In Arabic, the word harem means something that is forbidden and hidden from the others. In the case of the Ottoman Harem it was part of the Sultan's home where his wife and family lived and where he was the only one allowed to enter among all the men. In Ottoman society being a slave was an honor and a privilege. Marriage with a slave was legal, and even Sultans in some cases married their slaves. There were four types of Sultan women determined by the Shari'ah law called Ikbal, Haseki or Kadin efendi. The daughters of the Sultan were by birth called Sultanas and were most likely to marry high-ranking statesmen (Viziers, Pashas, Beys...), had all the rights as a Sultan himself in that marriages and were absolute rulers to their husbands. When the girls arrived in Harem, they were accommodated in the Small and Big stone chambers, from where they were referred to different types of housework, so the level and the type of their education depended on necessities and merits of each girl. Later on, the novices would, by the time they reached puberty, achieve the rankings of Câriye, Şâgird, Gedikli or Gözde, being the ones that attracted the Sultan's attention (Gediklija – the privileged ones; they were the holders of the privileges which were a prize for long service and personally chosen by a Sultan) and Usta. There was inequality in the Harem, same as in every society. Those lucky ones who stood out (by beauty, intelligence or some other virtue) became the Sultan's favorites (Ikbal), which became mothers of princes (potential future Sultans) and gained the title of Haseki. And if the son of a Haseki would one day become a Sultan then she would get the name of Sultan's mother (the Valide Sultan) which is the highest rank that a woman can reach in Harem. As mentioned earlier in the text, Valide Sultan was a ruler in Harem and her influence on the court grew in the period between 1574. and 1687. Even the Sultan, like the other high-ranking dignitaries in the court, was greatly influenced by the women in Harem of the highest rank. In that period Harem was the largest political center. Namely, getting the highest ranking positions was most often possibble by the initiative of these women. They also took the lead in many political decisions. Precisely because of their great influence on state affairs, that period of Ottoman historiography is called Kadınlar Saltanatı or the Period of Women's Reign. The institution of Vakuf (benevolence) was greatly appreciated in the Ottoman society, so mothers of princes and Sultans, princesses and court ladies sponsored the construction of almshouses, public kitchens, baths, houses for slave women in the market place, hospitals, mosques, schools, fountains... These complexes were named after their sponsors and some of them still work today. There are numerous rooms, chambers and departments in the Harem. It is not necessary to emphasize that each corner and hall were luxuriously decorated since they represented the home of a Sultan. It is logical that his chamber was the most beautiful and most luxurious one, followed by the Sultan's mother, Sultan's women, daughters, sons, his favourites… Among all the other rooms, there are also "Cages" for the princes in the Harem Complex (the rooms where princes stayed isolated from all the events of the court so they could not rise a revolt against their brother Sultan), the hammam (a wonderful bathroom for relaxation and maintenance of the Harem resident's hygiene), a hospital attesting to the health care and the cemetery where they buried Harem residents , but not the Sultans, princes, and Sultanas because they had their own large tombs outside the complex. Companionship and leisure were very important for spirit and body and ladies often spent time doing it. Sultan often went hunting, so there were various hunting villas and estates outside the courtyard that Sultan's family often visited. At the court and in the Harem everybody got an education, from the lowest to the highest ones in the hierarchy and they paid special attention to the education of the princes who could one day become a Sultan. There were many Sultans of the Ottoman Empire and, unfortunately, the most memorable ones were the ones who were the cruelest and who conquered the most countries. But there were also those who liked their laws to improve the life of their residents, who were kind to love and to their brothers whom they did not kill even though the law ordered so. Sultan was the head of the entire Empire and Harem and it was often difficult for him to successfully fulfill these two roles.