A seraglio is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish household, from an Italian variant of Turkish saray, meaning 'palace, enclosed courts'. Marriage is a relationship that plays a key role in the definition of many families. ... Concubinage is either the state of a couple living together as lovers with no obligation created by vows, legal marriage, or religious ceremony, or the state of a woman supported by a male lover who is married to, and usually living with, someone else. ...

It is related to harem, and therefore in the heated European Orientalist imagination a place of dalliance, debauchery and odalisques. In the context of the turquerie fashion, Western prejudiced notions got enshrined in works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's immortal comical Singspiel (Opera in German; serail=seraglio) Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The term can also refer to other traditional Turkish palaces (every imperial prince had his own) and other grand houses built around courtyards. In traditional Arab culture, the harîm حريم (cf. ... Orientalism is the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, by Westerners. ... Odalisque with a slave by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, painted 1840. ... Singspiel is form of German-language musical drama, similar to opera, but with a lot of spoken dialog and simpler, folk-like, strophic songs. ... The Abduction from the Seraglio (K. 384; in German Die Entführung aus dem Serail) is a comic opera in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ...

Description

A Turkish harem staff commonly included eunuchs. These were slaves, either captured in war (mainly Christian Europeans in the Balkan) or recruited within the empire (especially Caucasians from Georgia and Armenia and blacks from Egypt and its Sudan south) or even beyond (especially in Abyssiania). Black eunuchs usually were Sandali (i.e. their genitalia were entirely amputated), hence they were preferred for harem service, while White eunuchs were usually kept part of their penis and/or testicles, so they were assigned to less 'intimate' duties, e.g. secretarial. They were often donated to the Sultan by his governors, in total about six- to eight hundred. In Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı), the main Ottoman palace in Istanbul, now a museum, the Kizlar Agha, the chief black eunuch, was the master of the harem, sometimes considered second only to the Grand Vizier (head of the imperial government, but often working in his own palace or even away, e.g. on military campaign) in the confidence of the Sultan, to whom he had and arranged access (including his bedchamber, the nec plus ultra for every harem lady), also being his confidential messenger. As commander of an imperial army corps, the baltaci (halberdiers), he even held the supreme military dignity of three-tail pasha (general). Meanwhile the Kapi Agha, the chief white eunuch, was in charge of 300 to 900 white eunuchs as head of the 'Inner Service' (the palace bureaucracy, controlling all messages, petitions, and State documents addressed to the Sultan), head of the Palace School (school for pages training as white eunuchs), gatekeeper-in-chief, head of the infirmary, and master of ceremonies of the Seraglio, and was originally the only one allowed to speak to the Sultan in private. In 1591, Murad III transferred the powers of the white to the black eunuchs as there were too many embezzlements and various other nefarious crimes attributed to the white eunuchs, but later they regained some favor. During the Kadinlar Sultanati, the eunuchs increased their political leverage by taking advantage of child Sultans or mentally incompetent ones, causing political instability. The teenage Sultans were "guided" by regencies formed by the Valide Sultan, the Grand Vizier and the Valide's other supporters- and the Kizlar Agha was the Valide Sultan's and Kadin's intimate and value accomplice. A eunuch is an infertile human male whose testicles have either been removed (deliberately or by accident) or are otherwise non-functional. ... The Tower of Justice, Topkapi Palace Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı in Turkish, literally the Cannongate Palace - named after a nearby gate), located in Istanbul (Constantinople), was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1465 to 1853. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power (1683) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Söğüt (1299-1326), Bursa (1326-1365), Edirne (1365-1453), Ä°stanbul (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanl... Satellite image of Istanbul and the Bosphorus Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) is Turkeys largest city, and its cultural and economic center. ... A Vizier (وزير, sometimes also spelled Wazir) is an Arabic term for a high-ranking religious and political advisor, often to a king or sultan. ... Pasha (or pascha, bashaw; Turkish: paÅŸa) originally from Persian padshah or padeshah meaning king) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors and generals. ... Murad III Murad III (July 4, 1546 – January 15, 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death. ... The Valide Sultan was the mother of a ruling sultan in the Ottoman Empire. ...

• A caravanserai, an alternate westernization of saray, is an inn or rest stop for caravans.

A caravanserai (also spelt caravansarai, caravansary) or khan (the usual term in Arab countries) was a roadside inn where caravans could rest and recover from the days journey. ...

Sources and references

(incomplete)

• AllAboutTurkey

See also

• Circassian beauties
• Culture of the Ottoman Empire
• Devşirme system
• Hammam
• Harem
• Köçek
• Millet system
• Odalisque
• Ottoman Turkish language