Description: Eunuchs were a common feature of pre- and early modern societies that are now poorly understood. Here, Jane Hathaway offers an in-depth study of the chief of the African eunuchs who guarded the harem of the Ottoman Empire. A wide range of primary sources are used to analyze the Chief Eunuch's origins in East Africa and his political, economic, and religious role from the inception of his office in the late sixteenth century through the dismantling of the palace harem in the early twentieth century. Hathaway highlights the origins of the institution and how the role of eunuchs developed in East Africa, as well as exploring the Chief Eunuch's connections to Egypt and Medina. By tracing the evolution of the office, we see how the Chief Eunuch's functions changed in response to transformations in Ottoman society, from the generalized crisis of the seventeenth century to the westernizing reforms of the nineteenth century.
Brief description: Jane Hathaway is Professor of History at Ohio State University and one of the world's leading authorities on the Ottoman Empire and on eunuchs in Islamic societies. She is the author of five books, including The Arab Lands under Ottoman Rule (2008), which won the Turkish Studies Association's M. Fuat Köprülü Book Prize. She also authored the article 'Eunuchs' for the third edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, a seminal reference work. Her research has been funded by prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Institute for Advanced Study.
Review Quotes: 'Jane Hathaway's The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem is as full a picture of African eunuchs in Mediterranean history as readers are likely to find, or construct for themselves.' Madeline C. Zilfi, Journal of the American Oriental Society