Avret Pazarları

Turkish media often overlooks non-elite or commoner women in slavery, instead focusing more on relatively privileged slaves in the Ottoman Imperial Harem.

[10] The Ottoman Empire adopted practices akin to those of other slave societies, particularly preceding Islamic states such as the Caliphates of al-Mu'tasim and the Mamluk Sultanate.

Ottaviano Bon, an early 17th-century Italian ambassador, made observations about the "Avret Pizary" in Istanbul:For such a purpose, there is an enclosed public market in Constantinople in which an open auction each Wednesday female slaves of every sort are bought and sold, and everybody freely goes there to buy them...[6]Bon goes on to say that slave girls in Istanbul were bought and sold like animals – ascertaining their country of origin, plus examining their bodies all over thoroughly to confirm that their buyer did not feel swindled.

[8] The literature on slavery-related Fatwa, covering Ottoman legal commentaries, is full of discussions about past, present, and future access to female slaves' sexuality.

[8] While some intellectuals debate whether individuals labeled as slaves would fit the Western understanding of slavery, scholars assert that there were instances where enslaved women faced abuse and lacked legal protections and rights.

Abuse and constraints were common, and female slaves were often regarded as mere possessions, listed in inheritance records alongside household items or livestock, or described in physical terms in court.

[20] Female slaves had limited opportunities, often based on physical attractiveness and talents for pleasing and entertaining male counterparts with flattering words and gestures.

On the other hand, in the Mughal Empire, elites often included conditions in marriage contracts to ensure that legally wedded wives could dispose of their husbands' slave women and concubines as they pleased, thereby eliminating potential competition.

While Ottoman women didn't resort to this tactic as frequently, they still faced familial jealousies and the risk of being discarded by their husbands if a slave woman or concubine gained greater favor.

For instance, elite male slaves who advanced in military or administrative careers, enjoying a life filled with freedoms, wealth, and power, may not fit the Western notion of slavery.

[5] According to Kate Fleet, female slaves in the Ottoman Empire had a greater chance of accessing public spaces compared to non-slave Muslim women.

[31] In her 1837 visit, English novelist Julia Pardoe described the Istanbul slave market as a square court surrounded by low stone rooms or cells on three sides, with a projecting wooden peristyle beyond.

Naked, they are compelled to go before everyone, to run, walk, and jump, so that it may be plainly apparent whether they are sick or healthy, male or female, old or young, virgin or corrupt"... "There the son is sold while the grieving mother looks on.

[35] During one of the first Ottoman incursions at the borderland of the Kingdom of Hungary, Margaret was abducted from her family seat, the village of Egerszeg in Temes County (now part of Vermeș in Romania).

"...Turkey is bordering with Adyghas and Mingrelians, who represent something like slave mine, whom they take to Constantinople like cattle and sell them in auctions..." Evliya Çelebi (1611–1682) was a 17th-century Ottoman traveler who participated in some raids and took captives.

Any fellows who join an expedition as volunteers for plunder of this kind enter a house, and after setting fire to it, and killing generally the adult males, they carry off the property, with the females and boys.

They then proceed to the next custom house, and having paid twenty piasters, or about ten shillings, they take out a teskerai, or a ticket, which certifies the slavery, and then the persons of the unfortunate family become the property of the captors forever, with all their posterity!

Round this arc raised platforms, on which black slaves sit: behind is latticed windows lighting apartments, where the white and more costly women are shut up till they are sold, and there is a certain decency and propriety observed in the purchase.

A number of captives had been brought up the day before, and some of them exposed for sale in that place,..."[45] (caiquegees = Caïque-men, hummals = porters )In 1828, Charles Macfarlane provided a description of Constantinople.

[48][49] "Occasionally, I will not deny, heart rending scenes occur, in the case of captives of war, or victims of revolt, wrenched suddenly from all that is dear, but these are rare occurrences.

a slight inspection suffices The girl gets up off the ground, gathers her coarse cloth round her loins, bids her companions adieu, and trips gaily, barefooted and bare-headed, after her new mistress, who immediately dresses her la Turque and hides her ebony with white veils.

"Danish author Hans Christian Andersen visited Istanbul in April 1841 and penned: "...Not far from great bazaar, we come to place surrounded by wooden buildings, forming an open gallery; the jutting roof is supported by rough beams; inside along the gallery, are small chambers where trader stow their goods, and these goods are human beings, black and white female slaves.

He could give us a description of the slave market, such as we are not able to offer..."Many Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish folk songs from the Ottoman Empire era reflect the impact of raids on common people in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea regions.

[53] According to Elif Aksit, while Samipaşazade Sezai, Ahmet Mithat, and Halit Ziya elaborate on the tragic lives of passive slave girls, Fatma Aliye focuses on empowerment even from slavery.

The approaches of the first three authors indicate a choice to depict tragic and caricatured situations to create a strong emotional appeal to the prevailing change in public opinion.

Aksit notes that, ironically, while Dilber's initial vulnerability protects her from both wanted and unwanted advances, her beauty and transition to womanhood become a fatal combination with her enslavement.

[55] Following this, Kanuko Cemil authored a poem in the same magazine in 1976, illustrating the prevalent themes of forced marriages and human trafficking in the periodicals published by Circassian diaspora nationalists during the 1970s.

~ Kanuko Cemil' 1976 poem in Circassian magazine Yamçı[55] Dogan and Toledano note that the discourse among descendants of slavery post-2000 emphasizes assimilation into Turkish identity while allowing for cultural diversity.

Series like Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century) are exported to various Muslim countries, predominantly highlighting the elite aspect of Ottoman slavery.

Despite approval from Islamic clergy, conservative audiences advocate for sanitized versions that omit any depiction of slave women in Ottoman times and life.