Valide Sultan (, lit. "Sultana Mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The title was supposedly created by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century for his mother Hafsa Sultan, 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). This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. 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
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. Gülbahar Hatun, who died before her son's accession to throne, never assumed the title of . Name Birth name Origin Consort of Became Ceased to be Death Sultan Nilüfer Hatun unknown Byzantine Greek Orhan March 1362 son's ascension 1363 Murad I(son) Gülçiçek Hatun unknown Byzantine Greek Murad I 16 June 1389 son's ascension Bayezid I(son) Devlet Hatun unknown unknown Bayezid I 5 July 1413 son's ascension 26 May 1421 son's death 1422 Mehmed I(son) Emine Hatun Emine Turkish Mehmed I 26 May 1421 son's ascension August 1444 son's abdication Murad II(son) September 1446 son's reinstatement 1449 Hüma Hatun unknown disputed Murad II August 1444 son's first ascension September 1446 Mehmed II(son) Gülbahar Hatun unknown Albanian, Greek or Serbian Mehmed II 3 May 1481 son's ascension 1492 Bayezid II(son)
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 princess in the Ottoman Empire, and Rahime Perestu Sultan. AppearanceName Maiden name Origin Became Ceased to be Death Sultan(s) Ayşe Hafsa Sultan unknown Slave of European or Circassian origin (Her name is given as "Hafsa bint-i Abdü'l-Muin" in Kitâbeler by İ. H. Uzunçarşılı. This shows that she was of non-Turkish origin, and later converted to Islam. The assertions that she was daughter of Meñli_I_Giray of the Crimean_Khanate was never proven even though one of the wives of Selim_I, namely Ayşe Hatun, was the real daughter of Meñli_I_Giray.) 30 September 1520son's ascension 19 March 1534 Suleiman the Magnificent (son)Afife Nurbanu Sultan Cecilia Venier-BaffoGodfrey Goodwin, The Private World of Ottoman Women, Saqi Book, , , 2001. page 128 or Kalē Karatanou or Rachel Marié NassiValeria Heuberger, Geneviève Humbert, Geneviève Humbert-Knitel, Elisabeth Vyslonzil (ed.), Cultures in Colors, page 68. , 2001 Venetian or Greek or Jewish 15 December 1574son's ascension 7 December 1583 Murad III (son)Safiye Sultan Albanianor Venetian 15 January 1595son's ascension 22 December 1603 son's deathJanuary/April 1619 Mehmed III (son) Handan Sultan unknown Bosnian, pp. 45 and 53–54 or Greek 22 December 1603son's ascension 9 November 1605 Ahmed I (son)Halime Sultan unknown Abkhaz 22 November 1617son's ascension19 May 1622son’s second ascension 26 February 1618son's first deposition10 September 1623son’s second deposition after 1623 Mustafa I (son) Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan Anastasía (?)Bosworth, C.E (1986). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. V (Khe-Mahi). Brill Archive. p. 272. ISBN 9004078193. Greek or BosnianSomel, S. A. (2003). Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. The Scarecrow Press, imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. p. 518. ISBN 0810866064. 10 September 1623son's ascension 8 August 1648 son's deposition 2 September 1651Murad IV (son)Ibrahim (son)Hatice Turhan Sultan Russian,Ruth Barzilai-Lumbroso (2008). Turkish Men, Ottoman Women: Popular Turkish Historians and the Writing of Ottoman Women's History. ProQuest. . Circassian or UkrainianT. V. Chukhlib. Khatije Turhan Valide-Sultan 8 August 1648son's ascension 4 August 1683 Mehmed IV (son)Saliha Dilaşub Sultan unknownA. D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Oxford: Clarendon, 1956, p.83 unknownA.D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1955, p.83 8 November 1687son's ascension 4 December 1689 Suleiman II (son) Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan Evmania Voria VerziniA Queen Mother and the Ottoman Imperial Harem: Rabia Gülnuş Emetullah Valide Sultan (1640-1715). In Concubines and Courtesans: Women and Slavery in Islamic History, ed. Matthew S. Gordon- Kathryn A. Hain. Oxford University Press, 2017 p.208 Greek or Venetian from the island of Crete 6 February 1695son's ascension 6 November 1715 Mustafa II (son)Ahmed III (son) Sebkati Saliha Sultan unknown, p. 83 unknown,A. D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Oxford: Clarendon, 1956, p.83 Serbian or Greek 20 September 1730son's ascension 21 September 1739 Mahmud I (son) Şehsuvar Sultan unknown Ukrainian, RussianA. D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Oxford: Clarendon, 1956, p.83A.D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1955, p.83 or Serbian 13 December 1754son's ascension 27 April 1756 Osman III (son) Mihrişah Sultan Georgian 7 April 1789son's ascension 16 October 1805 Selim III (son) Ayşe Sineperver Sultan unknown Bulgarian, Circassian or Georgian 29 May 1807son's ascension 28 July 1808son's deposition 11 December 1828 Mustafa IV (son)Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları (Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications), 15th Ed., 2009, page 387 & 395, Nakşidil Sultan unknown Georgian or Circassian 28 July 1808son's ascension 22 August 1817 Mahmud II (son) Bezmiâlem Sultan unknown GeorgianA.D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1955, p.83 or Circassian 2 July 1839son's ascension 2 May 1853 Abdülmecid I (son) Pertevniyal Sultan Besime Kurd, Romanian or Circassian 25 June 1861son's ascension 30 May 1876son's deposition 5 February 1883 Abdülaziz I (son) Şevkefza Sultan Mingrelian and Circassian 30 May 1876son's ascension 31 August 1876son's deposition 17 September 1889 Murad V (son) Rahime Perestu Sultan Rahime Hanim Ubykh