Haseki sultan
Haseki Sultan(Ottoman Turkish:خاصکى سلطان,Ḫāṣekī Sulṭān;Turkish pronunciation:[haseˈcisuɫˈtaːn]) was the title used for the chief consort of an Ottoman sultan. In later years, the meaning of the title changed to "imperial consort".[1]Hurrem Sultan,principal consort and legal wife ofSuleiman the Magnificent,was the first holder of this title.[2]The title lost its exclusivity underIbrahim I,who bestowed it upon eight women simultaneously. The title haseki sultan was used until the 17th century. After that,kadınefendibecame the highest ranking title for imperial consorts, although this title was not as prestigious as haseki sultan.
Term
[edit]The wordhaseki(خاصکي-خاصگی) comes from the Arabic wordKhassa(خاصه) which is suffixed with the Persiangi(گی) and means "to attribute something exclusively to".Hasekiis, therefore, one who belongs exclusively to the sultan.[3]
Sultan(سلطان) is an Arabic word, that indicates "authority" or "dominion". starting from the 16th century, this title was carried by both men and women of the Ottoman dynasty. Thus, replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notablyhatunfor women andbeyfor men).[4]This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. The Ottoman titleHaseki Sultanwas an equivalent european title ofQueen consort.BeforeHürrem Sultan,the Ottoman empire never had a titled queen. However, Suleiman the Magnificent broke tradition and freed his former concubine Hürrem from slavery, and legally married her elevating her position fromfavorite consorttoQueen consort.[5]A handful of Ottoman Sultanas held the same title after Hürrem, but not necessarily resulting from legal marriage like the case of Hürrem. Nurbanu Sultan, Kösem Sultan and Gülnuş Sultan were legally married by their respective spouses, the Ottoman Sultans. After the death of Gülnuş Sultan, no Ottoman Sultan legally married his consort. After nearly 130 years, Sultan Abdulmejid I legally married Rahime Perestu Sultan. Although the title ofHaseki Sultanwas abolished then, Perestu again was given the official title of legal wife and "Queen consort", though Perestu was not active in politics like her predecessors neither in the reign of her husband nor the reign of her step-son Abdulhamid II, who, out of gratitude that Perestu raised him as her own child after his own mother died while he was still young, gave her the title ofValide Sultanmeaning "Queen mother". Perestu became the most powerful woman in the empire, but again was not involved in politics. Perestu was the last woman in Ottoman history to be legally married to an Ottoman Sultan, the last woman to be a "Queen consort", and the first and last woman to hold the title of Valide Sultan without being the Sultan's biological mother. After Perestu's death in 1906, No woman held the title ofValide Sultanuntil the Ottoman monarchy was abolished in 1922. from 1299 till 1922, only five women were legally married to their spouses and were official "Queens" of the Ottoman empire.
Westerns know the Ottoman ruler as "sultan", but the Ottomans also used Persian terms such as "padişah" (emperor) or "hünkar" to refer to their ruler.[4]The emperor's formal title consisted of "sultan" together with "han"(for example,Sultan Suleiman Han). In formal address, the sultan's children were also entitled "sultan", with imperial princes (şehzade) carrying the title before their given name, and imperial princesses carrying it after. Examples include Sultan Suleiman's sonŞehzade Sultan Mehmedand his daughterMihrimah Sultan.Like imperial princesses, the living mothers and main consorts of the reigning sultan carried the title "sultan" after their given names, for example,Hafsa Sultan,Suleiman's mother and firstvalide sultan,andHürrem Sultan,Suleiman's chief consort and first haseki sultan. The evolving usage of this title reflected power shifts among imperial women, especially during theSultanate of Women.As the position of the chief consort eroded over the course of the 17th century, the main consort lost the title "sultan", which was replaced by "kadin", a title related to the earlier "hatun". Henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non-imperial blood to carry the title "sultan".[4]
Titlehasekicarried before or after given name. According to a genealogical website, the formal way of addressing ahasekiisDevletlû İsmetlu(given name)Haseki Sultân Aliyyetü'ş-Şân Hazretleri.[citation needed]The title “sultan” was often translated tosultana,which does not exist in Ottoman royalty, possibly to distinguished female members of the dynasty from the male sultan.
