15 CENTS 
 
 
LIFE IN THE HAREMS 
 
 The life of the women in the Harems is one of the 
 most barbarous conditions still existing in the East. 
 Democracy and civilization have not had any effect upon 
 the slavery of womanhood. The Mohammedan theology 
 has taken women from their proper place and grouped 
 them among the animals and other material things. 
 However, the new theologians of Islam believe that by 
 keeping hundreds of women in the Harems they can 
 more easily communicate with the divine power, or that 
 the divine power can be revealed only through the 
 Harems as divine institutions. Because the Moham- 
 medans never have produced great critics and theologians 
 to understand and interpret the Bible truthfully, their 
 beliefs are very crude. They believe that woman is a 
 secondary creation of God, taken from the rib of man, a 
 material object created just as the rest of the other 
 animals, only for the help and pleasure of man. There- 
 fore, man can do whatever he pleases with her. 
 
 I have been asked several times by the Americans and 
 other people, — “What is a Harem? Why do Turks have so 
 many wives? How do all these women live together?” I 
 have always hesitated to tell them the horrible treatment 
 and blood-curdling punishments suffered by the women 
 of my country. Then, too, I have not wanted to condemn 
 my own people and my own country, but I now think that 
 the only way to save the Eastern women from slavery is 
 to let the people of the civilized world, especially the 
 women, know their awful sufferings, in order that the 
 enlightened women may be able to do something for their 
 benighted sisters of the East. The majority of Americans 
 are of the opinion that the Harems are places where the 
 women dress beautifully and enjoy every manner of 
 pleasure. This is true in some of the rich Harems, where 
 the women can satisfy their every desire for food and 
 
2 
 
 dress, but not so in the less wealthy ones. On the other 
 hand, all women, both rich and poor, have to suffer hor- 
 rible tortures at the hands of the cruel Eunuchs. Every 
 day women are beaten to death and frequently heated 
 irons are thrust into their bodies by the Eunuchs, who for 
 sundry reasons are womanhood’s bitterest enemies. 
 These poor women have no freedom ; sometimes as many 
 as 300 or more are married to one man. Americans 
 should realize this part of their lives as well as their danc- 
 ing and high life in the Harems. 
 
 Several years ago I came from the interior of the 
 Turkish Empire to study at Constantinople, the only 
 great center of education, and really the only great place 
 of the Ottoman Empire. I spent most of my time or 
 holidays in walking and seeing what was once the capital 
 of the Roman Empire, and the chief religious and politi- 
 cal center of both the East and the West, but which has 
 been ruined by the Eastern hordes. This city is like a 
 paradise to the Eastern people compared with the other 
 dirty cities of the empire. The Mohammedans look 
 upon the city as a new heaven. In the eyes of the Turks 
 it is the most holy place, the only vantage point from 
 which a decisive victory might possibly be won over 
 Europe in the future. The natural location and en- 
 vironment of the city is wonderful with its beautiful hills 
 and outlook over the sea of Marmora. While I was walk- 
 ing in the different parts of the city with my friends I 
 saw large buildings everywhere. I was told that these 
 were Harems. Thty were really no novelty to me be- 
 cause I had seen Harems in the other cities, but not as 
 large as these at the capital. A thing which surprised 
 me was the great number of “Mosques.” When one looks 
 out of the metropolis from the hills of the higher part of 
 the city, he sees the spires of the minarets so dense that 
 they resemble a forest. Before coming to the capital I 
 had heard about its beauty and its wonderful civiliza- 
 tion, but after I had stayed there a while I found that 
 this great capital and holy city of the empire was nothing 
 
3 
 
 but a center of corruption, slavery and all kinds of cruel- 
 ties and bloodshed. 
 
 I had quarters most of the time in the Mohammedan 
 section of the city. When I went across the bridge over 
 the “Golden Horn” to “Para” where the Europeans and 
 Greeks live I saw new sights. There the women go about 
 with their faces uncovered, men and women talk to- 
 gether. All this was new to me, and it surprised me 
 greatly. But the most significant thing to me was coming 
 to know the life of the women in the Turkish Harems, 
 and what the supposed great dignity of Mohammedan 
 women really amounted to, and to learn the purpose of a 
 man having so many wives. 
 
