The Most Powerful Woman of the Ottoman Empire
By: Mythili The Dreamer
Tags: Culture, Travel, Feminism, Women, History

The story of Roxelana

Roxelana was most probably born in Ruthenia which is in modern-day Ukraine.

As a young girl, she was captured by Tartar raiders who then sold her to the Istanbul slave market. Eventually, Roxelana was purchased by Suleiman’s grand vizier and best friend, Ibrahim Pasha who gave her as a gift to the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Writers of that era claim that she stood way different from the other slaves, by her way of talking, poise, and of course her breath-taking beauty and flaming red hair. She was said to be strong-willed and brave and had a quick decisive mind to make the best out of any situation.

Roxelena knew right from the offset that, if she has to succeed and rise above the thousands of concubines vying for the sultan’s attention. She needs to have a healthy mind also in addition to a healthy body. She would need not only to know the customs (for example, how to dress, when to bow, etc.) but also use her intelligence wisely to survive in a cutthroat world where everybody was a rival.

And before Roxelana came on the scene, Suleiman already had four children. Each prince had a different mother and the sultan’s most favorite concubine was Mahidevran, whose son Mustafa was the eldest son of the Sultan thus giving her the highest position in the sultan’s harem. She was Roxelana’ s bitter most rival.

Roxelena knew that to secure power, she had to keep the Sultan’s attention long enough to become the mother of an heir. In 1521, Roxelana gave birth to her first child and son, Mehmed, which secured her position. But she was not content with that.

She continued to intellectually impress the sultan and also started advising him on crucial matters of state. This further elevated her position and the sultan soon fell in love with her.

Suleiman became entirely devoted to her as she went on to have four more children with him. Eventually, Suleiman married Roxelana. This was the first time that a slave girl had risen to be the empress of the sprawling Ottoman Empire.

Roxelena used her cleverness and astute mind to climb up the ladder. She gained her freedom and was endowed with the title of Hurrem Sultan. With this, Roxelana also increased her political power and expanded her monetary resources.

She used these funds to expand her charitable foundations. She became a builder queen and provided jobs to a wide variety of laborers and skilled craftsmen for her magnificent projects. She also created several charitable institutions in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem that provided philanthropic services to the local public by creating hostels for pilgrims, mosques, and soup kitchens, etc.

She was also Suleiman’s political adviser and would correspond independently with many different figures throughout Europe. This was especially key during her husband’s long absences on various war fronts.

This was a daring move as no women have ever got involved in the matters of state in the Ottoman context so far. But Roxelene proved herself to be not only an able administrator but also a tough negotiator of treaties which was grudgingly accepted by her male rivals.

Roxelana died in 1558 which seems to have been from an illness. Her devoted Suleiman created an elegant tomb for her where he would eventually join eight years later.