HAREM (hah'rem or hah'rem) (Arabic Karim, "forbidden"), a name applied to that part of a house in Muslim countries set apart for the women ; it is also used collectively for the women themselves. Zenana (strictly zanana, from Persian zan, woman) is the term used in India; andarfin (Persian "inner part") (sc. of a house) in Persia. The Indian harem system is also known as purdah or purdah, literally the name of the curtain used to sepa rate the women's quarters from the rest of the house. In Muham madan countries theoretically a woman must veil her face to all men except her father, her brother and her husband; but among certain Muslim communities (e.g., in parts of Albania) women of the poorer classes may appear in public unveiled.
The imperial seraglio was a unique institution, an elaborately organized community with a complete system of officers, disci plinary and administrative, and strict distinctions of status. The real ruler of this society was the sultan's mother, the Sultana V alide, who exercised her authority through a female superin tendent, the Kyahya Khatun. She had also a large retinue of subordinate officials (Kailas) ranging downwards from the Has nadar ousta ("Lady of the Treasury") to the "Mistress of the Sherbets" and the "Chief Coffee Server." Each of these officials had under her a number of pupil-slaves (alaiks), whom she trained to succeed her if need be, and from whom the service was re cruited. After the sultana valide ranked the mother of the heir-apparent, called the Bash Kadin Effendi ("Her excellency the Chief Lady") . Next came the ladies who had borne the younger children of the sultan, the Hanum E ff endis, and after them the so-called Odalisks or Odalisques (a perversion of -odalik, from odah, chamber). Every odalisk who had been promoted to the royal couch received a daira, consisting of an allowance of money, a suite of apartments, and a retinue, in proportion to her status. Since all the harem women were slaves, the sultans, with practically no exceptions, never entered into legal marriage con tracts.
The security of the harem was in the hands of a body of eunuchs both black and white. The chief of the white eunuchs, the kapu aghasi ("master of the gates") had part control over the eccle siastical possessions, and even the vizier could not enter the royal apartments without his permission. The chief of the black eunuchs, usually called the kislar aghasi ("master of the maid ens"), though his true title was dares se`adet aga ("chief of the abode of felicity"), was an official of high importance. His secretary kept count of the revenues of the mosques built by the sultans. The number of eunuchs was always a large one. The sultana valide and the bash kadin effendi each had fifty at their service, and others were assigned to the favourite odalisks.
The ordinary middle-class household was naturally on a very different scale. The selamlik (or men's quarters) was on the ground floor with a separate entrance, and there the master of the house received his male guests; the rest of the ground floor was occupied by the kitchen and perhaps the stables. The harem lik (or women's quarters) was generally (in towns at least) on the upper floor fronting on and slightly overhanging the street; it had a separate entrance, courtyard and garden. Communication with the haremlik was effected by a locked door, of which the Effendi kept the key and also by a sort of revolving cupboard (dutap) for the conveyance of meals.
The presence of a second wife was the exception, and was generally attributable to the absence of children by the first wife. The expense of marrying a free woman led many Turks to prefer a slave woman who was much more likely to be an amenable partner. If a slave woman bore a child she was often set free and then the marriage ceremony was gone through.
The harem ladies frequently drove into the country and visited the shops and public baths. Their seclusion had very considerable compensations, and from the moment when a woman, free or slave, entered into any kind of wifely relation with a man, she had a legally enforceable right against him both for her own and for her children's maintenance. She had absolute control over her personal property whether in money, slaves or goods ; and, if divorce was far easier in Islam than in Christendom, still the marriage settlement had to be of such amount as would provide suitable maintenance in that event.
On the other hand, of course, the system was open to the gravest abuse, and in countries like Persia, Morocco and India, the life of Muslim women and slaves was often far different from that of middle class women of European Turkey, where law was strict and culture advanced.
Since the middle of the i9th century familiarity with European customs and the direct influence of European administrators has brought about a certain change in the attitude of Orientals to the harem system, and in educated circles those who have more than one wife are spoken ill of ; but Turkey is the only Muham madan country that has abolished polygamy altogether.
In India various attempts have been made by societies, mis sionary and other, as well as by private individuals, to improve the lot of the zenana women. Zenana schools and hospitals have been founded, and a few women have been trained as doctors and lawyers for the special purposes of protecting the women against their own ignorance and inertia. Similarly, trained medical women are introduced into zenanas by the Lady Dufferin Associa tion for medical aid to Indian women. In India, as in Turkey, the introduction of Western dress and education has begun to create new ideas and ambitions, and not a few Eastern women have induced English women to enter the harems as companions, nurses and governesses.
Among the principal societies which have been formed to better the condition of Indian and Chinese women in general with special reference to the zenana system are the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society and the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission. Much information as to the medical, industrial and educational work done by these societies will be found in their annual reports and other publications.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-A. van Sommer and S. M. Zwemer, Our Moslem Bibliography.-A. van Sommer and S. M. Zwemer, Our Moslem Sisters (1907) , a collection of essays by authors acquainted with vari ous parts of the Muslim world; The Moslem world of today, ed. J. R. Mott (1925) (chap. xiv.—xvi., Movements in the life of women in the Islamic world) ; Halide Edib, Memoirs (1926) ; Margaret Smith, The women's movement in the Near and Middle East (Asiatic Review, vol. xxiv., 1928) ; for Egypt, Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (I837) ; for Algeria, E. Mercier, Condition de la femme musulmane dans l'Afrique septentrionale (1895) ; for Arabia, C. Snouck Hungronje, Mekka (1889) ; Ameen Rihani, lbn Sa'oud of Arabia (1928) ; for Persia, I. Adams, Persia by a Persian (1906) ; for the sultan's household in the 18th century, Lady Wortley Montagu's Letters. For the attempts which have been made to modify and improve the Indian zenana system, see e.g. the reports of the Dufferin Association and other official publications. (J• M. M.)