Ethiopia was the source of eunuchs to the Ottoman Empire, although it is hard to find information on their lives and personality, moreover their appearance. There is a historical stereotype that black eunuchs were "ugly" and “hideous” on the contrary to beautiful white women of harem - which is just a racist and heteronormative lie of European travelers.
In Arab, Persian and Turkic literature, there are still accounts that describe black people and black eunuchs being attractive and handsome, because despite the traditional “bright skin” ideal, in Islam it is believed that God has created all humans equal "from seven handful of soil from Earth in different colors, hence the different skin colors".
The Medieval Persian scholar and Sufi teacher Ahmad Ghazali pointing out the piety, writes: "Every time a rich man believes that he is better than a poor one, or a white man believes that he is better than a black one, then he is being arrogant. He is adopting the same hierarchical principles adopted by Satan in his ignorance”.
In the court of caliph of Baghdad at the beginning of the 10th century there were around 7 000 black eunuchs (and 4 000 white ones). Caliph al-Amin who loved eunuchs, called black eunuchs of his court "the ravens " (ghurabiyya) and he himself was infatuated with one who was named Kauthar, whom he adored and valued very much and called him “apple of his eye”. These lines are written by al-Amin himself on his eunuch Kauthar:
“What seek the people of a lover,
Afflicted for one he loves?
Kauthar is my faith and my worldly fortune,
Both my sickness and my physician;
The most despicable of men is he who reproved
A lover on account of his beloved.”
Egyptian poet Muhammad al-Nawaji bin Hasan bin Ali bin Othman, famous as Shams al-Din, dedicates several verses to the erotic appeal of African men:
If the stars glitter white
In the dusk of night
Against the black body of a sky
Whose robe has slipped aside,
Their opposite is even more beautiful;
For here on earth are other orbs:
You, black men, Shining stars of our days.
Kafur al-Misk was the renowned black eunuch sultan of Egypt.
.... to be continued.
Since I got sick I wasn't able to finish the article, I wanted to put more info about the beauty of black men and eunuchs, but I'll get it done whenever I'm better and later publish it for all patrons and a bit more later on Tumblr and Deviantart. Just cause Cherubims and Seraphims have special early access to our newest arts.
Yet, love y'all! <3
Moonlit Spires
2020-03-03 06:12:56 +0000 UTCMoonlit Spires
2020-03-03 05:46:34 +0000 UTC