WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
I do not say that such a penalty has never been inflicted upon erring wives; but I am disposed to ascribe much of this alleged cruelty to the imagination of prejudiced historians, hostile to the religion of Islam, and anxious to represent polygamy in its darkest aspects.
We have taken it for granted that the Sultan is the head and chief of the whole court and harem. To a large extent, this is true. But there is one who commands the sovereign, and is often feared by him. This potentate is a woman, the Validé Sultana, who reigns supreme over the great harem family. Here is highly instructive evidence of the persistence of the matriarchal authority in Turkey. The mother of the king is queen over the king and his family.
The Sultana-mother lives in magnificent apartments in the palace. Sixty of the handsomest eunuchs wait upon her, besides her female retinue. She supervises the women officials, and directs all the internal domestic affairs of the vast court. Her servants approach with folded arms, as a mark of humility and the highest respect. She is surrounded by the strictest ceremonial, and treated almost as a divinity. Every member of her family, from the Sultan himself, trembles at the thought of her displeasure. And yet we read of "the degraded position" of Turkish women. How can this be reconciled with the fact
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