Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, in The works of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, Memorial Edition, 1893-94, p. 371.

Chapter 17. History of the Prophet's Mosque.
 

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The principal of the Mosque, or Shaykh al-Harim, is no longer a neuter [The Persians in remote times, as we learn from Herodotus (lib. 6), were waited upon by eunuchs, and some attribute to them the invention. Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. 14) ascribes the origin to Semiramis. In Al-Islam, the employment of such persons about the Mosque is a "Bida'ah" or custom unknown in the time of the Prophet. It is said to have arisen from the following three considerations: 1. These people are concentrated in their professions; 2. They must see and touch strange women at the shrines; and 3. The shrines are "Harim", or sacred, having adyta (Greek: innermost sanctuaries) which are kept secret from the prying eyes of men, and, therefore, should be served by eunuchs. It is strange that the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the Moslem Mosque, should have admitted such an abomination.]. The present is a Turkish pasha, Osman, appointed from Constantinople with a salary of about 30,000 piastres a month. His Naib or deputy is a black eunuch, the chief of the Aghawat [One of these gentry, if called "Tawáshi," - his generic name, - would certainly insult a stranger. The polite form of address to one of them is "Agha" - Master, - in the plural "Aghawat." In partibus, they exact the greatest respect from men, and the title of the Eunuch of the Tomb is worth a considerable sum to them. The eunuchs of Al-Madinah are more numerous and better paid than those of Meccah: they are generally the slaves of rich men at Constantinople, and prefer this city on account of its climate.], upon a pay of 5000 piastres...

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