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Also, forgot to mention that the harem quarters weren't just for the emperor's concubines. Important female family members would also reside there, holding "court" as well as being educated.
Thank you so much for the information!! It's really cool to know now but it's not like I want join any lmaoooo
There's a post below talking nonsense about Harems, the Ottoman Empire, and the Turks. If you want truthful information a quick Wikipedia search can provide a lot of truthful knowledge. Royal harems mostly included noble women and harems from the Middle East where famously "progressive", with women being encouraged and taught a variety of information and skills like literature and music. Anyone who says they were comprised of mostly sold Christian women is lying and spreading racist and prejudiced information. Women could also wield a substantial amount of power, and held their own "court". The purpose of the harem was for the emperor to have multiple sons (to take the throne and continue the bloodline) and daughters (to continue the bloodline and to be used as pawns). The comment below mentions that this was to produce "sane" sons, but famous battles for succeeding the throne in the Ottoman empire involved killing all other brothers. It was even eventually legalized so the succeeding brother legally had the right to kill any remaining brothers.
The previous comment is also misinformed about the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Turks, who were originally pastoral nomads, founded the Ottoman empire. Yes, there were a variety of Turkish tribes, but this group specifically founded the Ottoman empire and did continue to have contact with other Turkish tribes (although this relationship would devolve as time went on). The Turkish tribe were not a significant threat to the Ottoman Empire, which was the dominant empire of the region and lasted until a little before the end of World War II.