A: Under Islamic law, a man can have as many wives as he can support, with the traditional number topping out at around four. However, concubines are unlimited and many harems grew into the thousands - yes, thousands.

At the top of the charts for the luckiest man ever (by some guys' standards at least) was the 6th century BCE's King Tamba of Banaras, whose harem numbered some 16,000 women. They could fill a stadium! Not to be outdone, the 15th-century Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Kilji's harem numbered 15,000 and required him to build a separate walled city to house them.

Next on the list we have King Mongkut of Siam who, during the 1800s, housed his 9,000 women in a totally contained city with its own government, recreational facilities, and a theater. For his part, Kublai Khan, the Mongol leader in the 13th century, had four empresses and around 7,000 concubines. His style was to get rid of a couple hundred every two years and replace them with fresh newcomers.

Finally, Emperor Jahangir of India maintained a harem of over 6,300 women during the early years of the 17th century. Seems kind of weak compared to the other despots on the list, but Jahangir actually had his own thing going on. That is to say, he didn't limit himself strictly to members of the female persuasion. Jahangir kept close to a thousand young men-in-waiting for those times when he desired a change of scenery.