 I made many friends among the Mohammedans in 
 Constantinople. There was not one that I did not ques- 
 tion about the Harems, but all they told me was just what 
 I had seen and heard — “Harems are divine institutions.” 
 One Friday evening I was watching the imperial Harem 
 at “Dulma Bagcha.” There was a long procession of car- 
 riages all filled with women. They were watching for the 
 big crowd of men and women who were waiting for the 
 procession, but they were only using one eye and the rest 
 of their faces were covered with a black cloth which flowed 
 down over the whole body. A small piece of white cloth 
 hung down from their mouths. One hardly knew what 
 to look at first. The beautiful carriages were draped 
 with cloths embroidered in gold and were drawn by 
 handsome horses adorned in the Oriental fashion. The 
 great procession was both civic and military. I had a 
 particular friend among the mob, by name Nazim, who 
 always thought that I was a Moslem. “Don’t be sur- 
 prised when you see the Yildiz Kaioshk,” he said. “The 
 palace of the Sultan Hamid is the greatest Harem in 
 the world. There are 550 women in the building.” I 
 asked Nazim what was the reason for a man’s having so 
 many women. “They are the Sultan’s, sir. He must 
 have them in order to be a Sultan. This is a holy place, 
 where all of us receive the benefit of the prayers of his 
 
4 
 
 divine majesty, the Sultan, and where the holy spirits 
 live, who are the guides of the Ottoman Empire.” I 
 asked him if he could tell me what the women do there, 
 that I might tell my people about them when I go home 
 from the capital. “Yes, I can tell you more,” he said, 
 “For instance the Sultan marries a very young girl every 
 Friday, but if you want to know a good deal more, I will 
 take you to a cafe, where you can meet a Eunuch, who 
 has served twenty-five years in the Sultan’s Harem, 
 but is now on pension. He comes frequently to the cafe, 
 and he will tell you all you want to know.” I went with 
 Nazim to the cafe in the section of the city named 
 “Daftardar,” not very far from the German and 
 Italian hospitals. Before entering the cafe Nazim told 
 me to bow down and salute the old Eunuch, when I came 
 into his presence. I took off my shoes at the entrance of 
 the cafe, and went to the front where the Eunuch was 
 sitting and smoking a “Nargella” (water pipe). I bowed 
 down to him three times and saluted him in Turkish. He 
 received my salutation and showed me a seat. For several 
 minutes he looked into my face very sharply then he 
 asked me if I smoked. It was a great surprise to me to 
 see an Egyptian Eunuch so honored by the Turks and the 
 Persians as he was. Whenever he said anything every 
 man in the cafe kept silent. They were bringing to him 
 coffee and a water pipe one after another. Nazim told 
 him that I had come from a far city of Mesopatamia and 
 that I was a Moslem Arab. The old Eunuch, smiling, 
 looked into my face and said, “Can you speak Arabic?” 
 “Yes, sir,” I replied, “But not the same Arabic you speak 
 in Egypt.” Of course the Syriac and Arabic tongues 
 are very much alike. I knew enough Arabic to carry on a 
 conversation. He read me several passages from Koran, 
 and I understood most of the words, because they were 
 very much like the Syriac. Every Turk in the cafe was 
 surprised that I was able to understand the words of 
 the “Holy Scripture,” and they told me that I could easily 
 become a shaik, if I would continue studying the Holy 
 
5 
 
 Book. After a while Nazim told the Eunuch that I had 
 been surprised when I saw the great Harems of the 
 captial. “Don’t be surprised,” he said to me, “You will 
 see more and more; this is the great capital.” I asked 
 him, “Sir, can you tell me how these women all live 
 together, that I may tell the people when I go back home ?” 
 “We have very small Harems containing from 20 to 30 
 women each, but they always fight and kill one another.” 
 He answered, smiling, “Well, sir, here the women in the 
 Harems never fight. They are just as sisters to one 
 another.” I was greatly surprised when I heard this 
 about the life of the women at Constantinople. This 
 Eunuch had worked for 25 years in the Sultan’s Harem, 
 as I said before, and he told me much about the life and 
 treatment of the women. The women are brought from 
 all parts of the empire. Many of them are sent by the 
 governors and shaiks to the Sultan. Many of them are 
 daughters of the great men, and of the best families in 
 the empire. Some are from foreign countries and of 
 nearly all nationalities, but the majority of them are 
 Charks and Roumanians. The newcomers are all very 
 young from 7 to 16, and occasionally 20 years of age. 
 They come daily into the Harems. They have to stay a 
 long time before they are addmitted into the Proper 
 Harem. All the young girls who are awaiting examina- 
 tion are tied up, sometimes even their mouths. They are 
 very much frightened ; they think that they are going to 
 be killed. After the examination they are taken first to 
 the Proper Harem which is between the small and the 
 great Harem. The door of this Harem is not known to 
 anybody in the Palace. When the Sultan gives orders 
 to meet the newcomers, the Eunuchs take the girls with 
 them to the reception rooms, which are wonderfully 
 decorated and furnished with fancy things. When all 
 are assembled the Sultan leads them out by a secret door, 
 and after a little while they find themselves in the Proper 
 Harem; however, they never know how they got there. 
 No one can return from the reception rooms until the 
 
