Royal Harem Research Articles

The Queen and the Sultana: Early Modern Female Circuits of Diplomacy and the Consumption of Gendered Luxury Items Between East and West

Between 1593 and 1599, Queen Elizabeth I of England corresponded with the Ottoman Sultana Safiye (c. 1550-1606), favorite concubine of Sultan Murad III and mother of Sultan Mehmed III. Of this exchange, only the Sultana’s letters and mentions of the expensive and undeniably gendered gifts sent between London and Constantinople (such as English cosmetics, Ottoman female dresses and jewelry…) remain. And yet, these fragments give us a glimpse of how two royal women of the early modern period, at a crossing between East and West, established a transcultural female circuit of exchange, not only to promote efficient diplomatic relationships but also to enable the transit of specifically female objects of status and power between the English court and the Ottoman harem. A close study of Elizabeth and Safiye’s correspondence, as well as the role of the Jewish kira (the Ottoman equivalent of a lady in waiting) Esperanza Malchi in relaying the correspondence between the royal harem and the English embassy, will help shed light on the often-overlooked roles that female friendship and material culture played in foreign diplomacy, a subject that is only recently coming under attention in gender, global and material studies of the early modern period.

Staging Power: Visual Strategies of Kingship in the Windsor Castle ‘Ishqnama Illustrated Manuscript

ABSTRACT The paper examines the Windsor Castle ‘Ishqnama, an autobiographical account of the amorous entanglements by the last king of Awadh, Wajid ‘Ali Shah (r. 1847–56), as one of the strategies for projecting an image of an ideal masculine ruler through the control over the bodies of “his” women—the paris (fairies) in his Parikhana, an establishment of women singers and dancers, many of whom were his mut‘a wives, and the women of his zenana. The ‘Ishqnama revealed the royal harem both visually and textually. The paper contextualises this strategic revealment by a tangential viewing of the harem of the contemporary Persian ruler, Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, who similarly revealed the women of his harem by photographing them at a critical period when his image as an ideal ruler was being eroded. Discourse surrounding Wajid Ali Shah’s association with the “fairies” was diverse, with reactions ranging from adulatory accounts, to severe criticism. The paper highlights these polemic narratives by the British on the one hand and a Persian traveller, Waqar al-Mulk Tabrizi who visited Lucknow in the 1870s on the other, to examine culturally diverse perceptions about what constituted the “right” exhibition of sexuality by a ruler and how this exhibition underlined his ability to rule.

Expressing Selves: A Comparative Study of the Memoirs of Tāj al-Salṭana and Bībī Maryam Bakhtiyārī

Abstract Born and raised in Nāṣirī Qajar Iran, both Sardār (commander) Maryam Bakhtiyārī (1874–1937), daughter of Ḥusayn Qulī Khan, the Īlkhānī (chief of the tribes) of the Bakhtiyārīs, an influential nomadic tribe, and Zahrā Khānum Tāj al-Salṭana (1884–1936), daughter of Nāṣir al-Dīn Shah, wrote memoirs. Both of these texts are incomplete, and only one - Tāj’s autobiography - has been translated into English. The two memoirs present the female narrative of Iranian society through two different lenses: from inside the royal harem and from the landscape of nomadic life. This article argues that despite their different lifestyles, both women were the subject of Foucault’s “docile body,” the “body as object and target of power,” which “may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved”1 in the misogynic institutions that controlled and employed them. As Saud Joseph argues, a “predominant patriarchal family system”2 designated guardians for these women through the male relatives. This system also allowed men to act with impunity so long as they fulfilled their procreation duty inside their family institution. Women, on the other hand, were the instruments of reproduction. This article also provides an overview of the ways these women reacted to the conditions constraining them. Their reactions distinguish Tāj’s and Maryam’s lives as role models who went beyond the social framework and pushed the boundaries.

