Little secrets of the great harem of the Ottoman Empire. Harem time
History of the harem in the Ottoman Empire
Kazan researcher Bulat Nogmanov, whose publications are read by Mintimer Shaimiev, continues to acquaint the readers of Realnoe Vremya with his observations about the culture and history of Turkey. In today's column, he continues to talk about such a delicate phenomenon in the life of the empire as the Sultan's harem.
Perhaps one of the most controversial topics in the history of the Ottoman Empire is the topic of the Sultan's harem and the position of its inhabitants. Ideas about the harem were largely formed under the influence of notes and memoirs of Western travelers and ambassadors who supposedly happened to be in the harem. It should be noted that at that time this was a rather difficult task, since the harem was a forbidden institution, and entry was ordered there not only to strangers, but also to the male inhabitants of the Sultan's court, of course, except for the Sultan himself. In today's note, we will try to reveal some of the secrets of this mysterious institution.
The first European who told the general public about the harem and its inhabitants was personal doctor Sultana Murad III Dominio Hiroso Limiano, who described the layout of the harem and left information about local traditions, how local women live and about the school for the Sultan's relatives. The second European who, according to his personal statements, managed to see some of the women of the harem was the organ maker Thomas Dellum. In 1599, Queen Elizabeth, together with Dallam, sent an organ with a clockwork to Sultan Murad III as a gift. However, before Dellam's arrival in Istanbul, Murad III dies, and his son Mehmed III ascends the throne. Nevertheless, the English master delivers a gift, and spends a whole month in the palace, assembling and tuning the organ. After that, there were many travelers, ambassadors and jewelers who claimed that they were the first who managed to visit the harem. However, for most researchers, the main written source not only on the harem, but also on the history of the Ottoman Empire, is the work of an employee of the Swedish embassy Muradya d "Osson" General Picture of the Ottoman Empire ", which he published in 1791. And as an artistic source depicting life in a harem, the famous engraving by Melling is accepted.The first Ottoman researcher who, by special permission, managed to visit the Topkapı Palace and describe the residence of the courtiers was Abdurahman Eref.Eref published the results of his research between 1910 and 1911.
Antoine-Ignace Melling. In the Sultan's harem. 1810. Ill. orientaliststyle.com
If I were a sultan, I would be single
The words of the famous song from the movie "Prisoner of the Caucasus" were very relevant for the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. To avoid political and legal consequences, with the exception of some rulers, they did not marry, but took “jariye”, which translates into Russian as “concubine”, although the Ottomans themselves put a slightly different meaning into this concept - a female slave or maid.
So, in order to maintain the institution of "jariyye", which, by the way, were recruited according to the principle of "devshirme" (shifters), a harem system was formed in the Ottoman Empire. What did the Sultan's harem represent? First of all, it was a hierarchical system, headed by the mother of the Sultan and the chief eunuch, designed to facilitate the continuation of the Sultan's family. male line. Not all the inhabitants of the harem were concubines. Only the most successful girls were allowed to the Sultan, who were taught the basics of Islam, Turkic culture, literature, the art of versification, embroidery, music and much more. If the Enderun school under the Sultan was engaged in the preparation of future civil servants, then the harem prepared future wives for these same employees. This was done so that a civil servant appointed to remote corners of the empire would not be overgrown family ties with the local population and retained personal loyalty to the Sultan.
Zulfiya is ironing my robe at the blackboard
All the women of the harem were busy various works housekeeping of the palace. Each of them, depending on the position and social status paid a daily allowance. For example, the mother of Sultan Murad III Nurbanu received 3,000 Akçe daily. For comparison, at the same time, the head of the Janissary corps received only 500 akce. The wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (Kanuni), Khurrem Sultan, known to many readers from the film The Magnificent Century, received 2,000 Akçe as a daily allowance. distribution wages handled by the chief eunuch.
Khurem Sultan. Painting of the 15th century. ill. wikipedia.org
The inhabitants of the harem lived in rooms of five people. To four young girls, for the sake of order, a woman aged was sure to share. The mother of the sultan and the pregnant jarias, who had the status of haseki, lived in separate chambers. The greatest authority in the harem was Valide Sultan, that is, the mother of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. After her, the chief eunuch, the daughters of the Sultan and the milk mother of the Sultan.
Between the pregnant "wives" of the Sultan, disputes arose very often about which of the sons would become the next ruler. Various unions and groups were formed, into which viziers, members of the sofa, the Janissary corps and other civil servants were drawn willy-nilly. Intrigues were woven, conspiracies and coups were being prepared.
