Batılı Kadın Seyyahların Anlatımlarında Haremde Doğum Kutlamaları

Abstract

Turkey has been the starting point of travels to the East in the 19th century, as in previous centuries. The improvement of travel conditions, the development of railways and steamships, the publication of guidebooks for travelers going to the East and the Ottoman Empire, revived the travel literature and allowed many travelogues to be written. It is known that a small number of women, such as Lady Montagu and Elizabeth Craven, who could travel with the opportunities of the upper class in the previous century, came to Ottoman lands with official relations. In the 19th century, it was seen that women from the middle-lower class traveled, and information about the Ottoman harem was obtained through the travel books they wrote. In this study, birth rituals, which are a part of the social life of women, will be included in the eyes of Western female travelers who were able to enter the harem. Most of the Western travelers observed the customs and traditions of Ottoman women such as engagement, marriage, birth, hosting guests. In the life of Ottoman women, we witness that after marriage, birth is traditionally celebrated with a ceremony such as weddings and holidays. Each of these traditions has its customs and procedures. It is a common custom, especially among wealthy Turkish women, to receive guests until midnight for seven days from the birth of the first son. This tradition is practiced in a much more ostentatious way among members of the dynasty. Having a child, which strengthens family ties in Turkish society, has enabled marriage to be seen as one of the means of legitimacy as a requirement of the religion of Islam. Since children are given special importance in Turkish society, married couples are often expected to have children. As an inevitable result of this expectation, the birth of the child was given importance in the society in general, and the births of the children were celebrated with demonstrations. In addition to Ottoman archives and records, this issue was mentioned in Surnames and manuscripts with miniatures, and it found its place in the narratives of female travelers in travel books that constitute the majority of our research. Thus, the fact that female travelers who came to the capital of the empire included birth celebrations in the harem contributed to the promotion of this tradition. Keywords: Travelogue, Harem, Birth rituels.