Eunuchs were ideal servants of the harem, used out of a simple precaution: so that the concubines lived in safety and pleased only their master. But there was one more reason.
The main advantage of eunuchs was the absence of male and female sex characteristics and complete neutrality in sex. The harem was essentially a huge female army, waging continuous secret wars, and neither man nor woman could lead it, who were deprived of impartiality by the emotions inherent in both sexes. Both those and others would have inevitably died, but the eunuchs survived. They ideally suited the leadership of a complex harem system and, according to their position, became the most powerful persons in the state.
The Ottoman Empire: From Harem to Trade Union
Castrated guards, eunuchs (from the Greek. Eunuchos - "keepers of the bed"), the lord of the Ottomans had a whole army, the number of which at different times ranged from 600 to 800 people …
Several methods were used for castration, the very method of turning a man into a sexless creature was kept in deep secrecy, but it is known that after forced castration, many died, losing their lives from loss of blood and unsanitary conditions in which the "operation" was carried out. It happened that some men could not stand the horror of their transformation into asexual beings and went crazy.
There are three known methods of castration: complete cutting off of the testicles and penis; cutting off the penis; removal of testicles only. The first type of eunuch was considered the most reliable, the other two were not, since their sexual desire could still awaken.
The outward appearance of eunuchs subjected to the most radical method of castration was pathetic. Over the years, their body became flabby and thick, their voice squeaky, the hairline disappeared, they approached women in character. The eunuchs grew old very early and at the age of 40 they already seemed sixty years old … The painful consequence of castration was urinary incontinence, and, according to eyewitnesses, the approach of the eunuch could always be recognized from afar by the strong ammonia smell emanating from him. In order to urinate, a silver tube was used, which eunuchs wore in their turbans.
The guards of the harem made up for the loss of love pleasures with other joys of life. They were delicate gourmets, enjoyed music and dancing, loved to listen to fairy tales and singing of nightingales, being considered the most subtle connoisseurs of this favorite of the harem. To drown out the melancholy and fill the "emptiness of the body", eunuchs sometimes used light intoxicants - hookahs mixed with opium …
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The severed penises were believed to grow back, so usually all eunuchs were periodically examined by a doctor. They preferred to take castrates with a repulsive appearance as the guardians of the harem, and this was understandable. Those who had a penis left could experience sexual attraction and make love, reaching extraordinary heights in this art, especially in oral sex. The beauty of a love relationship with eunuchs was also in their complete safety, because it is impossible to get pregnant from castrates …
The custom of keeping eunuchs in service came to Turkey from Byzantium. And in the Ottoman harem, eunuchs appeared during the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. At first, the harem was guarded by white eunuchs supplied from the North Caucasus, from Armenia and Georgia, but they could never be Turks, since castration is forbidden to Muslims by the Koran. Since 1582, when Sultan Murad III (1574-1595) appointed the Abyssinian Mehmed Agu as eunuch, Abyssinians (Ethiopians) were almost always selected as eunuchs. It turned out that white boys are harder to endure castration, while blacks survived much more … Black eunuchs were preferable to white ones for another reason. It was believed that eunuchs are still capable of conceiving, and the birth of a black child in an odalisque would immediately indicate its illegitimate origin.
Upon entering the harem, eunuchs received new names - the names of flowers. And the huge, ugly guards were called delicate carnations, roses, daffodils and hyacinths. It was believed that this is most befitting of those who guard the "pure and fragrant" wives of the Sultan.
Eunuchs, like all servants of the harem, had their own hierarchy and responsibilities. White eunuchs with a kapu-agha at the head were charged with outside guarding the harem and the Sultan's chambers; they were forbidden to enter the women's quarters. The chambers of the black eunuchs, who were involved in the upbringing and training of the crown princes, differed in their decoration and luxury from the living quarters of other black eunuchs …
The eunuchs were well off, receiving a salary of 60 to 100 acce per day and a separate annual allowance. A significant addition to this were gifts from other palace services. They also had their own secret income items. The eunuchs constituted a special trading partnership, setting prices for goods and jewelry needed by the harem, purchasing them from merchants and reselling them to the women of the harem.
