Is the concept of harem always the same as portrayed by western media?
Was this practice followed by particular nations (Muslims, Asians, etc)?
Who got the largest harem in history?
Re: History of harems
I have heard it was very common in past al over the world but not mostly seen in muslim families n I think its finishing now in muslim families.
Re: History of harems
I have heard it was very common in past al over the world but not mostly seen in muslim families n I think its finishing now in muslim families.
It was common in royal families. right? Don't Saudi rulers and other rulers in Arab world have harems todate (not that big as in past)?
Re: History of harems
The true meaning of "harems" actually meant the sphere of women enclosed in the household forbidden to men. Once these rulers started adding concubines and such to their *zenanas *the western concept of harems being all about dancing girls and such took off.
When you start reading about the Mughal Empire, and the inner hierarchies of the zenanas, it's quite interesting! The power plays and political alliances that took place in these harems are no less than the actual empires!
Re: History of harems
Interesting. They refer this zenana politics as Mehlati saazishen in Urdu literature 
Re: History of harems
Harems existed in different cultures under different names in a polygamous society. The Chinese , Japanese and even ancient Indians had something similar. Emperor Ashoka supposedly had a harem of 300 women which he ordered burnt down since a few of the women insulted him. It was initially just the royal/imperial residential apartments where the royal families lived. Not sure how segregated they were. Of course not everyone was allowed in because of security concerns. The type of harems in the muslim world as envisioned by the western media probably came into existance because of Persian culture. Indian women were not segregated. The Arab culture was probably once not as rigid as it is today. After all Prophet Mohammed’s wife was a business women. That implied a level of social interaction between the sexes.
*Muslim scholar Fadwa El Guindi observes that the Achaemenid rulers of Persia were reported by the Greco-Roman historian Plutarch to have hidden their wives and concubines from public gaze.
*
The barbarous nations, and amongst them the Persians especially, are extremely jealous, severe, and suspicious about their women, not only their wives (hai gamētai), but also their bought slaves and concubines (pallakai), whom they keep so strictly that no one sees them abroad; they spend their lives shut up within doors (oikoi) and when they take a journey, are carried in closed tents, curtained on all sides, and set upon a wagon (harmamaxai).[SUP][3]](Purdah - Wikipedia)[/SUP]
*The wives were hidden in wagons and litters. It is likely that the custom of veiling continued through the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanid periods. This tradition of Purdah is reflected in the Shahnameh, the Persian chronicle in which women are generally referred to as pushide-ruyan (پوشيده رویان) “those whose faces are covered” or pardegian (پردگيان) “those behind the curtains”.
source: Wikipedia
*So my speculation is that when Iranians converted to Islam, they brought this practice with them and slowly it became a part of the muslim religion and culture and spread to other Islamic regions like Turkey and the Ottomans.
Re: History of harems
So my speculation is that when Iranians converted to Islam, they brought this practice with them and slowly it became a part of the muslim religion and culture and spread to other Islamic regions like Turkey and the Ottomans.
I think Arab society of Hijaz was nomadic and couldn't afford keeping big harems like in agrarian societies. Its the Muslim invasions of other parts of the world that lead to this concept
Re: History of harems
I read this book “Mother Without A Mask” about a British women who became close confindante of a Royal Emirati family…it is an excellent glimpse into the lives of Emirati sheiks, and how they evolved from their nomadic origins into the modern world. It gives a very indepth and detailed view into the inner sanctums of their households, and like you said, the “harem” concept was not relavent with nomadic peoples.
It’s a really good book, and one of my favorites!