The kizlar agha, formally the agha of the House of Felicity, was the head of the eunuchs who guarded the Ottoman Imperial Harem in Constantinople.
Image of a 17th-century Kizlar Agha, from the Rålamb Book of Costumes
19th-century depiction of the Chief Black Eunuch (left), a court dwarf (middle) and the Chief White Eunuch (right)
Depiction of a Kizlar Agha, c. 1809
Postcard with the chief black eunuch of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, early 20th century
A eunuch is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, castrato singers, concubines or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants.
The Harem Ağası, head of the black eunuchs of the Ottoman Imperial Harem
A group of eunuchs. Mural from the tomb of the prince Zhanghuai, 706 AD.
Limestone wall relief depicting an Assyrian royal attendant, a eunuch. From the Central Palace at Nimrud, Iraq, 744–727 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.
Chief Eunuch of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II at the Imperial Palace, 1912