One of the things discovered in the grnomr sequencing project that was conductef in Iceland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Abductions
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hXkmBB-YL.jpg
https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12...
> The label "Turkish" does not refer to Turkey; at the time it was a general term for all Muslims in the Mediterranean region since the majority were a part of the Ottoman Empire. During the 17th century, the majority of those called "Turks" in Algeria, were disowned Christians that had converted to Islam. They were mostly Spanish, Italians, and provençaux (French).
In my experience, most "Western" understanding of European history evolved in the last millennium is completely bereft of the recognition that it was influenced by a heavyweight to their East.
Why did Columbus sail west? Why were the Portuguese going around the horn of Africa to get to Asia?
"Castration: A fair proportion of male slaves were imported as eunuchs... in practice, emasculation was frequent"
(and yes, it did also carry a high rate of death.)
My understanding was that adults were rarely castrated, rather boys from certain regions were targeted (I believe boys from modern Sudan were preferred by the Ottomans)
But, this is such a well-documented aspect of Ottoman slavery that it doesn’t depend on any particular Wikipedia page.
This was known to be full-on castration.
But didn’t they also take female slaves too, some being concubines?
It opens up so much possibility. Modified humans as household/industrial appliances.
Tomorrow's XBox might be your genetically tweaked second cousin.
Wildly speculating, I'd suppose european concubines were very much sought after by slavers and their 'customers'. And even more so blonds and redheads for their 'exotism'.
Now some Algerians look very european. You can even see redheads, though I remember redheadness appeared independantly in Europe and the Levant I think.
The same was true about the Guanche, who used to inhabit the Canary Islands before their Spanish conquest. They were "whiter" than the Spanish who conquered them.