Valide sultan

Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
A bust of the first valide sultan, Hafsa Sultan, in Manisa, Turkey
Residence	Topkapı Palace Dolmabahçe Palace Yıldız Palace
Formation	30 September 1520
First holder	Hafsa Sultan
Final holder	Rahime Perestu Sultan
Abolished	1 November 1922

Valide Sultan (Template:Langx, lit. "Sultana Mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The title was supposedly created by Murad III in the 16th century for his mother Nurbanu, superseding the previous epithets of mehd-i ulya ("cradle of the great"). Normally, the living mother of a ruling sultan held this title; mothers who died before their sons' accession to the throne never received it. In special cases, there were grandmothers, stepmothers, adoptive mothers and sisters of the ruling sultans who, although not officially holding the title, assumed the role of , like Mihrimah Sultan the most powerful and influential Ottoman princess, and Rahime Perestu Sultan.

Term

The word () literally means 'mother' in Ottoman Turkish, from Arabic . The Turkish pronunciation of the word is .

Sultan (, ) is an Arabic word originally meaning 'authority' or 'dominion'. By the beginning of the 16th century, this title, carried by both men and women of the Ottoman dynasty, was replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notably hatun for women and bey for men). Consequently, the title (title for living mother of reigning Ottoman sultan before 16th century) also turned into . This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.

Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as sultan, but the Ottomans themselves used (emperor) or to refer to their ruler. The emperor's formal title consisted of sultan together with khan (for example, Sultan Suleiman Khan). In formal address, the sultan's children were also entitled sultan, with imperial princes (şehzade) carrying the title before their given name, with imperial princesses carrying it after. For example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan were the son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. Like imperial princesses, the living mother and main consort of reigning sultans also carried the title after their given names, for example, Hafsa Sultan, Suleiman's mother and first , and Hürrem Sultan, Suleiman's chief consort and first haseki sultan. The evolving usage of this title reflected power shifts among imperial women, especially between the Sultanate of Women, as the position of main consort eroded over the course of 17th century, the main consort lost the title sultan, which replaced by , a title related to the earlier . Henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non-imperial blood to carry the title sultan.

Role and position

File:De sultane-moeder Rijksmuseum SK-A-2016.jpeg

Painting of a (Saliha Sultan), c. 1730 by Jean Baptiste Vanmour.

was, in most cases, the most important position in the Ottoman Empire after the sultan himself. As the mother to the sultan, by Islamic tradition ("A mother's right is God's right"), the would often have a significant influence on the affairs of the empire. She had great power in the court and her own rooms (always adjacent to her son's) and state staff. The valide sultan had quarters within the New Palace, where the Sultan himself resided, beginning in the 16th century.

As the Valide Sultan (Sultana mother), who had direct and intimate access to the Sultan's person, often influenced government decisions bypassing the Imperial Council and the Grand Vizier altogether or the grille-covered window from which the Sultan or Valide Sultan could observe Council meetings. This left her at the heart of the political ongoings and machinations of the Ottoman Empire. also traditionally had access to considerable economic resources and often funded major architectural projects, such as the Atik Valide Mosque Complex in Istanbul. Many Valide Sultans undertook massive philanthropic endeavors and buildings, as this was seen as one of the main ways to demonstrate influence and wealth. Valide Sultans were also conveniently one of the few people within the empire with the status and means to embark on these expensive projects. Nurbanu Sultan's daily stipend as Valide Sultan to her son, Murad III, was 2000 aspers, an extraordinary sum for the time, which revealed the highly influential position she held at court.

The valide sultan also maintained special privileges that other harem members could not. A valide sultan had mobility outside of the harem, sometimes through ceremonial visibility to the public or veiled meetings with government officials and diplomats. Additionally, the valide sultan led a crucial elements of diplomacy within the empire’s court: marriages of royal princesses. The most powerful and influential valide sultans forged crucial alliances through the marriages of their daughters. During the 17th century, in a period known as the Sultanate of Women, a series of incompetent or child sultans raised the role of the to new heights. Two Valide sultans acted as regents for their sons, assuming the vast power and influence the position entailed.

The most powerful and well-known of all in the history of the Ottoman Empire were Kösem Sultan, Turhan Sultan, Safiye Sultan and Nurbanu Sultan.

Nurbanu Sultan became the first of the great Valide Sultans during the 16th century, as Haseki Sultan as well as legal wife to Sultan Selim II. Nurbanu’s influential career as Valide Sultan established the precedent of Valide Sultan maintaining more power than her nearest harem rival, the Haseki Sultan, or favorite concubine of the reigning Sultan. The following influential Valide Sultans, Kösem Sultan, Turhan Sultan and Safiye Sultan, maintained this precedent and occupied positions of great power within the Ottoman imperial court. These positions, as well as helping them solidify their own power within the imperial court, also eased diplomatic tensions internationally.

Most harem women who were slaves were never formally married to the Sultans. Nevertheless, their children were considered fully legitimate under Islamic law if recognized by the father.

List of

The list does not include the complete list of mothers of the Ottoman sultans. Most who held the title of were the biological mothers of the reigning sultans. The mothers who died before their sons' accession to throne, never assumed the title of , like Hürrem Sultan, Mahfiruz Hatun, Muazzez Sultan, Mihrişah Kadın, Şermi Kadın, Tirimüjgan Kadın, Gülcemal Kadın and Gülistu Kadın. In special cases, there were grandmothers, stepmothers, adoptive mothers and sisters of the reigning sultans who, although not officially holding the title, assumed the role of , like Mihrimah Sultan, the most powerful and influential imperial woman in the Ottoman Empire, and Rahime Perestu Sultan.