In view of the fact that legal status the jariye were slaves, and Islam forbade the enslavement of Muslims, the inhabitants of the harems were mainly representatives of other cultures and religions. Among historians there is a conventional wisdom that this is what led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
Bulat Nogmanov
Reference
Bulat Nogmanov- researcher, translator.
- Born on 10/31/1985 in the village of Apastovo, Apastovsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan.
- In 2008 he graduated from the International Kazakh-Turkish University. HA. Yasawi majoring in International Relations.
- In 2010, he graduated from Ankara University with a master's degree in the same specialty.
- Member of ethnographic expeditions.
- Member of the Tatarstan branch of the Russian Geographical Society.
- Speaks English, Turkish and Kazakh.
For many centuries, harem life was protected from prying eyes not only by the inhabitants of the rest of the world, but also by most of the men of the Topkapi Palace itself. In translation, harem means "what is forbidden." The life of the girls was not sweet, and their path was thorny and long. But why were many slaves happy to be in the center of the Sultan's life after being captured?
Luxury under duress
None of the women could get into this place of their own free will enough long time. Yes, and the limited information did not make it possible to learn more about this place. From the 13th to the 19th centuries, only slaves captured by Ottoman soldiers could get into the heart of Istanbul. Those young girls who met the requirements of the palace were taken into service. Here they were taught the sacrament of seduction, taught literacy, self-care.
Girls who were able to move into the category of ikbal (the concubines of the ruler) received not only a personal slave in the service, they lived in luxury and prosperity. From the 16th century, if one of the sultan's parishioners gave birth to a child, she received the honorary title of "sultana". It is interesting that before this period, any of the women of the harem, regardless of her title, was referred to in no other way than “khatun”, which means “woman” in translation. This title was for a long time, even before the reign of Suleiman I Kanuni, even the mothers of the current sultans were valid.
Each of the residents of the "heart" of the palace received a monthly fee for their service. It is thanks to such books, in which each woman who received payment in Ottoman coins - akce, was manually written out, modern historians can determine the exact time of life of each of the inhabitants of the harem, since it is quite difficult to find other documents about them and their lives.
The highest paid woman in the harem was the Valide Sultan. Her income exceeded the wages of slaves by 5 or even 6 times. The richest women of the harem of their time were considered valid Hafsa Sultan (mother of Suleiman I), Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (Haseki Suleiman I), Nurbanu Valide Sultan and Safiye Valide Sultan. Their reign fell on the XVI - beginning of the XVII century. It was the sultan who set the fee for his subjects, including mothers.
An interesting fact is that simple slaves of the harem could never get on the khalvet (night of love) to the Sultan for the entire time of their service at the palace. What did the court servants do in such a case? As a rule, if a girl did not receive the honor of being noticed by the sultan or falling into the category of the chosen ones thanks to the advice of the valid sultan for 9 years at the palace, then she could ask the sovereign to be relieved of her duties and become a free woman. In this case, the Sultan picked her worthy husband from among the court pashas or servants of other sanjaks. At the same time, the woman still had no right to object to such a decision. She never returned to the palace.
What is the essence of harem titles
Each girl of the palace had her own special status - a title. None of them could be awarded from the first days of getting into the harem a title higher than a simple court slave doing the dirtiest work - cleaning, washing, serving the mistresses. But over time, she could be awarded the highest rank. As a rule, everything depended on her abilities and luck.
So there were several titles in the harem:
maid of the master's concubines;
maid to the valid sultan or sisters of the sultan;
concubine of the Sultan;
the mother of the Sultan's child;
sultana;
Sultan's sister
Sultan's mother.
An ordinary slave had practically no rights, she lived in a common room with other slaves. She had a certain amount of work for the day, was trained in language and literacy at school, the art of seduction. I didn't have free time to do what I love. If she was more lucky than the rest of the girls, then she could rise to the heights. If higher personalities were satisfied with her work, then she could become a personal servant of the valid, concubines, or even become one of the favorites of the Sultan.
Only slaves became the concubines of the Sultan. They couldn't be free girls, because according to the rules of the harem, he had to take her as his wife after the first halvet with him. Such concubines had slaves in their service, did not perform any difficult tasks, but continued to study at school. At the same time, for disobedience, slander, or physical reprisal against the inhabitants of the harem, she could be expelled by the Sultan or his mother from the palace. Their monthly pay was higher than that of ordinary slaves. They had private quarters. The main task of the concubines is to satisfy the Sultan, maintain conversations with him and give birth to a child.