6 
 
 Sultan leads them back. All this is of “Allah” (God) to 
 them ; they cannot understand the great mystery. After 
 several days the girls are taken and put in the small 
 Harem. There some of them may be given to the guests 
 at the Palace. Those so given must be discharged im- 
 mediately at the departure of the guests. At the small 
 Harem the women are examined again. The examina- 
 tions usually are held on Thursdays and are carried on 
 by several medical doctors and three or four “Doctors 
 of Slavery” (Cadi). Those found fit are taken to the 
 great Harem and the others are discharged or given to 
 the officers of the Palace or the army. In the great 
 Harem the women are divided into sections and placed 
 under the charge of Eunuchs. Women who have reached 
 the age of twenty-five are put out and placed under the 
 order of the “Doctor of Slavery” or else given way as pres- 
 ents for the heroes. Their rooms are given to the new- 
 comers. The “Doctor of Slavery” sells the discharged 
 women for a great price and uses the money thus procured 
 for the same line of work, to supply women for the religi- 
 ous authorities, and other imperial Harems. The people 
 are willing to pay great prices for the women from the 
 Eunuchs because they believe that a woman who comes 
 out of the Sultan’s Harem, is holy. 
 
 Sometimes before the girls are placed under the order 
 of the “Doctor of Slavery” they fall into the hands of the 
 servants of the Palace and are badly treated. They are 
 stolen and carried away at night in bags to be sold for 
 little money. The Eunuchs have a very hard time with 
 the young girls. They are always crying for their 
 mothers and pulling at their hair. Therefore, they tie 
 them sometimes for several days. If that does not help 
 the Eunuch takes one of them and tortures her before 
 the eyes of the others, and that causes them to be quiet. 
 The Eunuch must be very careful about them because 
 they may scratch their faces and so be prevented from 
 passing the examinations. Prayers are conducted every 
 day by the “Doctor of Slavery” or other religious officers 
 
7 
 
 in the Harem. Great diligence is required of the women in 
 their religion. 
 
 The Christian girls are treated a little differently 
 from the others. At first they are taught religion for 
 several days by the “Doctor of Slavery.” Before the exam- 
 inations one or two are tortured to help the “Doctor of 
 Slavery” to convert the others. After they accept Mo- 
 hammed they are put under a large basket and rebaptized 
 in a way that cannot be described in print. But there is 
 some little feeling against the Christian women in the 
 Harems, because most of the favorites of the Sultan are 
 Christians or have been. The women are all friendly with 
 each other, always trying to help one another in many 
 ways. At certain times daily all the women are stripped 
 of their clothing and strapped in a position of excruciat- 
 ing pain and humiliation and taken out as victims of the 
 bestial passions of their cruel masters. Those who resist 
 and fight against being tied are punished severely by the 
 cruel Eunuchs. Their bodies sometimes are black and 
 blue from the beatings which they receive at the hands of 
 the Eunuchs. 
 
 At one certain time a rule was passed in the Harem 
 that no women could talk together. The meeting together 
 of women is always suspected by the Eunuchs of being a 
 plot against the Sultan’s life. The Sultan is afraid of 
 the women, and when he meets them he is always accom- 
 panied by some servants. Several times there have been 
 attempts against the life of the Sultan. Therefore, he 
 puts to death anyone he suspects even if she is innocent. 
 It once happened that one of his favorite daughters 
 entered his chamber and he became so afraid that he shot 
 and killed her immediately. 
 
 The women of the Sultan’s Harem all dress very 
 well and are fed finely. They have all kind of oils with 
 which to anoint themselves. There is no work done in 
 the Harems except a little needlewdrk, such as embroider- 
 ing the clothes and silken things. No reading is allowed 
 and no mail is received or dispatched from the Harem. 
 
