Turhan Sultan

Hatice Turhan Sultan (; – 4 August 1683) was the chief Haseki sultan of the Ottoman sultan Ibrahim , and Valide sultan as the mother of Mehmed IV . She served as official regent of the Ottoman Empire, from 1651 to 1656 and as de facto ruler of the Empire for over three decades. Turhan was prominent for the regency of her young son and her building patronage. Turhan and Kösem Sultan are the only two women in Ottoman history to be regarded as official regents and had supreme control over the Ottoman Empire. As a result, Turhan became one of the prominent figures during the era known as the Sultanate of Women.

Name Filiz Karaca, the author of the article about Turhan in the Islamic Encyclopedia, noted that although it was stated that Kösem Sultan gave her the name Hatice Turhan, the Ottoman historian and contemporary of Turhan Uşşakızade Ibrahim Efendi wrote that she was first given the name Turhan/Tarhan and only then Hatice. Karaca also noted that in older sources she was called Turhan Hatice, while in newer studies she is referred to as Hatice Turhan. The Ottoman historian Süreyya Mehmed Bey called her Turhan Hatice Valide Sultan.

Turkish historian titled the section about her in his book Bu mülkün kadın sultanları «Valide Hatice Turhan Sultan», noting that in the sources she is mentioned as Turhan Haseki, Hatice Turhan Sultan and Turhan Valide Sultan, and on the cesme fountain built by her in Beşiktaş, her name is indicated as Hatice Sultan.

Ottomanist Anthony Alderson, Turkish historian Çağatay Uluçay and American history professor Leslie Peirce indicated only one name option - Hatice Turhan Sultan; Uluçay, like Karaca, noted that Kösem personally gave her the name.

Origins Filiz Karaca wrote that Turhan was rumored to be of Russian origin, born in 1627, captured at the age of twelve during the Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe and given via the Crimean slave trade to Kösem Sultan by Kör Süleyman Pasha. This version was also supported by Çağatay Uluçay. Necdet Sacaoğlu wrote that Turhan was supposedly born in 1627 in the territory of Russia; Sakaoğlu based this assumption about the year of birth on the fact that when Turhan Sultan gave birth to a son in 1642, she could not have been younger than 15 years old. Anthony Alderson, without giving any details, wrote that she was born in 1627. The Turkish historian in his work «The Age of Sables» called her «the Russian brunette», describing her as a slender, fair-haired and fair-skinned girl with blue eyes; Sakaoğlu noted that this description is probably unreliable, since it is based on portraits painted long after her death. Uluçay wrote that Turhan was very beautiful: tall, slender, with dimples on her cheeks that further emphasized her beauty, with white skin, deep blue eyes and dazzlingly shiny chestnut hair.

The French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, returning from a trip to the East in 1668, stopped in Istanbul and wrote in his memoirs that the son of Ibrahim and a «Circassian woman» was on the throne.

According to the modern Ukrainian historian Taras Chukhlib, Turhan was born in Ukraine in the 1620s. The version about Ukrainian origin was also expressed by Halime Doğru: she wrote that during the Sultan’s campaign against Poland in 1673, Turhan «visited the lands where she was born, Ukraine – breathed the air of her homeland and perhaps met with her family».

Ahmed Refik Altınay in his book «Life in Istanbul in the Twelfth Century» and the Ottoman scholar Anthony Alderson who cites him mentioned that Turhan Sultan was a Muslim and had a brother, Yusuf Aga, who died in 1689. Filiz Karaca also mentioned that Turhan had a brother, Yusuf.

Filiz Karaca noted that the future Haseki was brought up in the harem, and received her palace education under the supervision of Atike Sultan. At the same time, Uluçay wrote that Kösem Sultan personally raised the concubine in order to present her to her son, the Sultan, as soon as possible. Peirce wrote that Turhan, brought to the capital by Kör Süleyman Pasha, was educated in the house of Atike, but was raised by Kösem, who initially prepared the girl to become the next Valide Sultan and therefore taught her not only the intricacies of the harem, but also the politics of the state.