Many commoners sold their beautiful daughters to the harem. Circassian women sang a lullaby to their little daughters with these words: “You will become the wife of the Sultan, you will be strewn with diamonds ...”. When selling, the parents signed documents waiving their rights to their daughter.
If concubines purchased in this way were found physical handicaps, bad manners or some other defect, her price dropped sharply, and her parents received less money than expected.
Received an education in a harem
Harem was like Education Centre. The concubines were taught literacy, theology, dancing, playing the musical instruments, etiquette, eloquence and the ability to keep up the conversation. And already, among other disciplines, there was the art of giving pleasure to a man (as you already understood, this discipline could never be needed).
The most beautiful slaves whom the sultan could choose as his wife had to be especially carefully dealt with - the surviving letters of the sultan's wives testify to their high education. Having received the status of a wife, they founded charitable institutions and even supervised the construction of mosques.
Sex with the Sultan was rare
Most of the concubines spent their whole lives in the harem, without even seeing their master with their own eyes. Despite the fact that the court flatterers extolled the male power of the Sultan to the skies (they were paid for this), he was just an ordinary man, and could not satisfy the innumerable regiments of his wards of women even with a strong desire.
It also happened that the Sultan had no interest in opposite sex. And then already the harem entirely vegetated in forced celibacy.
Life in the harem was strictly regulated
The harem had a strict hierarchy and rigid discipline. The concubines were paid daily. They were well cared for, but also severely punished for misconduct.
Judging by the list of positions, the harem looked more like a bureaucratic institution: it had the heads of the harem protocol service, the keepers of the key to the treasury and the keepers of the great sultan's seal, responsible for the wine cellar. In the 18th century, 320 inhabitants of the harem were in “economic” positions, and only 15 slaves were officially listed as the favorites of the Sultan.
Sex on Fridays - only with my wife!
The bureaucracy has spread to such an informal side as sex. Of course, the Sultan could have fun with anyone and at any time (again, subject to certain ceremonial and bureaucratic formalities), but not on Friday. Sultans were required to spend the night from Friday to Saturday with only one of their wives. If the padishah neglected his duties for three consecutive Fridays, the wife had the right to go to court.
Since the sultan, by law, could have from four to eight wives, in order to avoid overlaps, one of the concubines, like the floor attendant in Soviet hotels, kept a “log book”, where she carefully recorded all the visits of the padishah with her spouses.
You could quit the harem
The concubine, on whom the choice of the Sultan did not fall, after 9 years of service in the harem, had the right to apply for resignation for own will and leave the harem. The Sultan gave her a dowry, a house, helped her find a husband and issued a document confirming her status as a free person.
Not everyone used this right, preferring a comfortable life in a harem to the complexities of life in freedom. And some dissolute concubines, having married, after a while divorced their husbands, explaining this by the fact that they were used to getting more pleasure in the harem from black eunuchs.
The harem was the state apparatus
The harem was also important, albeit informal, government agency. It is known that sometimes the inhabitants of the harem had such strong influence on the sultans, who even interfered in state affairs.
And the period from 1550 to 1656 is completely known as the "Women's Sultanate" - at this time a whole series of women had a great influence on the state affairs of the Ottoman Empire. The period, however, was marked by the gradual decline of the state, but, of course, it was just a coincidence.
The sultan set the beauty standards of the harem
For example, Sultan Ibrahim I (1640-1648) had a weakness for obese women. Slaves of outstanding size were sought out throughout the empire and brought to the Sultan's harem, where they were forced to lead a sedentary lifestyle and overeat with sweets so that they would get even stronger. The weight of the beauties of Ibrahim's harem varied between 114-220 kg. Ibrahim's favorite concubine Sheker Para ("Sugar") was an impressive lady weighing about 230 kg.
Text: Andrey Dubrovsky
To the question When and why did harems appear? given by the author Yana yana the best answer is History of the harem
The harem was the dwelling where the head of the family lived with his women, slaves and children. When such a formation arose in the palace, it was called "Dar-us-saadet", that is, "House of Happiness". The owner there, of course, was the Sultan himself. Although the harem of the Ottoman sultans is best known, the Abbasids and Seljukids also had “Houses of Happiness” before them.