8 
 
 The women spend most of their time swimming in the 
 presence of the Sultan, in pools constructed in the Harems 
 for that purpose. Some few games are played in the 
 Harems, as cards, but these are the only ways the women 
 have of filling their time. 
 
 The chief food of the Sultan is two sheep a day, a 
 most striking diet. The sheep are prepared in a very 
 mysterious way. The cook takes all the meat and fat 
 from the bones and boils it until all its strength has gone 
 into the water. Then he mixes some preparation with 
 the broth, the formula of which is unknown to all except 
 the cook and the Sultan. The formula for this prepara- 
 tion has been kept a secret for generations. The broth is 
 then condensed to a concentrated form, of which the 
 Sultan drinks twice a day. The boiled meat is given to 
 the servants ^f the Palace or to the Harems. Occasion- 
 ally it is sent to some of the schools of the “Ulema” for 
 the use of those who study under the “Society of Charity.” 
 The Sultan always eats alone in his own chamber. The 
 food is brought to him by one who is the member of the 
 imperial family. And is tasted by a personal friend of 
 the Sultan, after having already been tasted by both the 
 cook and the head of the household. Even a cup of tea 
 or coffee must be tasted in the Sultan’s presence. The 
 poisoning of the food has long been the way of disposing 
 of one’s enemies or rivals in the East. Therefore, the 
 Sultan is always careful about his food. 
 
 The Sultan sleeps in various rooms. No one 
 knows where he is sleeping. He orders a certain number 
 prepared for him but never sleeps in them. All the rooms 
 are furnished so much alike that one can scarely tell the 
 difference between them. The entrance to the rooms is 
 also a mystery. Bells and other contrivances are ar- 
 ranged so that if anyone enters the room he will think 
 that the Sultan is sleeping there, when in reality he is 
 not. His clothes and all others of his things may be 
 there but he is not. No man is allowed to awaken him. 
 At 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning the “Doctor of Slavery” 
 
9 
 
 or some appointed shaik who are in charge of the palace, 
 go near the rooms where the Sultan is supposed to be 
 sleeping and pray outside each door until the ruler 
 finally awakes. When prayers are conducted in the 
 Harem, the Sultan is not always present, but all the other 
 male residents of the palace must be in attendance. All 
 are praying for the Sultan. The regular prayers of the 
 Sultan are those held only on Friday. He goes with a 
 great procession to the Mosque of “Ayob” when the 
 ceremony of worship is held. After the prayers a girl is 
 given to him as the present of the whole nation, and as 
 significant of God’s having received his prayers and re- 
 warded him. The girls who are given on the Friday stay 
 at the “Kochook Mabin” or regular Harem which is only 
 a part of the small Harem. These girls are treated very 
 well, as many of them are of high birth. When discharged 
 they are given as presents to the highest authorities of 
 the Mohammedan religion. This is the Sultan’s method 
 of solving the problem of the Harems, the great number 
 of Eunuchs, and the servants of the palace. Thus it is 
 that he can scarcely find time to deal with the govern- 
 mental affairs of the nation. 
 
 Other noted Harems are those of the heads of the 
 government and of religious authorities. These Harems 
 are not very large but still they lack order and good 
 management. Fighting is going on continually among 
 the women. There is great jealousy among them, es- 
 pecially when some of them have children and some have 
 not. The women kill the children of one another by 
 giving them poison. The poo^ husband, who is very busy 
 with the religious works or with affairs of the govern- 
 ment, does not know what to do. When he enters his 
 house he hears the sounds of fighting and crying. Every 
 one will come and complain to him that the other women 
 have treated her badly and not given her enough food, or 
 that they have beaten her small child. He does not know 
 what to do, or which one to believe, as every one is swear- 
 ing by “Allah” that her story is true. The reason for the 
 
10 
 
 fighting in these Harems is the shortage of Eunuchs. 
 Even in some of the small Harems where there are 5 or 6 
 women the Eunuchs are not allowed to punish the women, 
 or to torture them as they do in the large Harems. When 
 the punishment is administered the Eunuchs only help 
 their master while he is punishing the women. The 
 punishment is very severe, of such a character that it 
 cannot be described in words. The women become un- 
 conscious and blood can be seen running from different 
 parts of their bodies. Their beautiful, long, heavy hair is 
 frequently pulled out when they are dragged about. 
 
