Customer Reviews

The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire (Studies in Middle Eastern History)

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This book might be a disappointment to someone looking for gossip about life in the harem as envisioned by writers of fiction. But for anyone really interested in understanding the role of women and the domestic household in the royal court of a great Muslim Empire, this is the real thing, brilliantly researched and thoughtfully presented.

First off the book explains WHY female harems existed in the first place. The simple answer is this. If the sovereign gets married to a Princess of another power that power could lay claim to the throne. BUT if he has offspring with a bunch of slaves, women who are not of the Muslim faith and are not linked to powerful families, than outsiders could not lay claim to the throne by right of blood.
Yet don't think these concubines were powerless. In fact, through their sons and daughters, through networks based on retainers, son-in-laws and slaves, they gained great influence and wealth. Mothers of princes, wives and royal mothers to the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, they were a big part of the inner workings and political events within the palace.
They were eyes and ears of the Sultan when he was away, they were symbols of benevolence and powerful diplomats for the Empire, they were tutors and guardians for their sons.
The book has a helpful glossary, a two page genealogical chart, two maps and is VERY detailed. I would suggest this book ONLY to people interested in the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East or women in history. It is also VERY dry.

Even a non-expert like myself can appreciate the superb scholarship and eloquent style of a book about the Ottoman Imperial harem. A topic, about which too little is written and what little there is, tends to be fiction. I hope to see more books about Ottoman history and culture.

This is an excellent book. It is about the Harem, but not about fantasies or orientalist vision, its about power. It is an excellent investigation that worries about the structure and the vision of power in the Ottoman dinasty. Th sexual reproduction and the administration of the royal household was not only a matter of the palace but a matter of the imperial structure itself. Working from inside the harem, sultanas, concubines and princes determinated the reproduction of power in the Ottoman imperial family, and also in the Empire as a whole.

Bravo Aleik!

I found this book to be boring. Plain and simple. This book read like a college text book and not a colorful interpretation of Ottoman life.

I have read other interpretations of historical periods and found that the ones that read like a novel and not like a book for geared towards individuals studying for their doctorial thesis are more interesting and allow the average reader the opportunity to truly develop a sense of history.