Chap. I. 
to the Levant. 
/ 
they <^0 alfo to the Bath^ or about any other Bufinefs, 
they have Bunuchs attending them, to keep them from 
any Lewdnefs, and for the fame Reafon they have Eu- 
nuchs Ivino- by them always in their Bed-Chambers. 
Here alfo, before they are raifed to the 4th Oda^ the 
Eunuchs life all Arts to try whether they are firm to 
^urcifm^ and have no Inclination to Chriftianity, and 
beino- thus proved, they are preferred to what is call’d, 
Ha^Oda, or, ^he Princess Chamber. Here it is that 
all Punifhments ceafe, and they may freely converfe 
with all the Great Men of the Seraglio^ and being 
cleanly and neat in their Apparel, the Grand Signior 
takes them along with him when he goes abroad upon 
Pleafure, if none of his Women be with him. Out 
of the young Men thus perfedled and compleated in 
their Education, the King chufeth \\\?.Aga's and Bajha^s^ 
viz. the Selidiar Jga, the Sultan’s Sword-Bearer ; 
the Chioadar-Aga, he that carries his Yagmoorlick; 
Rachi Aga., Yeoman of the Stirrup *, Mataragee-Aga, 
who brings him W^ater to wafh his Hands and Face j 
^albenter-Aga, he that brings his Turbant ; Kemhafir- 
Aga, he that looks to his Apparel and the wafhing of 
his Linnen ; the Chejhnegir-Bajha, the chief Sewer j 
the Dogangca-Bajha, the chief Falconer ; the Zagargee^ 
Bajha^ the chief Huntfman the Purnackgee-Bajha, he 
that pares the Sultan’s Nails ; Hamautngee~BaJha.^ the 
chief Accomptant ; and the ^eskeregee-BaJha^ his High% 
nefs’s Secretary. 
All thefe are created out of the eldeft of the Itcho- 
glans of the fourth Oda. They are always in the Sultan’s 
Prefence, holding their Heads down, and Hands a-crofs, 
never fpeaking ; but whatever the Sultan commands, 
they are wonderful ready to obey. They wait at the 
Sultan’s Table, and he is pleafed with their Service and 
Company* He will ride with them, and play at the 
Jeerit and other Sports when he is fo difpoled. He 
often gives them Prefents of Vcfls, Swords, and Bows, 
and fometimes ready Money. He entruffs them with 
the Difpatch of Embaffies, and though they muft not 
go themfelves, yet finding out what Prefents the 
Prince, to whom the Embafly is to be fent, ufes to give 
to Ambaffadors, they fell it to a Chiaujh ; and this is 
done to enrich them againfl the Time he lhall fend 
them out of the Seraglio, to be Generals at Sea, or Ba- 
fha’s of fome great City, as Babylon, Aleppo, &c. or 
makes them Beglerbergs of Gracia, Natolia, &c. 
When any is thus fent out, the next in ftanding fuc- 
ceeds, unlefs his ill Behaviour has made him incapable ; 
and fo all live in Hopes of Greatnefs and Riches. Be- 
fore their Departure, they flay a while till their Beards 
are grown (for they are always fhaved in the Seraglio) 
and then they receive handfome Prefents of the Sultana’s 
and Bafha’s, and when their Beards are grown, they pay 
their Vifits to all the great Men of tlte Court. 
15. In the Seraglio there are likewife other Minifters 
for necefiary Services, as alfo Bufibons,Tumblers, Mufici- 
ans, Wrefllers, and Mutes. Thefe laft are in great 
Requeft, becaufe the Grand Signior thinks it below his 
Dignity to fpeak to any about him familiarly, and there- 
fore he makes himfelf merry with thefe Mutes, who 
though deaf and dumb, will reafon and difeourfe of 
any thing by Nods and Signs, as other People do by 
Words •, nay, many of them can write very fenfibly and 
well, which is admirable. 
There are alfo White Eunuchs, who attend the Grand 
Signior at his Gate. The chief of them is, i. the Ca- 
pee Aga, or Chamberlain, who is in greateft Authori- 
ty with the Grand Signior ; for he alone is allowed to 
fpeak to him, and prefent ail Petitions, Mefiages, and 
Writings, and accompanies the Sultan where-ever he 
goes. His Salary is eight Sultana’s a Day, i. e. about 
three Pounds Sterling, befides Prefents from all that have 
any Bufinefs with the Sultan. 
2. The Hazinchdar-Bafha, or the Trealurer of the 
’Houfehold, who keeps an Account of all the Treafure 
brought into this inward Treafury, which is only the 
Wealth of ancient Sultans, and the Revenue of Egypt, 
and the adjacent Provinces, and takes it out upon Oc- 
cafion. He hath the Cuftody of all the Sultan’s Jewels, 
which he either wears, or are prefented him, and keeps 
a Regiftry of them, when received and when given 
away. He fucceeds the Capee-Aga, when he dies. 
