Description
Book SynopsisThis book explores the life of el-Hajj Beshir Agha (ca. 1657-1746), the most powerful Chief Harem Eunuch in the history of the Ottoman Empire Enslaved in his native Ethiopia as a boy, then castrated in Egypt, el-Hajj Beshir became one of hundreds of East African eunuchs who inhabited the imperial palace’s enormous harem. Rising through the ranks to become harem treasurer by 1707, he eventually oversaw the educations of crown princes and harem women whilst choosing and deposing a long series of grand viziers. Wielding unparallelled power and influence over the empire, the libraries that he founded throughout the region helped to shape the religious and intellectual profile of the Ottoman state.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Note on transliteration
Introduction
1 PRELIMINARIES: ELITE SLAVERY AND HOUSEHOLD MEMBERSHIP
Elite slavery in Islamic societies
Household politics and patron–client ties
2 EUNUCHS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Eunuchs in antiquity
Eunuchs in medieval Islamic empires
Eunuchs under the Mamluk sultanate
Eunuchs under the Ottomans
3 BESHIR AGHA’S ORIGINS
Ottoman Abyssinia
Enslavement and castration
Post-castration conditions
Sale in Cairo
The political culture of Ottoman Egypt
Ismail Bey
4 EARLY YEARS IN THE PALACE
Sultan’s companion
The sultan’s mother
The “Edirne Incident” (1703)
Harem treasurer
5 EXILE IN CYPRUS AND EGYPT
Cyprus
Egypt
6 CHIEF OF THE TOMB EUNUCHS IN MEDINA
Shi‘ism
Medina
The mosque of the Prophet
The tomb of the Prophet
The tomb eunuchs
Relations with Medina’s and Egypt’s notables
7 CHIEF EUNUCH OF THE TOPKAPI PALACE HAREM
Return to Istanbul
Return to the harem
Vizier maker
Nevshehirli Ibrahim Pasha
The Tulip Era
The Book of Festivals
8 BESHIR AGHA DURING THE REIGN OF MAHMUD I
The Patrona Halil rebellion, 1730
Mahmud I (r. 1730–54)
9 BESHIR AGHA AND THE ARAB PROVINCES
The pilgrimage caravan and the governorship of Damascus
Beshir Agha and Egypt’s grandees
10 BESHIR AGHA’S LIBRARIES AND PIOUS FOUNDATIONS
Libraries
Holdings of Beshir Agha’s library outside the palace
Other libraries
Foundations
Conclusion
11 BESHIR AGHA’S DEATH AND BURIAL
Funeral and burial
Beshir Agha’s tomb
12 BESHIR AGHA’S LEGACY THROUGH THE LENS OF OTTOMAN “DECLINE”
Morali Beshir Agha
Chief harem eunuchs and grand viziers in the post-Beshir era
Beshir Agha and the question of Ottoman “decline”
Conclusion
13 SOURCES ON BESHIR AGHA
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Works cited
Index