As imperial consort Sakaoğlu wrote that Turhan Sultan managed to shine on the stage entirely due to luck: the only surviving Ottoman Şehzade, Ibrahim, ascended the throne, and Turhan herself became the first to cross the finish line in the race to give birth to the new sultan’s first Şehzade on 1 or 2 January 1642 - she, like the other dozen concubines, was forced into this race by Kösem Sultan who, worried about an heir's absence, ordered various amulets to be written, and had medicines and potions prepared. Karaca noted that Turhan Sultan was the very first concubine given to Sultan Ibrahim I, but it is that in reality the first concubine was Saliha Dilaşub. The birth of Turhan's son, Şehzade Mehmed, was celebrated with great pomp, as it removed the danger of the end of the Ottoman dynasty. Only 105 days later, also Saliha Dilaşub give birth a son, Şehzade Süleyman.

After giving birth to Mehmed IV, Turhan received the title of BaşHaseki. However, Sakaoğlu noted that she did not receive the corresponding position in the harem: on the one hand, this was due to Ibrahim's excessive lust for women, and on the other hand, the unlimited power in the harem of Kösem Sultan. Leslie Peirce wrote that Ibrahim ignored Turhan for most of his reign. Sakaoğlu believed that Ibrahim did not love the mother of his eldest son, which is also proven by an incident described by historians of the time: At the same time, Uluçay noted that before the birth of his son, Ibrahim was in love with his haseki and did not notice other concubines, but being a great lover of women, he very quickly switched to other concubines. Mentioning the case with the wet nurse, Uluçay wrote that Ibrahim loved the wet nurse's child more than Şehzade Mehmed, and wanted to kill his son by throwing him into the pool. He also noted that at first Turhan was jealous of the sultan for other women, but over time, when Ibrahim completely switched to other concubines and the BaşHaseki was left to her own devices, she came to terms with her position. Leslie Peirce noted that in addition to Turhan, Ibrahim had 7 more hasekis and many simple concubines; moreover, until his marriage to Hümaşah Sultan, it was not the BaşHaseki who enjoyed the sultan's special favor, but the mother of Ibrahim's second son Suleiman, who is supposed to have been Ibrahim's favorite son Saliha Dilaşub Sultan, who received a salary of 1,300 akçe per day, while the other hasekis received only 1,000.

Karaca noted that the period of Turhan's tenure as a Haseki did not stand out in any way from other similar periods in history.

As Valide Sultan Mehmed's accession

Ibrahim's behaviour sparked talks of deposing the sultan. On 8 August 1648, Ibrahim was dethroned and several days later, he was strangled. At the head of the Ottoman Empire stood the child sultan, Mehmed IV. With Mehmed's ascendancy, the position of Valide Sultan ("mother of the reigning sultan") should have gone to Turhan. However, Turhan was overlooked due to her youth and inexperience. Instead, the sultan's grandmother and the previous Valide sultan, Kösem Sultan, was reinstated to this high position. Kösem Sultan was a Valide (mother) under two sons, thus having the more experience of the two women.

However, Turhan turned out to be too ambitious a woman to lose such a high position without a fight. In her struggle to become Valide sultan, Turhan was supported by the chief black eunuch Lala Süleyman Agha in her household and the grand vizier, while Kösem was supported by the Janissary Corps. Although, Kösem's position as Valide was seen as the best for the government, the people resented the influence of the Janissaries on the government.

In this power struggle, Kösem planned to dethrone Mehmed and replace him with Şehzade Süleyman. According to one historian, this switching had more to do with replacing an ambitious daughter-in-law with Saliha Dilaşub, who was more easily controlled. The plan was unsuccessful as it was reported to Turhan by Meleki Hatun, one of Kösem's slaves. As N.M. Penzer describes it:

On the night of 2 September 1651, Kösem Sultan was murdered three years after becoming regent for Mehmed.

As regent With the death of her rival, Turhan became the Valide Sultan. As a regent, Turhan wielded great power. She accompanied her son to important meetings and on several occasions spoke from behind her curtained sitting place. She was deeply loved and respected by her son. Due to her inexperience, Turhan relied on other members of the government to advise her on political matters. This is evident from her correspondence to the grand viziers.

