The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire

'The Black Eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire: Networks of Power in the Court of the Sultan' by George Junne (I.B. Tauris, 336 pages, £64)

There are few more exotic subjects than the eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire. But despite being key centers of power for over three centuries, Ottoman court eunuchs remain something of an enigma. "The Black Eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire" by University of Northern Colorado professor George Junne is pioneering work that casts light on a fascinating but shady subject. It includes plenty of stomach-churning descriptions of the castration process, but also addresses broader issues of slavery, Ottoman power dynamics and cultural inheritance. Reading about this strange world of black and white eunuchs, court mutes, dwarf eunuchs, and dwarf concubine mutes is also a good reminder of what a bizarrely different world it was at the heart of Istanbul until just 100 years ago.

Eunuchs had been present in earlier Islamic households and courts, but the Ottomans only adopted their use after conquering the Christian Byzantine Empire. Eunuch-making was one of the many Byzantine customs maintained after the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. The seclusion of women in the harem was similarly adapted by Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror from the practice of the Byzantine "gynaccea" (separate women's apartments). 

In the Ottoman court and other wealthy households, eunuchs served as neutral, unthreatening, non-gendered emissaries in a moral universe that was highly charged with sexual tension. There was plenty of demand for eunuchs, and a steady supply was guaranteed by Arab horsemen raiding Africa. Most died during the castration process, driving up the price of those who survived. 

At their peak there may have...