At first, only slaves were kept in the harem, and the daughters of Christian rulers from neighboring countries were taken as wives. This tradition changed after Bayezid II (1481–1512)*, when the sultans began to choose wives from among the inhabitants of the harem.
When Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror (1451-1481) took Constantinople in 1453, he embellished the city with beautiful buildings. On the current Bayezid Square, he built a palace on the model of the palaces that existed in the former capitals of Bursa and Edirne. This palace was used for some time, but soon it became small, and in 1472-1478. The vast Topkapi Palace was built, which eventually turned into a giant complex of buildings. Here state affairs were decided, here the sultan appeared before his subjects when he marched to the mosque. The old palace was used as a harem, but Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) organized the Saray Duhteran (“Palace of Women”) in his new residence.
In 1587, during the reign of Murad III (1574-1595), the harem was completely moved to Topkapı Palace. Unfortunately, the building of the harem burned down during a fire in 1665, then it was restored again, but the Istanbul earthquake of 1776 completely destroyed this unique architectural structure. The harem was rebuilt and lasted until Mahmud II (1808–1839). Later, the harem lost its former charm, unable to withstand competition with palaces (the so-called "beautiful villas") on the Bosphorus.
Of course, the main persons of the harem were the sultans themselves. After them followed the rank of the valide (mother of the Sultan). When her son ascended the throne, the valide, accompanied by a magnificent procession, moved from the old palace to the new one and settled in special chambers. Following the valide were kadyn-efendi - the wives of the sultan. Without a doubt, the most colorful inhabitants of the harem were jariye (slave). In addition, a special class of ministers was formed - harem-agalars (eunuchs), responsible for security. Dar-us-saadet agasy (harem security chief) was third in rank after the sadrazam (grand vizier) and sheikh-ul-islam (head of the Islamic hierarchy).
Source:
Answer from Gennady Vysotsky[active]
One woman is usually not enough
Answer from Larisa[guru]
When did harems appear? It is very difficult to say.
In the distant, distant times, Sultan Mohammed waged endless wars for the faith. Many of his warriors were ready to lay down their lives for such a holy cause. This is how serious problem: in the country grew a mountain of stacked male heads but the number of women without husbands has skyrocketed. And since the Koran forbids debauchery, there was only one way out - to legalize polygamy. And there were harems. Moreover, all the sultans and shahs immediately began to compete with each other, whose harem is more beautiful, centered and lascivious. The sultans were so dispersed that, like the shock workers of communist labor, they even competed with those who had higher productivity. But you understand that when the age of the owner of the harem is advanced, then an incentive is needed for productivity, that is, for each inhabitant of the harem to be a kind of simpomponchik, and preferably a marzipan. skimming through female population territories under their jurisdiction, the sultans sent their image viziers and personnel managers to the slave markets, to the same Constantinople.
Here the pirates sold exceptional, one might even say, charming goods. There was, however, one snag: at first it was fashionable to take only virgins into harems. So, the sultan, returning from the battlefields, was in a military way straight with the pretender to the concubine:
- Oh, the general of my desires!. .In short, cornet, are you a woman? And then we have a fashion for girls! .
- Oh, dad, you can’t keep up with fashion! - answered the applicant. So the fashion for virgins did not last long.
Continued here htp://
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Such a phenomenon as polygamy, which causes in most civilized countries, if not prosecution, then at least public censure, it turns out that a person is almost in the blood.
As British scientists from University College London found out, ancient people kept harems in which one dominant male was in charge.
Experts came to this conclusion as a result of a study of fossil remains that belonged to 35 hominids of the species Paranthropus robustus, who lived 1.5 - 2 million years ago.
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Jariyelik (“female slavery”) has existed for a long time. During the time of the Abbasids (750–1258), Baghdad became the most important market for slave women. The first female slaves appeared in the Ottoman harem under Sultan Orhan (1326-1362). After the tradition of marrying harem slaves appeared, Circassians, Georgians and Russians enjoyed the greatest preference. Caucasian girls For a long time they were famous for their beauty in the East, so the harem was replenished mainly at their expense, especially in the 17th century.
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Answer from Andrey[guru]
Harems appeared a very long time ago (several thousand years ago, you can find out more precisely in the literature). And the reason for their appearance was very simple. Arab nomads led a very difficult way of life. Valued only man's hands(and boys among newborns, respectively, and extra girls were simply killed). Otherwise, they simply could not survive. Widows were also killed. And with the development of this society, when the development of productive forces allowed more people to feed, men began to marry the widows of their dead brothers (leaving them life, you must admit this is humane). Well, over time, everything turned into what it turned into.