Usage in Ottoman royalty
[edit]During the early period of the usage of haseki, this title was held by the chief consort of the sultan with special status, and surpassed other titles and ranks by which the prominent consorts of the sultans had been known (hatunandkadin). A haseki sultan had an important place in the palace, being the second most powerful woman and enjoyed the greatest status in theImperial Haremaftervalide sultanand usually had chambers close to the sultan's chamber. Haseki Sultan's position, used for a century, reflected the great power of imperial consorts, who were former slaves, in the Ottoman court, elevating their status higher than the Ottoman princesses, and making them the equals of the empress consorts in Europe.
When the position of valide sultan was vacant, a haseki could take valide's role, have access to considerable economic resources, become chief of the Imperial Harem, sultan's advisor in political matters, and even have an influence on foreign policy and on international politics. These cases happened duringHürrem Sultan,Nurbanu Sultan,Safiye Sultan[6]andKösem Sultan's eras.
Hürrem, the first imperial consort who became haseki sultan, was given several special rights during her tenure, especially after the death of Suleiman's mother, Hafsa Sultan, the first valide sultan, in 1534. Hürrem was allowed to give birth to more than one son, which was a stark violation of the old Imperial Harem principle of "one concubine mother — one son" that was designed to prevent both the mother's influence over the sultan and the feuds of the blood brothers for the throne. In 1525 or 1526 (the exact date is unknown), Suleiman married Hürrem in a magnificent formal ceremony, making him the first Ottoman Sultan to wed sinceMehmed II(reign 1451–1481), and violating a 200-year-old custom of the Ottoman imperial house according to which sultans were not to marry their concubines (Mehmed's legal wife was a free noble woman,Sittişah Hatun). Later, Hürrem became the first prince's mother to remain in the Sultan's court for the duration of her life. In the Ottoman imperial family tradition, a sultan's consort was to remain in the harem only until her son came of age (around 16 or 17), after which he would be sent away from the capital, accompanied by his mother, to govern a faraway province. Hürrem became Suleiman's partner not only in household, but also in state affairs. Thanks to her intelligence, she acted as Suleiman's chief adviser, and she seems to have had an influence upon foreign policy and international politics. Hürrem's great power signaled the rise of the chief imperial consort under the title of haseki.
A mother's political role traditionally began with the creation of a separate household for her son. The establishment of her public politic identity entailed her separation from the sultan and his household. As noted above, this kind of functional division appears to have occurred with Nurbanu Sultan, in spite of the fact that she never left the sultan's household like her predecessor Hürrem, the shift in her role, that is, their assumption of candidly political role as haseki may well have coincided with their sons’ assumption of their political posts.[7]
Even though it became a great position, haseki was not used during reign ofMehmed III,son ofMurad III,which was probably due to the prominent role played by his mother,Safiye Sultan.
Haseki was used again during the reign of Mehmed's sonAhmed I.The career of Ahmed was very much like that of Suleiman. He chose his second or third consort,Kösem,as his haseki. Kösem's career was similar to that of Hürrem in an important respect.[8]Like Hürrem, Kösem is blamed for acting to preserve her own power rather than that of the sultan or of the dynasty. It is certainly worth noting that the two women of the dynasty to suffer the harshest judgment by history had two things in common: the absence of a valide sultan during most of their career as haseki and an unusually large number of sons. What appears to have earned them their unsavory reputation was their power to influence the fate of the empire by favoring one of their sons over another.[9]
The greatest contribution of Kösem during her tenure as haseki possibly was the significant modifications in the pattern of succession to the throne from a system ofprimogenitureto one based onagnatic seniority.She must have realized the personal gain that might stem from the transition to seniority, coupled with the fact that she was no longer haseki but had a son "in waiting". According to Venetian ambassador, Kösem "lobbied to spare Mustafa the fate of fratricide with the ulterior goal of saving her own son from the same fate."[10]This new system meant that potential rulers had to wait a long time in thekafesbefore ascending the throne, hence the old age of certain sultans upon their enthronement, which made all of theşehzadeslose their chance to become ruler of one of the Ottoman province as part of their training to become a worthy heir to the throne.
