Abbasid harem

Map of the Abbasid Empire, it vassals and other world empires in the 9th century
Gold dinar minted during the reign of al-Amin (809–813)
Map showing the major Varangian trade routes: the Volga trade route (in red) and the Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks (in purple). Other trade routes of the eighth-eleventh centuries shown in orange.
The Rus trading slaves with the Khazars: Trade in the East Slavic Camp by Sergei Ivanov (1913). Many saqaliba slaves came from Europe to the Abbasid harem via the Volga trade route from Eastern Europe via the Khazars and the Caspian Sea
Wall decoration made of gypsum from Iskaf Bani Junaid, Iraq, 3rd century AH. Iraq Museum
9th-century harem wall painting fragments found in Samarra

The harem of the caliphs of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) in Baghdad was composed of his mother, wives, slave concubines, female relatives and slave servants (women and eunuchs), occupying a secluded portion of the Abbasid household. This institution played an important social function within the Abbasid court and was that part were the women were confined and secluded. The senior woman in rank in the harem was the mother of the Caliph. The Abbasid harem acted as a role model for the harems of other Islamic dynasties, as it was during the Abbasid Caliphate that the harem system was fully enforced in the Muslim world.[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference seclusion-doumato was invoked but never defined (see the help page).