Abundance, laziness and voluptuousness. Nude girls by the pool, dancing belly dance, entertaining their master... Europeans form such an associative array at the word harem. However, reality looks different...
The name "harem" comes from the Arabic word "harim" - separated, forbidden. This is a closed and guarded residential part of the palace or house, in which the wives of a high-ranking eastern statesman lived. Women, as a rule, were under the supervision of the first wife or eunuchs. The first wife had the right to share the title of owner of the harem.
The head of the sultan's harem was the mother of the padishah, "valide sultan", she also selected all the women for her son. It was not difficult to get into the harem, but only a few managed to achieve recognition there and really bathe in luxury.
Officially, the future depended on beauty and talent, but it was only visible side question. In fact, everything depended on cunning and thoughtfulness. Only the most intelligent became the first wives of the Sultan, and his vassals, achieved high positions in the harem.
The rest lived there old age, plunging into household chores, serving the entire harem. Sometimes these women have never even seen their husband up close. This is not surprising, because in those days the harem contained several thousand women.
The cruelties of harem life
The harem, like a state in some way, had its own strict laws and hierarchies. So, in the Turkish harem, the Sultan could at any moment be carried away by a new beautiful concubine and make her legal wife, and then he ordered the execution of old wives, so as not to support those he did not need ...
The methods of destruction were not the simplest: a bored wife, or a concubine, was put alive in a leather bag, thrown there wild cat or a poisonous snake, they tied a bag, and lowered it with a tied stone into the waters of the Bosphorus along a special stone chute. The guilty were considered lucky if they knew in advance that they would simply be quickly strangled with a silk cord.
History of the harem
The first written mention of the harem dates back to the 15th century and tells about the way of the harem in the Ottoman Empire.
At first, only slaves were kept in the harem, and the daughters of Christian rulers from neighboring countries were taken as wives. This tradition changed after Bayezid II (1481-1512), when the sultans began to choose wives from among the inhabitants of the harem.
When Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror (1451-1481) took Constantinople in 1453, he embellished the city with beautiful buildings. On the current Bayezid Square, he built a palace on the model of the palaces that existed in the former capitals of Bursa and Edirne.
This palace was used for some time, but soon it became small, and in 1472-1478. The vast Topkapi Palace was built, which eventually turned into a giant complex of buildings. Here state affairs were decided, here the sultan appeared before his subjects when he marched to the mosque.
The old palace was used as a harem, but Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) organized the Saray Duhteran (“Palace of Women”) in his new residence.
In 1587, during the reign of Murad III (1574-1595), the harem was completely moved to Topkapı Palace. Unfortunately, the building of the harem burned down during a fire in 1665, then it was restored again, but the Istanbul earthquake of 1776 completely destroyed this unique architectural structure.
The harem was rebuilt and lasted until Mahmud II (1808–1839). Later, the harem lost its former charm, unable to withstand competition with palaces (the so-called "beautiful villas") on the Bosphorus.
Hierarchy in the harem
Of course, the main persons of the harem were the sultans themselves. After them followed the rank of the valide (mother of the Sultan). When her son ascended the throne, the valide, accompanied by a magnificent procession, moved from the old palace to the new one and settled in special chambers. Following the valide were kadyn-efendi - the wives of the sultan.
Without a doubt, the most colorful inhabitants of the harem were jariye (slave). In addition, a special class of ministers was formed - the harem-agalars (eunuchs), responsible for security. Dar-us-saadet agasy (harem security chief) was third in rank after the sadrazam (grand vizier) and sheikh-ul-islam (head of the Islamic hierarchy).
Slaves
The Caucasian princes sent their daughters to the Ottoman harem in the hope that they would become the chosen ones of the Sultan. They even sang a lullaby to them: "Here you will become the wife of the Sultan and you will be strewn with diamonds." Slaves were bought at the age of 5-7 years and brought up to full physical development.
As they grew older, they were taught music, etiquette, the art of pleasing a man. IN adolescence the girl was previously shown in the palace. If she was found to have physical defects, bad manners, or any other faults, the price of her fell, and her father received less money than he expected.
The girls' parents had to sign documents stating that they had sold their daughter and no longer had any rights to her.
Slaves, whom the Sultan could most likely choose as his wives, had to be very carefully trained. Those who converted to Islam learned to read the Koran, prayed together or separately.