Decline of the Haseki
[edit]One outcome of all these changes was that the position of haseki lost its traditional logic. A mother's political role traditionally began with the creation of a separate household for her son. The establishment of her public political identity entailed her separation from the sultan and his household. But when under agnatic seniority, şehzades lost access to public adulthood, their mothers lost their public roles as well. It went against the protocol of the dynastic politics to publicly honor the mother of the son who had yet to achieve public identity. The position of haseki as a true favorite of the sultan was thus incompatible with the practice of agnatic seniority.[7]
Kösem Sultan was the last of the influential Ottoman hasekis. The other explanation for the decline of the haseki and the re-emergence of the valide in the first decades of the seventeenth century has much to do with Kösem Sultan's personality and the fact that in 1617 she had ceased being a haseki, and if she were to regain power, she could obtain it only from the position of Valide Sultan.
After Ahmed I's death in 1617, the position of Haseki Sultan lost its special status.Osman IIhad a consort with haseki rank, but all that can be determined about her is that her name wasAyşe.[note 1]As with Osman, very little is known about the concubines of his brotherMurad IV.Privy purse registers record the presence of a single haseki,Ayşe,until the very end of Murad's seventeen years reign, when a second haseki appears. It is possible that Murad had only a single concubine until the advent of the second one, or that he had a number of concubines but singled out only two of them as hasekis.Ibrahimhad eight hasekis, of whom the first three –Turhan,Aşub,andMuazzez– each had one son.[1]
The presence of more than one haseki was a significant change in the reign of Murad and Ibrahim, signaling that the age of the haseki was coming to an end. With Kösem's strong personality and influence as valide sultan, the title haseki sultan which was held by eight women simultaneously, and all şehzades lost their provincial post during Ibrahim's era and it made title haseki lose its special status. In this period the meaning of the title began to shift from a "chief consort" and "single favorite" to something more general like "imperial consort", similar to the earlierhatun.[1]
The title haseki sultan was only used for around a century until the 17th century. After that,kadınbecame highest rank for the imperial consorts again, used with title "FirstName"Kadın(Efendi).The last woman in Ottoman history who used the title of "Haseki Sultan" wasRabia Sultan,Haseki of SultanAhmed II(reign 1691-1695).
List of Hasekis
[edit]The title was first used in the 16th century forHürrem Sultan,also known as Roxelana, when she was given favor bySuleiman the Magnificent.She was his chief consort and the mother ofSelim II.Hürrem Sultan was married to Sultan Suleiman, becoming both his legal wife. The title was next held byNurbanu Sultan,favourite consort and wife ofSelim II,and the mother of the next sultanMurad III.In 1575, just after Murad's accession,Safiye Sultanbecame the haseki and was given a higher rank than the sultan's own sisters,Şah Sultan,Gevherhan Sultan,Ismihan SultanandFatma Sultan.
Leslie P. Peircepoints out that duringMehmed III's reign, the title haseki did not came in use.[7]Mehmed's sonAhmed Igave the title haseki toKösem Sultan,his favourite consort and probably legal wife,[12]who as the mother of sultansMurad IVandIbrahimand dominated the Ottoman Empire early 17th century.Osman IIhas probably an haseki,Ayşe Sultan.Privy Purseregisters record the presence ofAyşeasMurad IV's only haseki, until the very end of Murad's seventeen-year reign, when a probably second haseki appears.[1]Ibrahim had eight hasekis;[1]Turhan,Saliha Dilaşub,Muazzez,Ayşe, Mahienver, Saçbağli,ŞivekarandHümaşah Sultan.Ibrahim's son and successor is known to have one haseki,Gülnuş Sultan.Suleiman IIdidn't have an haseki. His brotherAhmed IIhad an haseki,Rabia Sultan,who was the last woman to have the title.
