Ottoman eunuch guards, 19th-century illustration. Eunuch guards in a harem palace in the Ottoman Empire, with an Islamic minaret in the background. Eunuchs are men who have been castrated, here to guard the wives and concubines of an imperial ruler. Examples of eunuchs guarding imperial harems include the rulers of China, India and the Ottoman Empire, with the Ottoman eunuchs wearing characteristic tall headgear. The Ottoman Imperial Harem, in Topkapi Palace, the court of the Ottoman sultans, was guarded by eunuchs who were mostly slaves from Africa's Nile Valley. The Chief Black Eunuch was known as the Kizlar Agha. Artwork published in 1890.