Having received the status of a wife, they built mosques and founded charitable institutions, as they provided for Muslim traditions. The surviving letters of the Sultan's wives testify to their wide knowledge.
Together with all the difficulties, the slaves received a daily allowance, the amount of which changed with each new sultan. They were given money and gifts on the occasion of weddings, festivities and birthdays. The slaves were well taken care of, but the Sultan severely punished those who deviated from the established rules.
After nine years, a slave not chosen by the Sultan had the right to leave the harem. The Sultan gave her a dowry, a house and helped her find a husband. The slave received a document signed by the Sultan, confirming her status as a free person. It is known that some voluptuous concubines made love to each other or to eunuchs, despite the fact that they were castrated.
The eunuchs had many such adventures. Some of the slaves, having received freedom and married, after a while divorced their husbands, justifying themselves like this: “I used to get more pleasure from communicating with black servants” ...
eunuchs
All eunuchs were brought from African countries, that is, they were blacks. And this was the unpretentious calculation of the Sultan. After all, it was so easy to find a guilty woman - if children appeared from sinful behavior with a eunuch, they were black. But this was very rare, because all eunuchs, as mentioned above, were castrated.
Terrible Roxalana
Due to the subtleties of politics, until the 16th century, only Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Croatian girls could be found in the harem. Orkhan-gazi, who ruled in the fifteenth century, married the daughter of Emperor Constantine, Princess Caroline, Sultan Bayazit married one of the Byzantine princesses. But most famous wife the padishah in the entire history of the harem was Khyurem Sultan - Ukrainian Roksolana. She was the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent for forty years.
The daughter of the Ukrainian priest Gavrila Lisovsky, Nastya, was kidnapped by the Crimean Tatars during one of the raids, on the eve of her own wedding. The Tatars, struck by her beauty, sent the girl to Istanbul, one of the largest slave markets in the Muslim East.
Once in the palace, Nastya learned to speak Turkish, converted to Islam. In the palace she was given a new name Roksolana. The padishah was young, appreciated feminine beauty. The cunning Ukrainian woman kindled a furious passion in the Sultan and swore that she would become the lawful wife of the padishah. Through intrigue, skillful seduction, bribes to eunuchs and oaths, Roxalana got her way.
Having become the wife of the padishah, in an effort to strengthen her position, she gave birth to three sons to Sultan Suleiman. According to the laws of faith, the padishah could have four legal wives. Children from the first wife became heirs to the throne. The firstborn occupied the throne, the rest of the contenders for power were destroyed.
The padishah's children from his first wife, of course, became mortal enemies of Roksolana, who secretly told the sovereign about the "terrible conspiracy." Suleiman gave the order to kill his children from his first wife.
Later, Roksolana poisoned her mother-in-law, who was unhappy with the Ukrainian daughter-in-law, and also ordered to find all the other sons of Suleiman throughout the country, who were then secretly killed.
Modern harems
The last harem was closed in 1909, after the abdication of the throne by Abdul-Hamid II. The Sultan was expelled from the Topkapı Palace, which was turned into a museum.
IN modern Turkey there are no more harems. However, the Turks add, smiling, only according to official data. In rural areas in the south-east of the country, polygamy still exists.
The owners of modern harems are rich people: owners of carpet workshops, successful farmers, owners of factories who can adequately support several wives: feed, clothe, shoe and give a roof over their heads.
Girls are still being forced into marriage. Throwing dolls, hastily tying a national Turkish scarf - a symbol married woman, twelve-year-old girls go to the house of an elderly husband.
Many little girls were given away in marriage so early because of poverty and many children in the family, not being able to feed ...
Today, despite pressure from the West, Islam, as before, allows polygamy.
In many Arab countries, it is officially allowed to have up to 4 wives. But not every man will be able to "pull" such a family. After all, all wives need to be provided with equal conditions, apartments, cars, support children, again ...
So, one of the relatively advantageous countries for living in a harem are United Arab Emirates. There are strict laws regarding the financial maintenance of their wives and their children. However, not all so simple.
Along with luxury, it is very difficult for a woman to achieve at least some respect for herself there, she, like many centuries ago, remains "the silent shadow of her husband."
Within the family, there are cruel and incomprehensible laws for the European world: violence, for the betrayal of a wife - the death penalty, for resisting the will of a husband - divorce, and blackmail - children (children are taken, as a rule, by the husband, without the right to see their mother) and much more ...
As the saying goes: "the East is a delicate matter" ... We Europeans will probably never understand it!
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