Chapter 38: Naming Ceremony

While many of the women in the harem are curious about all the new arrivals, they start to avoid the English girls once they realise the language difficulties. At my prompting, Anna von Erdödy sits with me, and talks with the English girls. I quickly resort to hand gestures to accompany Anna’s words and we begin to make some progress towards understanding each other.

We learn that the English girls are called Matilda and Mary, and that they are both eighteen years old. As far as we can tell, they were on board a ship that was attacked by pirates. I can’t understand most of their story, but I’m relieved that they are at least willing to talk. Some freshly captured women can become withdrawn, and even suicidal, after such a traumatic ordeal. I do my best to reassure them both that they are relatively safe in the harem, even though I can’t promise them a happy future. Life as a concubine offers a woman opportunities, but she is still a slave, and her continued existence is at the mercy of others.

As the evening progresses I make an effort to talk with all six of the new arrivals. One of the women in the harem speaks the language of the African girl, and I had already established that one girl is Polish. The girl who understands German is, in fact, Italian, but we both speak German well enough for us to communicate without hand gestures. The sixth girl is from the east, but I’m not certain from exactly where. She understands a few words of Persian, which at least helps me to communicate with her. I repeat the reassurance which I gave to Matilda and Mary, and my words seem to have a positive effect on each girl’s mood.

I also learn something about how each girl was enslaved. Nigar Kalfa in Constantinople once told me that knowing a new slave’s background can sometimes help her tutors to settle her into her new life. I hope Nigar was right, because these girls are nervous and very unsettled. I learn that in addition to Matilda and Mary, two others were captured by pirates or raiding brigands. That’s an unfortunately common occurrence in these times, as I know from personal experience. The African girl was a member of a tribe which had been conquered by a neighbouring tribe many years ago. Each year her tribe must pay tribute to the victors in the form of gold or marketable products. This year the tribute included young men and women from her tribe for the victors to sell as slaves.

The Polish girl, however, has arrived here by a much different route. A route which makes me ashamed of my Polish connection. She comes from a moderately wealthy family, but has been secretly sold into slavery by her stepfather. A cruel act to avoid paying for the wedding dowry she had expected as her due. At the moment she is burning for revenge and I must try and to convince her that such an act is out of her reach. For her own good, she must focus on her training and put thoughts of retribution to the back of her mind.

The next morning the young women’s training begins in earnest. Two kalfas, Birgül and Didem, are assigned to be the girls’ teachers in the various skills they need to learn, but they can’t teach much until the girls’ can understand enough Turkish. Consequently I spend the whole morning giving language tuition, or acting as interpreter for the kalfas’ sessions. Anna attends all the sessions, even though she is only required to be present during my Turkish language lessons. It’s convenient that she does, as she’s able to help the English girls.

By lunchtime I feel quite exhausted and I’m secretly relieved when Afife tells me that this afternoon’s lessons are cancelled. Instead I must help prepare the new arrivals for a special ceremony. The easiest approach is for me to lead by example and I have the girls accompany me to the baths. Several other women are also preparing themselves, so the baths are very busy. I realise that the ceremony must include many of those sharing our dormitory. Fortunately the number of women in the baths means that it is easy for the new girls to see what preparations are expected of them. Anna has accompanied us and she helps me supervise our charges’ preparations.

We return upstairs to find that fresh uniforms have been left for the six new arrivals. I notice several of the women in the harem have changed out of their uniforms and dressed in their best silk gowns and jewellery. Even those with only a few small items of jewellery are wearing them. Afife recommends that Anna and I dress in our finest clothes as well.

By now I have discovered that there are at least twenty women in our dormitory who can claim the rank of hatun. Some are former concubines of Sultan Suleiman’s now dead brothers, and who have subsequently been married to bureaucrats and officials based here at the Edirne palace. Consequently there are many more hatun living in this palace than I originally thought. I’ve already detected a few political power games played by some of the hatun. Fortunately none of it is directed at me. The Edirne harem is fertile ground for such games since there’s no natural pecking order among the diverse group of women living here. In addition to the former concubines, there are the favourites of Şah Sultan’s older sons, some of whom are also vying for seniority in the harem. While most of these petty power games are of little consequence, they can be annoying and I prefer to keep away from them. Unfortunately it’s a task easier said than done.

It has been several weeks since I last wore the jewel trimmed jacket Sultan Suleiman gave me. I’m relieved that despite all my recent adventures, the jacket is in perfect condition. Fortunately, it will be several weeks before my slowly expanding belly prevents me from fastening the jacket. Wearing it means that I’ll be displaying my wealth and make my belongings the possible target for a thief. But the risk of theft is low, and wearing the jacket will help establish my status within the harem’s hierarchy. The value of a woman’s jewels isn’t guaranteed to lead to a higher status within the harem, but it certainly doesn’t do any harm. Anna also has some fine jewellery, and she takes her time deciding which pieces to wear.