim the Mad famously ordered hundreds of his concubines drowned in the Bosphorus Strait in a fit of paranoia. And it wasn’t just the women at risk. The Sultan’s sons were raised in the harem and when he died, his successor would often have his younger siblings strangled to eliminate threats to his rule.
And that’s probably the best way to think of the harem. It was a place where women were effectively imprisoned and lived at the whim of the Sultan. While sexual servitude wasn’t really the major element of their lives as we usually imagine it was, it was always a possibility. And while women could, and did, use their position in the harem to wield more power than most women, they were still part of a society where women were rarely given any power as a whole. The women in the harem walked this tightrope between power and servitude their entire lives.
Sources For Further Reading:
All about Turkey – The Ottoman Harem
The National News – ‘A Magnificent Century’ Made Less So By Its Dark Corners
Hurriyet Daily News – African Slaves In The Ottoman Empire
Ancient Origins – Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire Served the Sultan in More Ways Than One
Daily Sabah – Rethinking The Imperial Harem: What Did Life Look Like For Ottoman Palace Women?