Oda (harem)
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Oda (Turkish: oda, "a room, chamber") is a room within a harem found in the Ottoman Empire.
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[edit] Name
The word oda simply means "a room" in Turkish. The English and French term odalisque also derives from the related Turkish word odalık which means "a chamber girl" or "a concubine".[1]
[edit] History
During Ottoman period the harem division of the Topkapı Palace was home to the Valide sultan (Sultan's mother); the odalisques and wives of the Sultan; and the rest of his family, including children; and their servants. There were nearly 300 odas in the harem and it housed as many as 500 residents, which sometimes amounted up to 300 women, their children, and the eunuchs.