Eunuchs were the biggest bribe-takers in the Ottoman Empire, where a truly monstrous corruption reigned. Received gifts not only from their master, but also from petitioners. The Sultan's favorites could influence the decision of a particular issue in favor of the petitioner. But it was possible to "go out" to them for a good bribe handed over to the eunuchs, who created a complex system of relations with the outside world.
A comical incident occurred with Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, the future field marshal and the winner of Napoleon in the 1812 campaign. Arriving as the head of the diplomatic mission in Istanbul, he collected information about the signs and passions of the Sultan's favorites and, having established relations with the eunuchs, entered the Great Seral. The famous commander was a courageous man and ventured into the harem garden alone. There, who spoke Turkish, Kutuzov conquered them with eloquence and precious jewelry, precisely calculated for the taste of every high-ranking lady. It became known about a long conversation with the "roses of the Sultan", Istanbul was shocked, and the frightened chief eunuch, justifying himself before Sultan Selim III, was forced to name the brave military man and father of the Kutuzov family the chief eunuch of Empress Catherine II! This caused a storm of fun in the Russian mission,but the main thing was done: all issues were settled in a week, and the resulting peace terms are extremely beneficial for Russia.
The dream and the pinnacle of a eunuch's career is the position of kizlyaragasa. In his hands enormous power was concentrated, and the official position could be equated with the position of the prime minister of the European court. He was the commander-in-chief of the palace guards, his range of duties was extremely wide, and his influence was enormous. Kizlyaragasy acted as the main witness at the wedding of the Sultan and his children, conducted circumcision and engagement ceremonies, announced to the prince about the death of his father or his abdication. He was also responsible for moving up the hierarchical ladder of the harem of women and eunuchs, and their career largely depended on his location. The duties of the kizlyaragasa also included the protection of the women of the harem and the supply of new odalisques there.
Any woman who turned to the Sultan had to do this through the chief eunuch, which, given the custom of gifts, enriched him immensely, and the right to report personally to the Sultan and frequent meetings with him made it possible to increase his fortune at the expense of other courtiers, and kizlyaragasy was one of the most rich people of the Ottoman Empire. He was also one of the Sultan's most trusted people. It was the kizlyaragasy who accompanied the odalisque to the sultan's bedroom. If something extraordinary happened in the harem at night, then only the chief black eunuch could enter there. The figure of the black eunuch was not only powerful, but also formidable and sinister. He announced sentences to the women of the harem and took the condemned to the executioner, and when the unfortunates were drowned in the sea, he himself put leather sacks on them.
When the chief eunuch retired, he was given a pension. The new sultan usually chose another chief eunuch, but sometimes left the old one. Eunuchs were the guardians of the treasury of the Sultan, his wives and, most importantly, the secrets of the harem, on which the lives of many often depended. Their influence on state affairs grew, becoming truly enormous during the reign of women (1541-1687), and in the 17th and 18th centuries they, together with the sultans and the Valida, in fact, ruled the empire, playing a significant role in its decline. Eunuchs organized conspiracies, overthrew and enthroned the sultans. They also decided the outcome of the "war" of Sultans Turhan and Kesem, strangling the latter.
But from the beginning of the 19th century, the power of the chief black eunuch began to weaken, and by the beginning of the 20th century, his functions were reduced to monitoring order in the harem … With the disappearance of the harems, the eunuchs also disappeared. Talks about how to arrange their future life quickly died down, and the attempts of the former guards of the harem to organize their own trade union failed …
Those eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the harem themselves had no right to cross its threshold. The artist Vereshchagin knew it for sure
China: a son for a father
The institution of eunuchs in China, according to some historians, is at least 3-4 thousand years old, and in no other country did they have such power as in the Celestial Empire. Eunuchs constituted a narrow circle of the emperor's confidants, often exerted a decisive influence on state affairs, sometimes with the help of intrigues and conspiracies they became more powerful than their masters. Eunuchs helped each other to defend common interests, and their power often reached the limits that allowed usurping power, which, as a rule, led to disastrous consequences for the country.