Introduction

Introduction

Expressing Selves: A Comparative Study of the Memoirs of Tāj al-Salṭana and Bībī Maryam Bakhtiyārī

Abstract Born and raised in Nāṣirī Qajar Iran, both Sardār (commander) Maryam Bakhtiyārī (1874–1937), daughter of Ḥusayn Qulī Khan, the Īlkhānī (chief of the tribes) of the Bakhtiyārīs, an influential nomadic tribe, and Zahrā Khānum Tāj al-Salṭana (1884–1936), daughter of Nāṣir al-Dīn Shah, wrote memoirs. Both of these texts are incomplete, and only one - Tāj’s autobiography - has been translated into English. The two memoirs present the female narrative of Iranian society through two different lenses: from inside the royal harem and from the landscape of nomadic life. This article argues that despite their different lifestyles, both women were the subject of Foucault’s “docile body,” the “body as object and target of power,” which “may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved”1 in the misogynic institutions that controlled and employed them. As Saud Joseph argues, a “predominant patriarchal family system”2 designated guardians for these women through the male relatives. This system also allowed men to act with impunity so long as they fulfilled their procreation duty inside their family institution. Women, on the other hand, were the instruments of reproduction. This article also provides an overview of the ways these women reacted to the conditions constraining them. Their reactions distinguish Tāj’s and Maryam’s lives as role models who went beyond the social framework and pushed the boundaries.

A New Reading of Shiphrah and Puah – Recovering their Voices

Scholars have long debated whether Shiphrah and Puah, the feisty midwives of Exodus 2, were Hebrew or Egyptian. This article takes on the linguistic issue of their ethnicity and the etymology of their names anew, and, as a result, repositions them within Egyptian archaeological space. Situating them as Hebrew overseers of midwives within the central royal harem solves many of the problems of the biblical text while fully preserving its original ambiguity. A secondary objective is to recover yet more of their agency as midwives and their voice as tricksters within the context of both the Exodus account and Near Eastern culture in general. As a result, Shiphrah and Puah are redefined as powerful Israelite prophetesses, rather than lowly uneducated women, who boldly trick mighty Pharaoh with a double entendre retort. We finally propose a new linguistic reading of the denouement: their reward from God.

The Royal Harem of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–96): The Literary Portrayal of Women's Lives by Taj al-Saltana and Anonymous ‘Lady from Kerman’

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the royal harem and its functions during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–96), on the basis of two independent Persian-language sources written by noble Iranian women at the turn of nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Naser al-Din's daughter, Taj al-Saltana (1884–1936), who in her famous memoirs vividly rendered her early years spent on her imperial father's court, and ‘Lady from Kerman’ (whose identity remains, for the moment, unclear), who authored a latterly published travelogue of pilgrimage to Mecca and the holy Shi'a places in contemporary Iraq held by her in the early 1890s. The second part of the latter account is entirely dedicated to the sojourn in Tehran, where, upon coming back from the sacred journey, the woman was a frequent guest at the royal harem. Both accounts are unique as they are the only known first-hand sources penned by the female insiders of the harem in nineteenth-century Iran. Furthermore, both authors, who actually met each other, describe the same figures and events – which provide an opportunity to compare their relations and augment our knowledge about Iran in the late Naseri period.

Women in Praise of Women: Female Poets and Female Patrons in Qajar Iran

This study examines the poetry of two women of nineteenth-century Iran—one royal, one non-royal—and the women patrons for whom they composed praise poetry. Through the reconstruction of female-centered patronage networks and associated female-only performance venues, and via an examination of the active roles played by female patrons both in affairs of state and in the management of the immense royal harem, this study highlights the various ways in which members of several generations of women in Qajar Iran were involved in the production, dissemination and appreciation of poetry. It is argued here that these patronage and poetry production networks should be read as evidence of a female-centered literary tradition, one that was in dialogue with (and often intersected) the dominant male tradition; one that empowered the women actors within it to create a sisterhood of poets through which their art could be passed on from mother to daughter, and from daughter to granddaughter (and occasionally from mother to son).