 I shall never forget a punishment inflicted upon a 
 woman in a sheikh’s Harem, in Kurdistan, while I was 
 present at his house. In my journey from Kudshanis to 
 Van (Armenia) I had to stop in this sheikh’s house, and 
 beg him to give me a man to take me to “Bashkalah,” 
 The old sheikh was in his summer tents, living in the 
 mountains not very far from the city of Bashkalah. He 
 received us, both me and a Jew who was traveling with 
 me on the same way, and gave us a warm welcome in his 
 house such as I had never expected from a Kurd ; no, not 
 even from a Christian of my own town. A Kurd is very 
 cruel, but still he sacrifices everything for his guests. He 
 believes that such is the duty of every man to his guests. 
 But after his guest is 21 yards from his house he can 
 murder him if he cares to and there is no sin involved. 
 At this sheikh’s abode we were put in the best tent, 
 given the best food, and kept with a group of Kurds 
 around the big fire, which was used for lighting the tents. 
 The men and women of this summer community all 
 looked upon that particular sheikh as a saint. Every 
 man who came near the fire bowed down before him. 
 Then the sheikh showed him a place to sit. The sheikh’s 
 teeth were paining him severely ; so, all of us sat with him 
 until 10 o’clock at night. For the Kurds this was a very 
 late hour, for they usually retire at 6 o’clock or earlier. 
 At 10 most of the men went to their tents, and left only 
 a few of us, who were the guests, and a “Durvish” who 
 
11 
 
 had come from a far place to pray for sheikh that his 
 tooth might be healed. The Durvish and we were sleeping 
 in one tent and the sheikh was in the one next to ours. I 
 could not sleep at all, for from one side came the cries of 
 the sheikh in the anguish of his toothache and from the 
 other the mumbles of the Durvish, who was praying all 
 night and watching to see if the Jew was sleeping that he 
 might have an opportunity to steal his goods. The Jew, 
 however, was very careful. He put his goods near his head, 
 and the Durvish was not able to do anything. The Durvish 
 tried several times to get my shoes from my feet but I 
 awoke each time. He would then immediately take a 
 small book in his hands and start to pray. He tried again 
 and again but he could not pull the shoes off of my feet 
 because he did not know how to loosen them. Then he saw 
 his efforts were in vain and that he could not steal any- 
 thing from us, so he went around to the other side of the 
 fire and slept. At about 3 A. M. a child started to cry. 
 The sheikh called the mother by her name, but she was so 
 sound asleep that she did not awaken at his call. He 
 went to her and dragged her out of her bed by her hair, 
 together with her two children. He then threw her out 
 of the tent. The moon was shining brightly and I 
 could see her plainly from where I was lying. He raised 
 her head and dropped it against a big stone in front of 
 the tent. The poor young woman screamed horribly. 
 Blood came streaming from her head. The sheikh was 
 not satisfied with this but took a kind of rough club and 
 beat her with it until the blood was trickling from all 
 parts of her body. She fell as dead, unconscious, in front 
 of the tent. I was looking at her from my tent, but I 
 could not dare to help her or to say anything regarding 
 her. The sheikh went to his tent and slept, leaving the 
 poor woman to suffer outside, naked and wounded. I was 
 deeply hurt to see a woman treated so cruelly. I awoke 
 the Durvish and told him to go and help her, for he, being 
 a religious man, was the only one who could go near a 
 woman who was not his own wife. When he opened his 
 
12 
 
 eyes and looked up at the stars, he said that he had 
 missed one of his prayers. He asked me to get water 
 quickly. I thought he would use it to help the woman, 
 but instead he sat down and started to wash his feet and 
 to have prayers. “Please, Durvish, leave your prayer and 
 help this poor woman,” the Jew cried. “Don’t you know 
 that I cannot touch a woman without having my ‘Dasna- 
 vish’ (Ceremony) done?” he replied. After the usual long 
 prayer of the Durvishes he went near the woman, and 
 took his coat and threw over her, and carried her into 
 the tent. No sound issued from her mouth. When I 
 looked at her face all besmirched with blood, and saw 
 blood running from various parts of her body, I could 
 not restrain my tears. It was awful to see a woman so 
 badly treated, and that by a religious authority. About 6 
 o’clock in the morning every woman in the community 
 got up to work, and the men to lead the sheep to the 
 mountains for pasture. The Durvish got up early and went 
 to the sheikh’s tent to pray there. The Sheikh awoke also, 
 washed his feet, and started to pray with the Durvish. 
 After the prayers the Durvish took the water with which 
 sheikh had washed his feet and prayed over it. Then he 
 gave it to the wounded woman, and tQ some others in the 
 community. The poor maltreated woman died a little 
 later in the day in the midst of child-birth. 
 