At first, they became eunuchs as punishment. Castration in China was ranked among six heavy punishments … Then, when eunuchs began to be used in harems, their physical inferiority was compensated by many advantages, and children began to undergo castration by the decision of their parents, and sometimes adult men volunteered for this humiliating operation. The light, well-fed service at the court of the emperor or prince served as a temptation overcoming the natural desire for a full life, and the work of emasculation gained momentum.
According to some sources, the emperor could have up to 3 thousand eunuchs, princes and princesses - up to 30 eunuchs each, the emperor's younger children and nephews - up to 20, their cousins - up to 10.
There were whole families of specialists engaged in castration … This is what the traveler Cartner Stentz wrote in 1877: “This operation is performed as follows. The lower abdomen and upper thighs are bandaged tightly to prevent excessive bleeding. Then, those parts of the body that are to be operated on are washed three times with hot pepper water; the future eunuch is reclining at the same time. After these parts of the body have been washed well enough, they are cut off to the very base with a small curved knife shaped like a sickle. Upon completion of castration, the wound is covered with paper soaked in cold water, and carefully bandaged. After bandaging the wound, the patient, supported by two "operators", is forced to walk around the room for two to three hours, after which he is allowed to lie down.and all this time he often experiences terrible torment, and not only because of thirst, but also because of severe pain and the inability to relieve himself throughout the entire period. After three days have passed, the bandage is removed and the sufferer may finally relieve itself. If he succeeds, it means that the patient is out of danger, with which he is congratulated. If, however, the poor man is unable to urinate, he is doomed to a painful death, for the necessary passages are swollen and nothing can save him. "the poor fellow is unable to urinate, he is doomed to a painful death, because the necessary passages are swollen and nothing can save him. "the poor fellow is unable to urinate, he is doomed to a painful death, because the necessary passages are swollen and nothing can save him."
The castration of boys, who were taken into the service of the emperor, was usually performed before reaching puberty, but not all fathers had the money for it, and the children were castrated in a domestic, "private" way, during which the castrated often died. The emasculated survivors were reported to the county government so that the boy's name was added to the list of candidates for the imperial servants. The ambitious plans of the fathers concerned not only the fate of their sons, but also the entire family and clan, because, having got to a high position, the castrate was obliged to help all their members …
The peculiarity of the eunuchs of China was their reverent attitude towards the remote "jade stem", which was carefully kept so that the body could be buried as a whole, because, as the Chinese said, "the skin covering the body is obtained from birth and cannot be damaged or injured." In case of violation of the integrity of the body, the Chinese, according to beliefs, will not be allowed to the next world to the ancestors …
Having established himself in the palace, the eunuch usually took a wife, who looked after him, and adopted a boy (most often a relative) to continue his kind …
The domination of the eunuchs in China was the result of the emperor's solitary life, which he had to lead according to etiquette. The Son of Heaven rarely left his palace; on his travels, the ministers saw their master only at audiences, where they addressed not directly to him, but to the officials (most often eunuchs) who surrounded the throne. It was the eunuchs who conveyed the opinion and advice of the dignitaries to the emperor, and the fidelity of the messages entirely lay on the conscience of the transmitters. They were the only channel of communication between the emperor and the outside world. The eunuchs were thoroughly aware of all the palace secrets, but they could learn about the state of affairs in the provinces and beyond the Chinese Wall only second-hand, and, as a rule, the conduct of state affairs by them had grave and sometimes disastrous consequences for the empire.
The eunuchs also used the rich "female resource" of the harem, elevating or, conversely, leaving the concubines in oblivion. They received bribes from them in cash and then a promotion, assisted by their ascended protégés.
