# Turhan Sultan

Hatice Turhan Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: تورخان سلطان, "merciful" or "noble"; c. 1627 – 4 August 1683) was the first Haseki sultan of the Ottoman sultan Ibrahim (r. 1640–1648) and Valide sultan as the mother of Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687) as well as the Official Regent of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1651 to 1656. Turhan was prominent for the regency of her young son and her building patronage. She 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 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 (Turkish: 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 Necdet Sakaoğlu [tr] 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 (Turkish: Rus asıllı), born in 1627, captured at the age of twelve by the Crimean Tatars and given 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 (Turkish: Rusya); 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 Ahmet Refik Altınay [tr] in his work «The Age of Sables» (Turkish: Sarnur Devri) called her «the Russian brunette» (Turkish: Kumral Rus kızıydı), 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» (Turkish: … doğduğu topraklara, -Ukrayna'ya- kadar gidişi, oralann havasını soluyuşu, belki ailesiyle…).
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 the Şehzade's absence, ordered various amulets to be written, medicines prepared and potions. Karaca noted that Turhan Sultan was the very first concubine given to Sultan Ibrahim I, but it is probable 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 after, also Saliha Dilaşub give birth a son, Şehzade Süleyman.
After giving birth to her first heir, 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:
   “Sultan Ibrahim fell in love with a woman who came to the harem with her child to nurse Shehzade Mehmed. One day, when they were chatting lovingly in Mermerlik [the 4th courtyard of Topkapi], Turhan caught them. She reminded the Sultan, who had caressed the son of the woman, that he should treat his own Shehzade with kindness. The Sultan, angry with Turhan, threw Mehmed into a marble pool. Kösem Sultan intervened in the situation and threw the wet nurse out of the palace.”
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 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 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:
   "[Turhan] Sultan was awakened, and an oath of allegiance was taken to serve and defend the young [Mehmed], who was still but a child. The mufti declared by a fetva that [Kösem] must die, and a decree was drawn up by the [grand vizier] and signed by the trembling hand of the young sultan. It was now the hour of [Turhan's] triumph, and a search was made in [Kösem's] suite without result. At last the wretched old woman was discovered hidden in a clothes-chest and dragged out to her death."
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.
Turhan's regency was marred by at least two factors: the war with the Venetians for the island of Crete, and the financial crisis that arose from the high expenses of waging war. Weak grand viziers did not improve the situation. However, in 1656 Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was appointed to the position of grand vizier. His condition upon accepting the post was that he be given greater authority than his predecessors. Thus, Turhan transferred her political power to that of the grand vizier.
In 1657, during the long-term residence of Mehmed in Edirne due to the expeditions, Turhan Sultan was with him. During the short-term departure of Edirne, one of the viziers was appointed to supervise the sultan. She traveled to Istanbul from time to time while her son was on a long trip. It is known that a few years after the commencement of the round trips to Edirne, she built a flat (Avcı Sultan Mehmed Khan Apartment / Dolmabahçe Pavilion) in her palace in 1661. Turhan Sultan went to Babadağı with her son, who left Edirne and moved in the direction of Kamaniçe with a ceremony on 5 June 1672 for the Polish expedition.
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.
Gülnuş Sultan attempted to have her husband's brothers Suleiman II and Ahmed II strangled after Mustafa was born, but Turhan had hindered these attempted murders.

### Patronage

By providing the grand vizier with great authority, Turhan limited her own power on the political stage. However, she channeled her energies into other architectural projects.
She built a fountain in 1653 in Beşiktaş district. Her first building project began in 1658. Perhaps in answer to the Venetian threat, the Valide built two fortresses at the entrance to the Dardanelles. The fortresses, one on the European side and the other on the Asian side, can still be seen today. Mehmed the Conqueror and other sultans also built fortresses in the same area. Each of the fortresses contained a mosque, elementary schools, hamams and bazaars. Turhan had built wells in Hejaz, she also constructed a library in Çanakkale and Istanbul.
Turhan also built the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul. The initial construction was started by one of Turhan's predecessors, Safiye Sultan. She had chosen the commercial quarter of the city, Eminonü, as the location of the mosque. This area was inhabited by non-Muslims. By building a new mosque in Eminönü, Safiye wanted to Islamize the area. To build on this site meant that land had to be appropriated from the local non-Muslim residents, an act that had not gone smoothly. In the year 1597, the first stones were laid. At the death of Safiye's son, Mehmed III, the construction of the mosque stopped as she was no longer the Valide. The construction was abandoned for 57 years, but was restarted after the area was devastated by the Great Fire of 1660. Turhan decided to complete what had been started by Safiye Sultan. After its completion in 1665, the complex contained not only the mosque, but also a school, public fountains, a market, and a tomb. The Yeni Mosque was the first imperial mosque built by a woman. On 31 October 1665, the mosque was opened and Turhan Sultan and Sultan Mehmed IV's consort Gülnuş Sultan attended the first prayer in the mosque.
In the southeast corner of the mosque, there is a need to pass to the majestic ruin and the sultan pavilion is arranged in three floors. The lower and middle floor cut-top stone has upper-level stone and brick walls that do not meet the needs of the brick. The pavilion, which is entered through a low arch door, has a long and ramped path. The palace, which has a long vaulted corridor underneath, is located on the upper floor, which is reserved for the sultan and the sultan, together with two hearth rooms. After the L-shaped hall and an intermediate space, the balcony in front of the building passes to the building. The walls in the Hünkâr pavilion are covered with herbal decorated tile panels in under-glaze technique.
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.

## Death

Turhan Sultan died on 4 August 1683 in Edirne. Her body was brought back to Istanbul and was buried in the tomb named after her at the Yeni Mosque. She lies alongside her son and her descendants. She was considered the last of the great valide sultans. Her death marked the end of the period known as the Sultanate of Women.

## 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).

## Gallery

* The entrance of the türbe (mausoleum) of Turhan Sultan
* The inscription at the entrance of the tomb of Turhan Sultan
* The tomb of Turhan Sultan is located near the Yeni Mosque in Eminönü, Istanbul.
* The Yeni Mosque in Eminönü

## In popular culture

In 2015, Turkish historical fiction TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Turhan is portrayed by Turkish actress Hande Doğandemir. In the series, she is the mother of Mehmed IV and Beyhan Sultan.