The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem : From African Slave to Power-Broker (Paperback)

1. Introduction to the Chief Harem Eunuch; 2. The African Connection; 3. Arrangement in black and white: eunuchs in the Ottoman Palace; 4. The creation of the office of Chief Harem Eunuch and the career of Habeshi Mehmed Agha; 5. The crisis years of the seventeenth century; 6. Yusuf Agha and the Koprulu reforms; 7. A new paradigm: El-Hajj Beshir Agha and his successors; 8. Exile and the Kingdom: the Chief Harem Eunuch and Egypt; 9. The Chief Harem Eunuch and Ottoman religious and intellectual life; 10. Reformed out of existence: the denouement of the Chief Harem Eunuch; 11. Memorializing the Chief Harem Eunuch; 12. Conclusion.