 We had breakfast at 7.30 and then departed to 
 Bashkalah. While we were passing beside a field, a very 
 pretty woman came out to us. “I put myself under God’s 
 mercy and then under yours,” she cried. “Help me to 
 get to Van. I have been kidnaped from my husband, 
 by these cruel Kurds. You cannot imagine what human 
 beasts they are. I am a Christian as you are,” she cried, 
 with tears filling her eyes. She took her veil and made a 
 cross in her face to make me believe that she was a Chris- 
 tian. I put her at the back of my horse and promised 
 her that I would get her to Van even if I myself should 
 be murdered by Kurds who might come after us to 
 search for her. She told me her long story and about her 
 
13 
 
 education in the Roman Catholic nunnery in Georgia 
 Caucasus. She answered every question I put to her 
 about the Bible, and she spoke many languages. She 
 covered her face every time we met any Kurds along the 
 way and went with me all the way to Van. The woman 
 of the Harems in Kurdistan are treated very cruelly, and 
 this is so mainly because the Kurds had never adopted 
 any sort of civilization. A Kurdish sheikh will travel 
 through the towns and watch for pretty girls. When he 
 meets one, if he wants her, he will ask for her. If she 
 refuses to come he will put her to death. At times before 
 his arrival in the town some girls are prepared for him. 
 
 Harems are considered divine institutions by all the 
 Mohammedans. Men take oaths to the truth of their 
 testimony by the Harem and if the oath proves false all 
 his wives are divorced from him. In Kurdistan Harems 
 the women have more freedom than those in the other 
 parts of the empire. Some of these women become very 
 powerful, and have great influence over the country after 
 the death of their husbands. When a sheikh or other 
 religious leader dies, if he has no son his mother or his 
 first wife takes the office. Many of these women have a 
 great capacity for administration, and they are very 
 tolerant toward their subjects. Their court is composed 
 of servants and the elders of the towns, but the absolute 
 power is in the hand of the woman. She can put men and 
 women to death at any time she pleases without any 
 trial. This kind of women when they die become saints. 
 Many of them would be buried beside the roads where 
 the clan could stop and visit their graves while they are 
 traveling from place to place in the summer time. Women 
 will gather around the grave to weep and in a 
 short time the grave will be covered with their hair and 
 the stone will be watered with their tears. In the tomb 
 there is a big jar full of water from which the thirsty 
 travelers might drink and pray at the same time to the 
 saint. 
 
 The Harem system developed from the ancient cus- 
 
14 
 
 toms of the Oriental monarchy. As soon as Moham- 
 medanism came in everything was changed. The last 
 victory of Islam and overthrow of the Roman and Per- 
 sian empires, the civil power was crushed forever, 
 and religion became the only center of authority. The 
 great “Califs” of the Arabian empire were not emperors 
 but were only supreme heads of the Moslem religion, 
 endowed with divine power to exercise their spiritual and 
 temporal function. The Harem practice crept into the 
 religion, and became the only qualification for a higher 
 office. The number of wives in some of the Harems was 
 over a thousand. It was at this time, after the 
 conquest of Persia, that the Mohammedans got their dis- 
 coveries in heaven, “A heaven full of beautiful fat women, 
 with long hair and black eyes, waiting for those who 
 would become Moslems.” They got this idea from the 
 ancient Persian religion, and this brought a rapid con- 
 quest of the larger part of the world. Those who die in 
 religious war are promised a large Harem of 300 wives. 
 
 As soon as Turkey came into contact with European 
 powers the number of women was reduced to not over 
 600 and not less than 300. In 1907 the Sultan was 
 deposed, and the great Harem with its number of 550 
 women was closed, and the former Sultan was allowed to 
 maintain his spiritual power with only 30 wives. When 
 the new Sultan came to the throne he was an old man 
 who had spent most of his life in prison under the cruel 
 rule of his own brother. The new Sultan refused to 
 maintain a Harem similar to that of his brother, on ac- 
 count of his age and being tired of life. The number 
 was largely reduced. The Sultan even neglected to marry 
 every Friday according to the custom. The old Turkish 
 party denounced him, saying “How on earth can a Sultan 
 exercise his functions with such limited Harem?” They 
 also prophesied that his reign marked the decline of the 
 Ottoman empire, and this came true because he lost every 
 war that he went into. 
 
