THE SULTAN'S HAREM.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13410, 30 April 1909, Page 7

THE SULTAN'S HAREM.

Tho Saltan's harem is a State institution, and nil children born within its walls, whether the offspring of free women or of slaves, a> - e legitimate and ot equal lii;e3ge. The haiein is administered by the Valideh-Sultan (sometimes called the Sultana) who- is the mother or foster-mother of Abdul Hamid. The harem is organised into a hierarchy, at tho head of which stand the kadineconsorts, or first four wives of/tTio Sultan. The kadines come next. They are treated with the same consideration as the kadine-consorts, but they can only obtain tho latter dignity "when vacancies occur among the first four wives. The ikbals, or favourites, eorne next. The moment an ikbal gives birth to a child she is elevated to the rank of a kadine. The godildis or "young women who are pleasant to tho eye' , are next. All the women of the "imperial harom are of slave origin and they come chiefly from the Circassian and Georgian peasnntry. During the reign ot previous Sultana tho harem sometimes reached th? enormous size of 1500 or ]600 women. Abdul-Hamid, however, has never maintained a harem of more than 300 or 400. His family numbers thirteen children, five of whom are boys.