The Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the wives, servants, female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (seraglio) of the Ottoman imperial household. This institution played an important social function within the Ottoman court, and wielded considerable political authority in Ottoman affairs, especially during the long period known as the Sultanate of Women.
A cariye or imperial concubine.
The Courtyard of the Favourites in the harem of Topkapı Palace
Chief Black Eunuch of the Ottoman court; Photo, 1912.
The Courtyard of the Eunuchs in Topkapı Palace
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was a major institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and traditional society. The main sources of slaves were wars and politically organized enslavement expeditions in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Southeast Europe, and Africa. It has been reported that the selling price of slaves decreased after large military operations. In Constantinople, the administrative and political center of the Ottoman Empire, about a fifth of the 16th- and 17th-century population consisted of slaves. Statistics of these centuries suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from the Black Sea slave trade have totaled around 2.5 million from 1453 to 1700.
Ottomans with European slaves depicted in a 1608 engraving in Salomon Schweigger's account of his 1578 journey in the Ottoman Empire.
An Ottoman painting of Balkan children taken as soldier-slaves, or janissaries.
Ottoman torture of slaves, 1684
Slave market with Europeans being sold in Algiers, Ottoman Algeria, 1684