15 
 
 On the other hand, there are other Mohammedans 
 who have realized the danger of such immoral customs, 
 and their effect upon Eastern civilization, and upon 
 Turkish foreign policy. 
 
 There are at present about 500,000 Armenian girls 
 in the Harems. They are treated in the most shameful 
 manner and brutal torture. One must not forget that 
 millions of Mohammedan women suffer the same treat- 
 ment and abuses ; which they have endured for centuries. 
 The voices of these Moslem sisters have not been heard 
 beyond the walled cities of the Turkish empire. 
 
 It may seem surprising, yet nevertheless it is true 
 that there are Mohammedans who are bitterly opposed to 
 the slavery, and who are in favor of a reformation, but 
 it has been very hard to get leadership. The standard of 
 the Mohammedan religion is as that of the Christian 
 Church in the middle ages. There are only a few who 
 understand the teaching of the prophet, and they never 
 teach any of it except the bad side. The teaching of 
 Mohamet is very far from that practiced by the Turk. In 
 i-eading the Koran one finds many good things as well as 
 in the teachings of other religious teachers. 
 
 The first thing that Mohammedans need is a knowl- 
 edge of the teachings of Mohamet, then to be led to a 
 higher moral standard. It is very foolish to try to 
 convert Mohammedans to so-called Christian doctrines, 
 the doctrines of the medieval church, which are not much 
 better in form or belief from those practiced and held by 
 them at present. Such Christian doctrines manufactured 
 in the Middle Ages never will be agreeable to the Oriental 
 mind, especially to the Semetic Type of Oriental. 
 
16 
 
 For nearly seventy years Christian missionaries have labored 
 in the near-East, without being successful in winning Mohamme- 
 dans to Christ. However, the native Christians never have made 
 any effort to convert their cruel oppressors, aside from arguing 
 with them on theological matters, endeavoring to make them accept 
 the mystical doctrine of the Trinity, which is difficult even for 
 Christians to comprehend. It is true, once a Turk said, “We have 
 enough trouble with having one God, then what would happen if 
 we accept two more Gods; that means more bloodshed.” The sim- 
 ple living, vital truths of Christianity, are what these people need. 
 
 So long as Mohammedan womanhood is depraved and held in 
 bondage, any moral or spiritual reformation is impossible. “A na- 
 tion can never rise above the standard set by its womanhood.” 
 Moreover, we believe that if Turkish women only knew that their 
 sisters of other lands have risen above and do not submit to a cor- 
 rupt system which paralyzes the best that is in them and their chil- 
 dren they could he led to rise in effectual protest against it. 
 
 The great suffering of Armenians and other Christians is 
 known all over the world, but there is no one to bring the suffering 
 of millions of innocent Mohammedans in the hands of “divine” and 
 autocratic rule of the Sultan. The government and the religious au- 
 thorities are the only ones responsible for the continual bloodshed in 
 the East. To bring peace in that country we must accept one of 
 two alternatives, to end the tyrannical rule of Turkey forever, or to 
 direct a real and vigorous missionary campaign in behalf of a re- 
 ligious revival. In the latter alternative a victory is sure if we only 
 can get some missionaries who would accept the challenge and take 
 their cross, and not accept any salary; as the Mohammedans be- 
 lieve that these missionaries are paid by some company in the 
 United States or Europe, therefore they don’t believe what they 
 teach. We thank America for what she has done and is doing. She 
 has sent already forty or more millions of dollars to save that coun- 
 try, but that is only a temporary and physical salvation. 
 
 I am appealing to the generosity and kindness of Ameri- 
 cans to help these suffering people, not only physically but morally. 
 Can America sacrifice twelve of her men to go as missionaries to 
 that country? When I say missionaries I mean the kind of mis- 
 sionaries which Orientals believe and trust. If America cannot get 
 some of her own men to this field, I am sure that there will be many 
 Mohammedans to offer themselves if they are given some opportun- 
 ities to be educated in this country and sent as missionaries.