CMEMS: The Sultan's Eunuch: The Chief Harem Eunuch as Shaper of the Ottoman Empire

The Sultan’s Eunuch: The Chief Harem Eunuch as Shaper of the Ottoman Empire

This talk centers on Hathaway’s recent book The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem: From African Slave to Power-Broker (Cambridge, 2018; paperback 2020), a history of the office of Chief Harem Eunuch from its inception in the late 16th century through the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.  This book was short-listed for the 2019 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize.  Rather than simply summarizing the book’s contents, the presentation will intersperse a chronological overview of the development of the office of Chief Harem Eunuch with key themes covered in the book, as follows:

·      The use of eunuchs in various world civilizations

·      The predilection for African eunuchs among Islamic empires, including the Ottomans

·      The creation of the office of Chief Harem Eunuch

·      The Chief Harem Eunuch and the dynastic crisis of the early 17th century

·      The Chief Harem Eunuch’s ties to Egypt and to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina

·      The Chief Harem Eunuch’s influence on religious and intellectual life

·      An epilogue, time permitting, will note the fates of Ottoman harem eunuchs after the empire’s collapse.

Jane Hathaway is Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio State University.  She has published six books, including The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem: From African Slave to Power-Broker (Cambridge, 2018; paperback 2020); The Arab Lands under Ottoman Rule, 1516-1800 (1st ed. Pearson, 2018; 2nd ed. Routledge, 2020); A Tale of Two Factions:  Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen (SUNY Press, 2003); and The Politics of Households in Ottoman Egypt: The Rise of the Qazdağlıs (Cambridge, 1997).  Three of her books have won prizes.  She has also published four edited volumes and scores of articles on Ottoman eunuchs, Ottoman Egypt and Yemen, ethno-regional tensions in Ottoman provincial administration, Jews under Muslim rule, and the legendary early Islamic sword Dhū’l-Faqār.  She is a past president of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Ottoman Studies/Osmanlı Araştırmaları.  Her current research seeks to exploit the Ottoman-era documents of the Cairo Geniza to shed light on Egypt’s reaction to the crisis of the 17th century.

The Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies will continue the Wednesday lunch-talks series via Zoom at 12:00 noon (Pacific Standard Time). Email bazzif [at] stanford.edu (bazzif[at]stanford[dot]edu) for the Zoom link.