The Imperial Harem

There is a common misconception that women in Islamic states were never allowed any sort of power or respect. In actuality, the Harem’s were given a great deal of each, even having the responsibility of running a province.
When most people thinking of a Harem, a completely inaccurate depiction of their status is thought of. Western ideas of Harem’s and what happens there are more like inappropriate fantasies made up by people who had no real idea of what was going on. Realistically, not many people knew what happened in the Harem’s. These women were closed off from the rest of the world, not allowed to leave the grounds of the palace. Although they did have a great deal of power, they were kept away from the public in an attempt to hide them and this sacred position from society.
Traditionally the Sultan would have several Harems’ birth his child and the women who birthed a son first was the one sent to a province and given power. The rest of the women who happened to have his children stayed in the Sultan’s palace and were never allowed to leave. Suleiman was the first Sultan to break this. When he met his wife, a slave girl from Russia, he fell madly in love with her. He began basing his political decisions on her opinion and she actually became one of his top advisors. This disturbed a lot of people and made them very weary of him. Eventually the two of them began having children and ended up having several sons. With this, the diminishment of the Harem system happened.
Not only did the change in the role of women therefore change, but so did the basis of the Ottoman Empire. In taking away the power of these women, brothers began fighting with brothers, and greed along with hostility filled the royal palace. It could be said that one of the fundamental reasons the Ottoman Empire began to crash was due in large part to the fall of the Harem.