Appearance	Name	Maiden name	Origin	Became	Ceased to be	Death	Sultan(s)
File:BustOfAyseHafsaSultan ManisaTurkey.jpg	Ayşe Hafsa Sultan	unknown	Slave of European or Circassian origin	30 September 1520 son's ascension	19 March 1534		Suleiman the Magnificent (son)
File:İmparator Süleyman’ın Kızı Cameria (Mihrimah Sultan).jpg	Mihrimah or Mihrimah Sultan مهرماه سلطان	Turkish( by her mother roots she was also Polish or Ukrainians or Ruthenians )	daughter of Suleiman I, sister of Selim II	1566 brother's accesion	25 January 1578
File:Nurbanu's burial, Shahanshahnama.jpg	Afife Nurbanu Sultan Cecilia Venier-Baffo or Kalē Karatanou or Rachel Marié Nassi	Venetian or Greek or Jewish	15 December 1574 son's ascension	7 December 1583		Murad III (son)
File:ValideSafiyeSultan.jpg	Safiye Sultan	(?)Sofia	Albanian	15 January 1595 son's ascension	22 December 1603 son's death	January/April 1619	Mehmed III (son)
	Handan Sultan	(?)Helena	Bosnian or Greek	22 December 1603 son's ascension	9 November 1605		Ahmed I (son)
File:Istanbul Şehzade complex Tomb of Şehzade Mahmud in 2023 3838.jpg	Halime Sultan	unknown	Abkhaz	22 November 1617 son's ascension (first tenure) 19 May 1622 son’s second ascension	26 February 1618 son's first deposition (first tenure) 10 September 1623 son’s second deposition (second tenure)	after 1623	Mustafa I (son)
File:Claes Rålamb Kösem Sultan.png	Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan	Anastasía (?)	Greek or Bosnian	align="center" | 10 September 1623 son's ascension	8 August 1648 son's deposition	2 September 1651	Murad IV (son) Ibrahim (son)
File:Turhan Hatice.jpg	Hatice Turhan Sultan	Nadia or Nadieżda(?)	Russian, Circassian or Ukrainian	8 August 1648 son's ascension	4 August 1683		Mehmed IV (son)
File:Saliha Dilaşub Sultan Tomb 20220315.jpg	Saliha Dilaşub Sultan	Katrina or Katerina(?)	Serbian	8 November 1687 son's ascension	4 December 1689		Suleiman II (son)
File:Portrait of Rabia Gülnuş.jpg	Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan	Evmania Voria Verzini	Greek or Venetian from the island of Crete	6 February 1695 son's ascension	6 November 1715		Mustafa II (son) Ahmed III (son)
File:Portrait of Valide and Mustafa II's wife Saliha Sebkati Sultan.jpg	Sebkati Saliha Sultan	unknown	unknown, Serbian or Greek	20 September 1730 son's ascension	21 September 1739		Mahmud I (son)
	Şehsuvar Sultan	unknown	Ukrainian, Russian or Serbian	13 December 1754 son's ascension	27 April 1756		Osman III (son)
File:Grave of Mihrişah Sultan.jpg	Mihrişah Sultan		Georgian	7 April 1789 son's ascension	16 October 1805		Selim III (son)
File:Ayşe Sineperver Sultan Mezar Taşı.jpg	Ayşe Sineperver Sultan	unknown	Bulgarian, Circassian or Georgian	29 May 1807 son's ascension	28 July 1808 son's deposition	11 December 1828	Mustafa IV (son)
File:Nakşidil.JPG	Nakşidil Sultan	unknown	Georgian or Circassian	28 July 1808 son's ascension	22 August 1817		Mahmud II (son)
	Bezmiâlem Sultan	unknown	Georgian or Circassian	2 July 1839 son's ascension	2 May 1853		Abdülmecid I (son)
	Pertevniyal Sultan	Besime	Kurd, Romanian or Circassian	25 June 1861 son's ascension	30 May 1876 son's deposition	5 February 1883	Abdülaziz I (son)
File:Şevk-efza Valide Sultan Hazretleri.JPG	Şevkefza Sultan		Mingrelian and Circassian	30 May 1876 son's ascension	31 August 1876 son's deposition	17 September 1889	Murad V (son)
File:Grave of Rahîme Perestû Sultan.jpg	Rahime Perestu Sultan	Rahime Hanim	Ubykh adoptive daughter of Esma Sultan	31 August 1876 step-son's ascension	11 December 1904		Abdul Hamid II (adoptive son)

The title of Büyük Valide Sultan (Senior Valide Sultan) or Büyükanne Sultan (Grandmother Sultana) was created by Kösem Sultan and officially used only by her during the reign of her grandson Mehmed IV, thus limiting the power of Turhan Sultan who was deemed too young to fulfill the title of Valide Sultan.

Appearance	Name	Maiden name	Note	Became	Ceased to be	Death	Sultan(s)
File:Claes Rålamb Kösem Sultan.png	Büyük Valide Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan	Anastasía (?)	Following Mehmed IV's accession, she proclaimed herself as Büyük Valide Sultan	8 August 1648 – her death	2 September 1651		Mehmed IV (grandson)

See also

• Hanımefendi
• Harem
• Haseki Sultan
• Kadınefendi
• List of mothers of the Ottoman sultans
• List of Ottoman titles and appellations
• Ottoman family tree
• Seraglio
• Sultana (title)

Bibliography

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