3. The Keelergee-Bafha, i. e. Mailer of the Ward- 
robe, into which are brought all the Prefents of Cloth 
of Gold, Plate, Silks, Woollen Cloths, Furs of all 
Sorts, Swords, Raw Silk, Carpets, and whatever elfe 
ferves for his Majeily’s Ufe, of which he keeps partH 
cular Inventories, as well as Servants under him, and his 
Salary is one thoufand Afpres a Day, viz. 50 j. Sterling. 
He is commonly in Favour with the Sultan, and ufually 
fucceed to Hazinehdar-Balha. 
4. The Sarai Agajee, i. e. the Keeper of the Seraglio. 
He fees that all Things be prepared for the Service of 
the Palace, and that the Rooms be kept as they ought 
to be, and that all the Officers do their Duty. He is 
allowed to ride up and down the Seraglio, in the Courts, 
Gardens, and by the Sea-fide, as the three former are : 
His Penfion is eight hundred Afpres, or 40 s. a Day. 
befides Veils and Furs •, he fucceeds the Keelergee-Bafha. 
The three laft may not fpeak to the Emperor, unlefs 
in Anfwer to any Thing he afles them. 
The Number of thefe Eunuchs is about two hundred, 
and they are all not only gelt, but cut fmoth when they 
are very young, and that with their own Confent, which 
is obtain’d by afluring them what Great Men they will 
be, for otherwife they would be in Danger of Death, 
as the Workmen in that Bufinefs affirm. They are 
brought up with the Ichoglans, and are taken from the 
fourth Oda to ferve the Grand Signior, who employs 
them in the Government of his other Seraglio’s, and 
his Seminaries of Youth at Conjlantinople, Adrianople, 
and other Places, makes them Bafhads of Cairo, Aleppo, 
and other Cities, and fometimes Vifiers of the Bench. 
They are alfo trufted by the Capee-Aga to keep the 
King’s Curiofities and valuable Rarities, as great Pieces 
of Ambergreefe, Musk, Balfom, Cups of Agat, for 
though they are, generally fpeaking, not of much Cou- 
rage, yet they are accounted of great Judgment and 
Fidelity. 
The Black Eunuchs and Black Moor Wenches ferve 
the Sultana’s and the reft of the Queen’s Women. Thefe 
Eunuchs, while they are Boys, are brought up as the 
White ones are, and after are fet to ferve and wait at 
the Sultana’s Gate, under the Command of the Kiflar- 
Aga. They are allowed a Penfion of fifty or fixty Af* 
pers a Day, and two Vefts, with Linnen and other Ne- 
ceflaries, yearly, befides Prefents given them by fuch 
Women as come to vifit the Grand Signior’s Women. 
They are never fent abroad in any Employment, but 
ferve for ever in the Seraglio. They are called by the 
Names of Flowers, as Rofe, Narciffus, Sec. Their Bu- 
finefs is to carry Melfages and Notes from the Sultana’s 
to the Capee-Aga, to be delivered to the Sultan, and 
attend upon the L.adies in Sicknefs and Health. 
id.The Grand Signior’s Sons by the Queen are brought 
up by themfelves, by choice Nurfes, which are found 
out of the Seraglio, and if he has Sons by other Sulta- 
na’s, they are brought up alfo by themfelves, but may 
play with them till they are fix or feven Years old. 
They live with the Women nine or ten Years, and 
about fourteen are circumcifed with great Pomp, as 
Weddings are kept among Chriftians. The Sons, 
from five to ten Years of Age, are taught to write and 
read by an Hojah, or School- mafter, who for that End 
is admitted into the Womens Apartment for certain 
Hours, but fees them not, unlefs two or three old ug- 
ly black Moorilh Women but Daughters are little re- 
garded. When the Shawhzawdeh, or Sultan’s Son who 
is Heir to the Crown, is circumcifed, he is fometimes 
fent abroad with a fuicable Equipage, and under the 
Care ot his principal and trufty Eunuchs, to be Gover- 
nor of Magnefta, and the Provinces about it, but as De- 
puty to his Father. The Eunuch is bound to give con- 
tinual Advice to the Grand Signior of his Son’s Deport- 
ment i fo that if he tranfgrefs the Limits of his Com- 
miflion in the leaft, he quickly falls into Difgrace, and 
into a Sufpicion of Rebellion. 
The Vitftuals in th^ Seraglio is drefs’d by fuch of the 
AgUam^ 