Portrait | Name | Maiden Name | Origin | Ceased to be the Imperial Consort | Death | Spouse |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Hürrem Sultan ماه دوران سلطان |
Alexandra (Anastasia) Lisowska | Ruthenian | 15 April 1558 her death |
15 April 1558 | Suleiman the Magnificent |
Nurbanu Sultan نور بانو سلطان |
Cecilia Venier-Baffo or Rachel or Kalē Kartanou |
Venetian of noble birth or Jewish or Greek | 15 December 1574 husband's death |
7 December 1583 | Selim II | |
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Safiye Sultan صفیه سلطان |
Sofia | Albanian | 15 January 1595 Sultan's death |
After 1619 | Murad III |
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Kösem Sultan قسّم سلطان |
Anastasia | Greek | 22 November 1617 husband's death |
3 September 1651 | Ahmed I |
Ayşe Sultan عایشه سلطان (disputed) |
unknown[9] | 1622 Sultan's deposition |
1640 | Osman II | ||
Ayşe Sultan عایشه سلطان |
unknown | 1640 Sultan's death |
1680 | Murad IV | ||
Şemsişah Sultan شمس شاه سلطان (disputed) |
Unknown | 1640 Sultan's death |
After 1640 | |||
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Turhan Sultan ترخان سلطان |
Nadya | Rus'[13] | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
4 August 1683 | Ibrahim I |
Saliha Dilaşub Sultan آشوب سلطان |
Katarina | Serbian[14] | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
4 December 1689 | ||
Muazzez Sultan معزز سلطان |
unknown[14] | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
12 September 1687 | |||
Ayşe Sultan عایشه سلطان |
Crimean Tatar | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
||||
Mahienver Sultan ماه انور سلطان |
Circassian | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
||||
Saçbağlı Sultan | Leyla | Circassian | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
|||
Şivekar Sultan شیوه کار سلطان |
Meryem | Armenian | 8 August 1648 Sultan's deposition |
1693 | ||
Hümaşah Sultan ھما شاہ سلطان |
Circassian or Georgian | 8 August 1648 husband's deposition |
after 1676 | |||
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Gülnuş Sultan گلنوش سلطان |
Evmania Voria | Greek[15] | 8 November 1687 Sultan's deposition |
6 November 1715 | Mehmed IV |
Rabia Sultan رابعه سلطان |
Unknown | Unknown | 6 February 1695 Sultan's death |
14 January 1712 | Ahmed II | |
See also
[edit]- List of Ottoman titles and appellations
- List of mothers of the Ottoman sultans
- List of consorts of the Ottoman sultans
- Harem
- Valide Sultan
- Kadınefendi
- Hanımefendi
- Sultana (title)
Notes
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^abcdePeirce 1993,p. 107.
- ^Peirce (1993) p. 91
- ^Davis (1986)
- ^abcPeirce 1993,p. 18.
- ^Kal'a, Ahmet (1997). Vakıf on defterleri: Hatt-ı Hümâyûn, 1577–1804. İstanbul Araştırmaları Merkezi. p. 57. ISBN 978-9-758-21504-1.
- ^Peirce 1993,p. 58.
- ^abcPeirce 1993,p. 104.
- ^Peirce 1993,p. 105.
- ^abPeirce 1993,p. 106.
- ^Piterberg (2003) p.14
- ^Piterberg (2003) p.18
- ^Tezcan, Baki (2008-12-31)."The Debut of Kösem Sultan's Political Career".Turcica.40(0): 347–359.doi:10.2143/TURC.40.0.2037143.ISSN0082-6847.
- ^SAKAOĞLU, Saim (2020-01-01)."KENDİ KALEMİNDEN SAİM SAKAOĞLU".BUGU Dil ve Egitim Dergisi.1(3): 325–336.doi:10.46321/bugu.36.ISSN2717-8137.
- ^abA.D. Alderson,The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty,Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1955, p.83
- ^"Erratum".Neonatology.70(4): 248–248. 1996.doi:10.1159/000244372.ISSN1661-7800.
References
[edit]- Davis, Fanny (1986).The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN978-0-313-24811-5.
- Peirce, Leslie P. (1993).The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire.New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.ISBN0-19-507673-7.
- Piterberg, Gabriel (2003).An Ottoman Tragedy: History and Historiography at Play.California: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-23836-2.