Creating the New Egyptian Woman

In this tome, Russell examines four principal foci in her historiographicwork on Egypt: “the rise of capitalism, the development of an indigenousbureaucracy, the creation of a modern educational system, and the evolutionof the nationalist movement” (p. 5). The author compares and contrasts consumptionrates between lower-, middle-, and upper-class Egyptian womenand investigates how western patterns of capitalism paralleled and divergedfrom indigenous urban templates of consumerism. Against this backdrop,she frames women’s education “in a larger struggle for cultural and intellectualhegemony” (p. 7). Her engaging work is sprinkled with examples andanalyses of Egypt’s societal “contact and confrontation with Europeanthought and culture” (p. 8).Russell’s volume is intended to be accessible to non-specialists as wellas helpful to specialists in the field. Its sources include archival documentsfrom the Dar al-Kutub, L’Institut d’Egypte, the Egyptian National Archives,the libraries of the American University in Cairo and the PresbyterianHistorical Society in Philadelphia, and other primary materials. An earlierversion of this manuscript stemmed from the author’s doctoral researchunder the tutelage of Judith Tucker. Russell’s work is a noteworthy contributionto the fields of Middle East and women’s studies, communication,education, economics, and other related areas of inquiry.The author’s introduction addresses Qasim Amin’s concept of the “NewWoman.” Russell places the disparate views of Egyptian women in the contextof growing consumerism and educational opportunities in the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries. Chapter 2 discusses Khedive Ismail’snation-building, chapter 3 studies urban patterns of consumption and economicdevelopment, and chapter 4 deftly analyzes the rise of consumer cultureand advertising in the West in contrast to the development of robustconsumerism in Egypt. Chapter 5 addresses “The New Egyptian Womanand Her Western Sisters,” and chapters 6 and 7 focus on female education.The politics of textbooks is reviewed in chapter 8, which is followed by theauthor’s “Conclusion,” detailed notes, and a helpful index.An intriguing passage (p. 20) references the types of education receivedby male and female slaves in the royal harem. Russell explains that potential ...

The Politics of the Royal Harem and the Case of Bat-Sheba

The title gebîrâ in the Hebrew Bible has been discussed in terms of a cultic role, a political role, and as a title accorded to royal women who influenced the politics of Israel and Judah through their strong personalities. This article reviews the ancient Near Eastern documents that refer to the political influence of the queen or queen mother in the royal court. It then reviews documentation from the households of the royal family of the Ottoman Empire as a means of further supporting the argument that the title gebîrâ in the Hebrew Bible refers to a woman who is fulfilling a particular role in the polygynous royal harem. With the role of the gebîrâ defined, it is then argued that in 1 Kings 1-2, Bat-Sheba fulfills the role of the ancient Near Eastern gebîrâ.

Anna Vanzan. « From the Royal Harem to a Post-modern Islamic Society. Some Considerations on Women Prose Writers in Iran from Qajar Times to the 1990s », in : Ansari, Sarah; Martin, Vanessa, dirs., Women, Religion and Culture in Iran. Richmo

Anna Vanzan. « From the Royal Harem to a Post-modern Islamic Society. Some Considerations on Women Prose Writers in Iran from Qajar Times to the 1990s », in : Ansari, Sarah; Martin, Vanessa, dirs., Women, Religion and Culture in Iran. Richmo

Pari Khan Khanum: A Masterful Safavid Princess

The Royal Harem is Perhaps One of the Most Misunderstood Institutions of the Perso-Islamic social order. The myths surrounding the harem originated primarily in the West, fomented to a great extent by European travelers over a period of several centuries. As is well known, the Islamic empires, at their zenith (beginning around A.D. 1500), attracted numerous European merchants and traders, as well as assorted adventurers, emissaries, and missionaries. Many of them took up residence in these countries, some for a short time, some for many years. They toured cities, saw the countryside and became acquainted with the local people. In several instances, some made their way into the royal courts. Many of these travelers kept extensive notes about their journeys and left careful sketches of the various aspects of the society with which they came in contact. Often, upon their return home, many made their narratives available at court and sometimes to the public.