Regency Turhan Sultan, who assumed her Regency in 1651 upon the death of her mother-in law immediately raised her daily salary from 2,000 aspers a day to 3,000 aspres a day, around her neck she wore pearl seal with inscribed words Valide-I Gazi Sultan Mehmed Han (lit. The Mother of Warrior Sultan Mehmed Han) which was given to her when she became Valide Sultan.

She was able to stabilize the political chaos quickly that took place after the murder of Kösem Sultan, and brought the state into Peace. Unlike Kosem Sultan, she always consulted Ministers and Viziers for taking decisions and implementing those, for better administration and also due to her inexperience as she was only 24 years old, when she assumed the position of Regent. As Regent, she was frequently involved in State affairs, she headed the imperial council, took the decisions of the state, controlled the treasury and appointments of all statesmen and even Ulemma, implemented laws and signed documents, and headed the Ottoman Army in Military Campaign particularly during the Crete Campaign.

Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha, who was appointed as the Grand Vizier during the reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, worked to conquer Crete, re-establish the navy and organize the state budget. Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha, who became the Grand Vizier in 1652, limited the unnecessary gifts and gratuities given in order to balance the budget. Tarhuncu Ahmed Pasha, who tried to reduce palace expenses and prepared the fiscal year budget in advance for the first time, was executed for various reasons in 1653.

Turhan Sultan tried to establish a strong power after Kösem Sultan’s assassination. She tried to use the treasury and gunpowder resources, which were limited due to the Crete Campaign, to the best level. The Valide Sultan, who established a wide intelligence network, was interested in every event and checked the soldiers' salaries, the progress of the campaign and even whether the shipyard was running smoothly. It can be said that Turhan Sultan was one of the most powerful Valide Sultans of the Ottoman Empire through her 164 letters currently in Topkapı Palace.

The army decided to stay here until he returned from the expedition, and one of the dome viziers, İbrâhim Pasha, was commissioned with the guard. Meanwhile, her grandson Şehzade Mustafa (later Mustafa II), who was eight years old, was with her. However, her residence in Babadağı did not last until the return of the army. When the army arrived at Edirne, Turhan Sultan was in Istanbul. Mehmed sent the second vizier Mustafa Pasha to Istanbul to bring his mother before a week passed.

Turhan was the last woman to wield such great power as to act as a regent to a young son. As women were not seen in public in the Ottoman Empire, it was through her patronage of building that Turhan showed herself to her subjects

Turhan Sultan, Mehmed IV, Mustafa II, Ahmed III, Mahmud I and total of forty-four people are buried, especially some people from Osman III and his family were buried, in the Mosque or in Turhan's türbesi. In the direction of the mausoleum of the tomb, a treasure was formed in the courtyard over time, so fountains and power windows were built on the courtyard wall.

Issue Mehmed Süreyya Bey and Çagatay Uluçay name only one child of Turhan, Sultan Mehmed IV.

Filiz Karaca names only the son of Turhan, but she notes that there are references to a daughter of this valide.

In his work «Bu mülkün kadın sultanları» in the section about Turhan herself, Necdet Sakaoğlu, in addition to Mehmed, indicated that she had a daughter Atike Sultan (after 1642 – between 1666 and 1693); Anthony Alderson also adhered to this version. At the same time, Sakaoğlu in the section about the favorite of Mehmed IV Emetullah Gülnuş Sultan indicates that the Sultan had two full sisters Gevherhan Sultan (c./in 1642–1694) and Beyhan Sultan (1645–1700). According to Merve Çakır, Turhan was also the mother of Safiye Sultan and Ümmügülsüm Sultan.

In popular culture Portrait of Hatice Turhan Sultan. Attributed to Paul Rycaut, consul in Smyrna, 1660-67 (detail) In the 2010 film Mahpeyker: Kösem Sultan, Turhan is played by Turkish actress Başak Parlak. In the 2015 Turkish TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Turhan is played by Turkish actress Hande Doğandemir. In the series, she is the mother of Mehmed IV and Beyhan Sultan.