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To be or not to be – a concubine - Letter from the Algarve by Frances Ruddick
• 10 May 2007 •
 IN last week’s letter, I pointed out that early in the 17th century Moroccan pirates captured many Algarveans living in coastal villages. Most had a precarious existence, relying upon fishing and growing fruit and vegetables, supplemented by catching the occasional wild boar.
It is not hard to imagine how these simple peasants must have felt, shipped across the water, finding they were up for sale in the slave markets of Rabat. Their stories have not been documented, as few of them escaped to tell their sorry tales but the best evidence of the conditions they endured is in the Moroccan city of Meknes.
At Koubbet el Khiaytin, the Prison of the Christians, an immense underground vault was the sleeping quarters of 2,500 slaves employed in the construction of the Imperial City.
Almost certainly some of these people were Algarveans taken from their homes by the marauding Salle Rovers, a fearsome group of pirates, based in Salé just across the estuary from Rabat. A few of the stronger men were not sold but used on other voyages as galley slaves to row the pirates’ ships.
Records show that prices for Europeans were higher than those paid for black slaves from sub-Saharan Africa. Women and girls were also on the market place and prices varied, depending on their appearance.
Bids for a handsome European woman were high. Although the evidence is thin, there is reason to believe that some were sold as concubines to join the sultans’ harems.
It is clear that some sultans had a preference for European women – the most famous being El Hassan, whose favourite wife was an English convert to Islam. Her tomb is placed beside the sultan in his mausoleum in Rabat.
Looked at through rose-tinted glasses, perhaps being a concubine in an imperial palace was not all that bad. It was undoubtedly preferable to being incarcerated in the Prison of the Christians.
Although to westerners female oppression is distasteful, the role of being a concubine was one that commanded respect. In terms of ample food, luxurious surroundings and exquisite clothing, an Algarvean peasant girl might have been impressed.
The harem would have been organised by the ‘valide sultan’ – the sultan’s mother – who had responsibility for keeping the concubines content. Her quarters were centrally situated between the family apartments, the servants and the concubines.
It is wrong to assume she was the madam of a brothel that only had one client because an effective ‘valide sultan’ ran a happy home where wives, concubines and their children lived in harmony together.
Although the system is thought of as patriarchal – in everyday affairs – the ‘valid sultan’ held the power. She had a team of servants at her disposal including – top in the hierarchy of staff – a valued group of eunuchs. The precaution of castrating them made the task of the ‘valide sultan’ much easier, since their relationships with women in the palace were beyond sexual reproach.
Although concubines were confined inside the harem, this should be seen in a wider context. The sultan, his wives and children rarely left the palace, since seclusion and privacy were valued aspects of their lives. To be inside the palace was regarded as a privilege, not a prison.
With sometimes as many as 100 (or more) wives and concubines, the women were not put under undue sexual duress. In order to be fair, sultans with a favourite concubine would pay a large stipend, to reward her for the additional effort.
Another paid employee was the ‘kitkhuda khatun’, the harem stewardess. She attended to the needs and whims of the concubines to keep them pleasantly pampered. With large amounts of leisure time, they were encouraged to take up hobbies including embroidery and lace making.
Perhaps it’s controversial – but compared to a subsistence existence in the Algarve – being concubine to a sultan, might have had its plusses. |  Return to Top
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