The heir to the emperor was surrounded by eunuchs from birth. They determined the boundaries of his knowledge about everything that was outside the walls of the Forbidden City, and very often, from childhood, the future ruler turned into a toy of eunuchs, who knew all his weaknesses and addictions and used them to achieve their own, most often selfish goals, and sometimes simply corrupting his pupil …
Homosexual relationships of the Sons of Heaven were not uncommon, eunuchs also became lovers of emperors, and the initiative often came from their side …
The irrepressible lust for power of eunuchs reached the point that if the sovereign interfered with them, he could be physically eliminated; emperors and members of their families often became victims of eunuchs.
They hid the death of Emperor Qin Shihuang, and while the procession with his body (the emperor died on the journey) followed through the country, the eunuchs pretended to feed him, read some decrees allegedly signed by the Son of Heaven, and hid the will, by which he was appointed heir an unwanted prince. Instead, they fabricated a message ordering the prince and his loyal military leader to commit suicide, and enthroned a prince who was comfortable with their designs.
When the intrigues of the eunuchs failed, the retribution was merciless. After the death of Emperor Lindy (189), a fierce struggle broke out between the eunuchs and the army. The ten chief eunuchs lured the commander-in-chief Prince He Jin (brother of the empress) and, after executing them, put their heads on the wall of the palace. The consequences were disastrous for the perpetrators of the crime. The troops broke into the palace and hacked all the eunuchs to death. The country was plunged into anarchy and the Han Empire fell.
The power of the eunuchs was repeatedly tried to limit, and some emperors bequeathed to their descendants "to keep the eunuchs in check." "Make them your confidants," warned Emperor Taizu (Zhu Yuanzhang, 1368-1398), "your soul will ache, if you do it with your eyes and ears, your eyes and ears will deteriorate …" In the opinion of this emperor, eunuchs and the emperor's female relatives bring evil political governance of the country. They are needed in palaces, but there they should only be slaves and servants and serve the emperor by serving wine or sweeping the floor. The emperor's fears were not in vain. The next emperor, Chengzu (1403-1424), seized the throne with the help of eunuchs, and they usurped power. In the second half of the Ming dynasty, there were several tens of thousands of eunuchs, and by the end of the Ming period there were several hundred thousand. At the court, the eunuchs captured 24 offices, 12 departments and 8 directorates. Their formidable camarilla appointed dignitaries, executed ministers, robbed the people, and the eunuch Wei Zhongxian actually ruled the empire on behalf of the emperor.
Among the eunuchs there were also talented leaders who acted for the good of society and the country, in particular the famous expedition to the shores of Africa in 1405 was headed by a eunuch - Admiral Zheng He. But the influence of the eunuchs on the politics and economy of China was corrupting and in many ways contributed to the decline of the empire …
Eunuchs were categorized. Those belonging to the first category enjoyed special privileges and served the emperor, empress, mother of the emperor and imperial concubines. Those belonging to the second category served everyone.
The duties of eunuchs were extremely varied - from household to government and priestly. They were supposed to be present during sleep and during the awakening of the Son of Heaven and his household, take part in the meal of the emperor and his family members, accompany the emperor and his retinue, as well as the imperial doctors. Eunuchs provided fire protection, monitored the safety of books and antiques, paintings, clothes, weapons, household items. They also provided materials for the palace builders and prepared medicines.
Their duties also included distributing the highest decrees, seeing off officials and foreign guests to the emperor, accepting petitions, receiving money and grain from the treasurers of the court, and keeping the imperial jewels.
The careful assignment of responsibilities did not guarantee their fulfillment. Emperor Pu Yi recalled: “Since childhood, I have constantly heard that there are thefts, fires and even murders in the palace, not to mention gambling and smoking opium. The theft has reached such an extent that, for example, before my wedding ceremony was over, all the pearls and jasper crown jewels were replaced with fake ones”…
The eunuchs were punished severely. For misconduct they were beaten with bamboo sticks, for attempting to escape the punishment was the same. At the second attempt, a shoe was hung on his neck, which he had to wear without removing for two months. At the next attempt, he was exiled to the ancient capital of the Manchus - Mukden. They were executed for theft, and Empress Cixi dealt with the unwanted with the help of poison, which she chose herself. From Chinese history, there are cases when over 100 eunuchs died at the same time …
