Haseki sultan

Haseki Sultan of
the Ottoman Empire
Contemporary painting of Hürrem Sultan, Ruthenian-born legal wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, first consort of an Ottoman Sultan to hold the title Haseki Sultan.
Style Haseki Sultanefendi
Residence Topkapı Palace
Formation 1534
First holder Hürrem Sultan
Final holder Gülnuş Sultan
Abolished 1687

Haseki Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: خاصکي سلطان‎,[1] Turkish pronunciation: [haseˈci suɫˈtaːn]) was the title given to the chief consort of the Ottoman Sultan. This title was created in 16th century and was used for chief consort of the Ottoman Sultan until it was replaced by "Kadınefendi" in 17th century. Hürrem Sultan, principal consort of Suleiman the Magnificent, was the first holder of this title.

The Meaning of Haseki Sultan

The word haseki (خاصکي) comes from the Arabic and means "to attribute something exclusively to". Haseki is, therefore, one who belongs exclusively to the sultan.[2]

Sultan (سلطان) is a word of Arabic origin, 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 khatun for women and bey for men). This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.

Living mothers and main consorts of the reigning sultan carried the title "sultan" after their given names, for example, Ayşe Hafsa Sultan, Suleiman’s mother and first valide sultan, and Hürrem Sultan, Suleiman’s chief consort and first haseki sultan. The evolving usage of this title reflected power shifts among imperial women, especially during the Sultanate of Women. As the position of the chief consort eroded over the course of 17th century, the main consort lost the title "sultan", which was replaced by "kadin", a title related to the earlier "khatun". Henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non-imperial blood to carry the title "sultan".[3]

Role and position

A haseki sultan had an important place in the palace, being the most powerful woman and enjoyed the greatest status in the imperial harem after valide sultan and usually had chambers close to the sultan's chamber. The haseki had no blood relation with the reigning sultan but ranked higher than the sultan's own sisters and aunts, the princesses of the dynasty. Her elevated imperial status derived from the fact that she was the mother of a potential future sultan. Hürrem Sultan, the first haseki sultan, acted as Suleiman's advisor on matters of state, and seems to have had an influence upon foreign policy and on international politics. Aside from her political concerns, haseki sultan engaged in several major works of public constructions.

When her son ascended to the throne, a haseki could become valide sultan. Most of the haseki sultans were still alive when their spouses died and became valide sultan after their son's accessions, like Nurbanu Sultan, Safiye Sultan,Halime Sultan, Kösem Sultan, Turhan Hatice Sultan, and Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan. Hürrem Sultan was the only haseki sultan who died when her husband was still alive.

List of the principal Haseki Sultans

The title was first used in the 16th century for Hürrem Sultan, also known as Roxelana, when she was given favor by Suleiman the Magnificent. She was his chief consort and the mother of Selim II. Hürrem Sultan was married to Sultan Suleiman, becoming both his legal wife and the most powerful woman in the Topkapı Palace. The title was next held by Nurbanu Sultan, favourite wife of Selim II, and the mother of the next Sultan Murad III. In 1575, just after Murad's accession, Safiye Sultan became the haseki and was given a higher rank than the sultan's own sisters, Ismihan Sultan, Gevherhan Sultan and Şah Sultan, and aunt Mihrimah Sultan.

During Mehmed III's reign, the title haseki did not came in use. Mehmed's son Ahmed I gave the title haseki to Kösem Sultan, his favourite wife and the mother of Sultans Murad IV and Ibrahim. Osman II gave the title to his wife Ayşe Sultan. Privy Purse registers record the presence of Ayşe as Murad IV's only haseki, until the very end of Murad's seventeen-year reign, when a second haseki appears. But still the hasekis continued to rank higher than princesses. Ibrahim had eight hasekis; Turhan Hatice, Saliha Dilaşub, Hatice Muazzez, Ayşe, Mahenver, Șivekar, Saçbağli and Hümaşah Sultan. Ibrahim's son and successor is known to have one haseki, Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan.[4] After that, title haseki sultan was replaced by kadınefendi.

Name Maiden Name Origin Ceased to be Haseki Death Spouse
خُرَّم سلطان
Hürrem Sultan 		Aleksandra or
Anastazja Lisowska 		Ruthenian 15 April 1558 Suleiman the Magnificent
نور بانو سلطان
Afife Nûr-Banû Sultan 		Cecilia Vernier-Baffo or
Rachel Olivia de Nasi 		Venetian or
Spanish 		15 December 1574
husband's death 		7 December 1583 Selim II
صفیه سلطان
Safiye Sultan 		Sofia Italian 15 Januari 1595
husband's death 		10 November 1618 Murad III
Kösem Sultan Anastasia Greek 22 November 1617
husband's death 		3 September 1651 Ahmed I
عایشه سلطان
Ayşe Sultan 		10 May 1622
husband's death 		after 1640 Osman II
عایشه سلطان
Ayşe Sultan 		Albanian 8 February 1640
husband's death 		1680 Murad IV
Turhan Hatice Sultan Nadia Ruthenian 12 August 1648
husband's death 		5 July 1683 Ibrahim I
Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan Evmania Voria Greek 8 November 1687
husband's death 		6 November 1715 Mehmed IV

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bianchi, Thomas Xavier (1831). Vocabulaire français-turc à l'usage des interprètes: des commerçans, des navigateurs, et autres voyageurs dans le Levant. Paris: Éverat. p. 830. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  2. ↑ Fanny Davis (1986). The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-24811-5.
  3. ↑ Peirce, Leslie P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. ISBN 0-19-507673-7.
  4. ↑ Leslie P. Peirce (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-195-08677-5.
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