Taj al‐Saltaneh, an emancipated Qajar princess

Taj al-Saltaneh, a daughter of Nasir-ad Din Shah Qajar (1848-96), was renowned for her stunning beauty, liberal ideas, tempestuous love affairs and unconventional way of life. She was a rebel both in spirit and deed. In any other society or time and place she would have fulfilled her restless nature, artistic temperament and thirst for knowledge either by becoming a creative writer, poet or artist herself or by holding a salon where such people could gather. But as it was, she lived in Qajar Society where women were behind the veil and confined to the andarun, leading a life of seclusion and idleness. 1 She was born in 1883 in the royal harem in Tehran. Her mother, Turan al-Saltaneh, was a paternal cousin of her father's.2 He was Muhammad Mirza Mutazed al-Dowlah, a grandson of Abbas Mirza (son of Fath Ali Shah) by his twentieth son Mahdi Qoli Mirza.3 Turan al-Saltaneh's marriage to Nasir-ad-Din Shah was of the Mut'ah type.4 Taj al-Saltaneh's upbringing was conventional, according to the customs of the time. An unhappy marriage, arranged for her at an early age, led to divorce, a subsequent life of adventure and a final sad repentance. She has left behind a memoir which was recently published in Tehran.' The memoirs span a period beginning with her childhood and ending when she was 29. They cover the last five years of Nasirad-Din Shah's reign during which period she reached the age of 13, and the early part of Mozaffar-ad-Din Shah's reign (1896-1906). On a general level the memoirs are valuable as they contain a political and social commentary on the period and the surroundings and customs of the royal harem including an interesting comparison of the reign and court customs of her brother with those of her father. On a personal level these memoirs demonstrate the breadth and depth of her education and learning, ranging from classical history and philosophy to French literature and European politics. They are also a testament to her liberal political views: demanding natural rights, expressing support for the constitutionalists6 and believing in freedom for men and women. They also provide a unique example of the impact of Western values on traditional Persian ones and the spiritual dichotomy which they caused. The memoirs are all the more remarkable considering the position and situation of women in Qajar society and the restrictions imposed on them by Shiism. They were written at the behest of a young man whom she addresses as 'my teacher and cousin'. According to royal custom she and her servants lived in a separate house from her mother. She was brought up by a dayeh, dadeh and naneh.7 Twice a day, permission having been obtained, she was taken to see her mother, and once a day in the afternoon to see her father. Her views on motherhood are surprisingly modern, considering that at that time even in Europe upper-class children were brought up by nannies and governesses. She considers breastfeeding to be an important bond between mother and child: 'Amongst the subjects which have always occupied me was the question of breast-feeding.

Poison-detecting Birds.

The Arthaśāstra of Kautilya1 in the chapter of the first book dealing with the measures for safety within the royal harem has the following passage (ed. Jolly and Schmidt, vol. i, p. 25, 13 seq.):–śukaḥ śārikā bhrngarājo vā sarpaviṣaśankāyāṃ krośati krauñco viṣābhyāśe mādyati glāyati jivajivakaḥ mriyate mattakokilaḥ cakorasyākṣiṇī virajyete ‖“ The parrot, the maina, and the Malabar bird shriek when suspicious of snake poison; the curlew becomes quite tipsy2 in the neighbourhood of poison; the pheasant swoons; the amorous cuckoo dies; the eyes of the cakora partridge change their natural colour (i.e. become red).” 3Kāmandaki has, of course, copied this as most other passages of the Kauṭilīya, cf. Nītisāra, vii, ll–13a–b:—

Is Canticles an Adonis Litany?

IN VARIOUS QUARTERS it is felt that Canticles must be something else than what it seems to be. The attempt is made to vindicate once more its religious character. If it is not an allegory of the love of Yahwe and Israel, or of Christ and the church, it must at least be a litany of some pagan cult. It cannot be allowed to be simply a collection of secular lyrics, singing the love of man and woman. It is not an epithalamium celebrating the marriage of Solomon to the Egyptian princess, or a florilegium used at peasant weddings, where the bridegroom is hailed as king and the bride as queen. Nor is it a drama in which Solomon's love is scorned by a country maiden who remains faithful to her shepherd lover amid the seductions of the royal harem. The book would not have found a place in the canon, it is thought, unless it had originally been written for some religious purpose. Already in 1906, Wilhelm Erbt I suggested that Canticles is a collection of paschal songs of Canaanitish origin. It describes the love of the sun-god Tammuz, called Dod or Shelem, and the moongoddess Ishtar, figuring under the name of Shalmith. If for some time this view met with little favor, the reason may have been that a reaction was setting in against the astral theories of Winckler and his followers. N. du Jassy's 2 attempt to explain Canticles as a Hebrew translation of certain Osirian litanies made in Alexandria in the Ptolemaic period failed to attract much attention. But a fresh impetus toward the further development of Erbt's theory has recently been given by the publication of a catalogue of lovesongs found at Assur in the course of the excavations carried on by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft.3 These ballads bid fair to