Behind The Seraglio Of The Mughals
Alone behind the curtains of the harem, the begums of the Mughal dynasty lived with absolute freedom and all kinds of riches and comforts. Secluded from the rest of the kingdom, the harems were places from where the most powerful queens of all time emerged. These places are not as well explored as the other sections of the palace. Let’s take a sneak peek at what exactly happened behind the closed doors of these secluded corners.
Women in Mughal harems followed a hierarchical order and became a part of it through marriage, by birth and appointments, or through presents that were offered to the kingdom. The harem had a hierarchy, with the wives and relatives of the emperor serving as the highest authority. There were hundreds of females like concubines and slaves underneath them. The bounds of this genuine city of women were so vast that even the poorest of these slaves may never see the emperor himself. Though the women who were close to the emperors had the ultimate say in everything that happened in the Mughals, they were confined in ways one could never think of.
Women were expected to follow some rules that would determine their royal. For instance, they had to follow the purdah system wherein the women were not allowed to go out of the harems. Some women did go on pilgrimages and visited the local shrines, yet others went on sightseeing and hunting with the Mughal emperor himself. But here too, they were either carried on the back of an elephant or in elaborately decorated palanquins. The harem was nothing less than a luxurious penthouse apartment where all the needs and wants of a woman were fulfilled. Studded with beautiful sections like gardens and fountains, the harem also had different compartments that took care of all the needs of the women living there.
The Mughal Empire is famous for its wealth and opulence, the rich and royal indulgences of its emperors, the extravagantly arranged armies, and last but not the least, the beautiful women living in the harems. Jharokhas and kiosks were quite common during the Mughal era as the beautiful begums of the seraglio were rarely allowed to take a fresh breath of air somewhere outside their confines. They would often look outside and enjoy the beauty of the well-maintained gardens through the little holes carved in the jharokhas. Or they would stand in the kiosks, looking at the ball of fire, shining with all its might in the sky.
The harems of the Mughal empire are not talked about much when people began studying the cultures and chaos of the Mughal lifestyle. But some tales often come out of these seraglios to make their presence known to the outsiders. When we talk about the residents of the harem, it consists of all the women of the royal household including the mother, stepmother, aunts, daughters, sisters, and wives of the emperor, along with slave girls, concubines, and transgenders.
Many foreign travelers who came and visit the Mughal Empire, admired the entirety of it, but they had a special place reserved in their minds and hearts for the mysterious harems that were kept away from the entire empire, in a secluded corner. It was as if the seraglio was nothing less than a doll house that consisted of glass dolls that needs to be protected from outsiders and any other possible threats. These harems had an aura of mysteriousness lingering around them and this was perhaps because entry to these areas was restricted for all. This aura of mysteriousness further gave rise to rumors and tales related to those who lived here.
The history of harems starts with the origin of the word itself. The word harem has been derived from an Arabic word called haram meaning “a forbidden place; sanctum; a sacred place where no one can enter.” With time, the seraglio came to be identified as a place where women lived and their quarters were separated from that of the men. Everything that ever happened in the Mughal Empire is somehow closely linked to the Mughal harem. Thus, it is said that to understand how the Mughal Empire functioned, one has to first understand the complexities and intricacies of the harem. If you think that the harem was nothing but a source of sexual pleasure for the emperor, then you’re highly mistaken.
The harem was not just a dwelling place for Mughal women, it was a place where the heirs of the Mughal kingdom were born and grew up. The harem did not consist of single rooms with the minimum necessary things to cater to the needs of the begums, it was a whole new world. From playgrounds, bazaars, laundries, and baths to kitchens, markets, and schools, it was like a little town in itself, ready to accommodate a population of more than five thousand.
The harem consisted of all secrets like treasuries and secret documents and seals that protected the Mughal Empire from its enemies. It was a place where the king could work in peace and rest in absolute silence. It was, in reality, a large-scale domestic home, that existed not only to shelter the royal women but also to shelter them from the sight and sexual assaults of an outside society where unattended and uncovered women were automatically considered prostitutes.
For instance, the food for the women came from the royal kitchen called Bawarchi Khana, the exotic fruits were supplied by the Maywa Khanah, wine and water were in constant supply to the harem by the Akbar Khanah, and last but not the least, items like jewelry, clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, and other daily use items were supplied by the Imperial Karkhanah. From this, one could conclude that women in the harem lived a very comfortable and luxurious life. Though everything was taken care of, they were deprived of freedom and sexual pleasure. They might have experienced freedom if they were lucky enough to go out with the emperor for a hunt or sightseeing. But the sexual pleasure was far from something that could be achieved. They were times when women did not engage in sex for their entire lives and chose to have illicit affairs with other men like the harem officers.
Women often resorted to sexual pleasure by using natural sex toys like cucumbers and nutmeg. But this too, was difficult because the harem was guarded by eunuchs. Harem ladies might have also used the eunuchs for sexual services. A contemporaneous observer, Manucci, tells how ladies of the harem occasionally accepted favors from the eunuchs who were using their lips and fingers in the most 'lascivious' manner.
The Harem was intended to be a place of enjoyment, not of dismal issues such as death and sickness. As a result, if an inmate of the institution became ill, they were sent to and imprisoned within the bimarkhana until they recovered. Even though the ill women in the bimarkhana were treated, they led a lonely existence; especially the elderly ladies who were put there to die got no visits or company other than the slave girls. If they were one of the emperor's favorites, he may pay them a few visits.
Though we might think that the harem was a place where the ladies ruled without any fear, it was the exact opposite. Stripped away from freedom and their basic rights, they lived a life only to impress the emperors who never loved them in return. The harems were organized and maintained according to the orders of the emperor and no one had any say in it. The harems were simply to cater to the needs and pleasures of the men, and no heed was paid to the desires and wants of the women who lived there.