| Valide Sultan of Ottoman Empire | |
|---|---|
| Former political post | |
| Flag of the Ottoman Empire | |
| Valide Hafsa Sultan of the Crimean Khanate | |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Successor | Office abolished |
| First officeholder | Ayşe Hafsa Sultan |
| Last officeholder | Rahime Perestu |
| Style | Valide Sultan Efendi |
| Official residence | Topkapı Palace Yıldız Palace |
| Appointer | Mothers of the Ottoman Sultan |
| Political office started | 1522 |
| Political office ended | 1904 |
| Current pretender | Position abolished |
Valide Sultan (or Sultan Valide) (Ottoman Turkish: والده سلطان, literally "Mother Sultan") was the title held by the mother of a ruling Sultan in the Ottoman Empire.[1] The Turkish pronunciation of the word Valide is [valiˈde]. The title is sometimes translated as Queen Mother, although the position of Valide Sultan was quite different.
The position was perhaps 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 Valide Sultan would have a significant influence on the affairs of the Empire. In particular during the seventeenth century, in a period known as the Sultanate of Women, a series of incompetent or child sultans raised the role of the Valide Sultan to new heights.[2]
Nurbanu Sultan was the Venetian-born wife of Selim II, and the mother of Sultan Murad III of the Ottoman Empire and the de facto co-regent as the Valide Sultan in 1574-1583. Nurbanu managed the government together with the Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and became the first Valide Sultan who acted as co-regent with the sultan during the Sultanate of Women. The most powerful of all Valide Sultans in the history of the Ottoman Empire was Kösem Sultan.
It is worth mentioning that since the harem ladies were almost always slaves they were never formally married to the sultans. Nevertheless, their children were considered fully legitimate under Islamic law if recognized by the father.[3] During the empire's early years, the Ottomans often used dynastic intermarriage to consolidate or extend their power. The last known case of an Ottoman ruler marrying into another dynasty was that of fifteenth-century sultan Bayezid II, who married Gülbahar Sultan, the daughter of the ruler of the Dulkadir dynasty.[4]