Acknowledgments
Note on transliteration
Introduction
1 PRELIMINARIES: ELITE SLAVERY AND HOUSEHOLD MEMBERSHIP
Elite slavery in Islamic societies
Household politics and patronclient ties
2 EUNUCHS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Eunuchs in antiquity
Eunuchs in medieval Islamic empires
Eunuchs under the Mamluk sultanate
Eunuchs under the Ottomans
3 BESHIR AGHAS ORIGINS
Ottoman Abyssinia
Enslavement and castration
Post-castration conditions
Sale in Cairo
The political culture of Ottoman Egypt
Ismail Bey
4 EARLY YEARS IN THE PALACE
Sultans companion
The sultans mother
The Edirne Incident (1703)
Harem treasurer
5 EXILE IN CYPRUS AND EGYPT
Cyprus
Egypt
6 CHIEF OF THE TOMB EUNUCHS IN MEDINA
Shiism
Medina
The mosque of the Prophet
The tomb of the Prophet
The tomb eunuchs
Relations with Medinas and Egypts notables
7 CHIEF EUNUCH OF THE TOPKAPI PALACE HAREM
Return to Istanbul
Return to the harem
Vizier maker
Nevshehirli Ibrahim Pasha
The Tulip Era
The Book of Festivals
8 BESHIR AGHA DURING THE REIGN OF MAHMUD I
The Patrona Halil rebellion, 1730
Mahmud I (r. 173054)
9 BESHIR AGHA AND THE ARAB PROVINCES
The pilgrimage caravan and the governorship of Damascus
Beshir Agha and Egypts grandees
10 BESHIR AGHAS LIBRARIES AND PIOUS FOUNDATIONS
Libraries
Holdings of Beshir Aghas library outside the palace
Other libraries
Foundations
Conclusion
11 BESHIR AGHAS DEATH AND BURIAL
Funeral and burial
Beshir Aghas tomb
12 BESHIR AGHAS LEGACY THROUGH THE LENS OF OTTOMAN DECLINE
Morali Beshir Agha
Chief harem eunuchs and grand viziers in the post-Beshir era
Beshir Agha and the question of Ottoman decline
Conclusion
13 SOURCES ON BESHIR AGHA
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Works cited
Index