වාලිදේ සුල්තාන්

Valide sultan (, lit. 'mother sultan') was the title held by the "legal mother" of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The title was first formally used in the 16th century during Hafsa Sultan's, mother of Sultan Suleyman I, reign, superseding the previous title of mehd-i ulya ("cradle of the great"). or "the nacre of the pearl of the sultanate".Peirce, Leslie P., The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, Oxford University Press, 1993,  (paperback) 
Normally, the living mother of a reigning sultan held this title. Those mothers who died before their sons' accession to the throne were never bestowed with the title of . In special cases sisters, grandmothers and stepmothers of a reigning sultan assumed the title .

Term
The word  () literally means 'mother' in Ottoman Turkish, from Arabic . The Turkish pronunciation of the word  is .

Sultan (, ) is an Arabic word 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 hatun for women and bey for men). Consequently, the title  (title for living mother of reigning Ottoman sultan before 16th century) also turned into . This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.

Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as sultan, but the Ottomans themselves used  (emperor) or  to refer to their ruler. The emperor's formal title consisted of sultan together with khan (for example, Sultan Suleiman Khan). In formal address, the sultan's children were also entitled sultan, with imperial princes (şehzade) carrying the title before their given name, with imperial princesses carrying it after. For example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan were the son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. Like imperial princesses, the living mother and main consort of reigning sultans also carried the title after their given names, for example, Hafsa Sultan, Suleiman's mother and first , and Hürrem Sultan, Suleiman's chief consort and first haseki sultan. The evolving usage of this title reflected power shifts among imperial women, especially between the Sultanate of Women, as the position of main consort eroded over the course of 17th century, the main consort lost the title sultan, which replaced by , a title related to the earlier . Henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non-imperial blood to carry the title sultan.

 Role and position 
 was, in most cases, 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  would have a significant influence on the affairs of the empire. She had great power in the court and her own rooms (always adjacent to her son's) and state staff. The valide sultan had quarters within the New Palace, where the Sultan himself resided, beginning in the 16th century. As the Valide sultan (Sultana mother), who had direct and intimate access to the Sultan's person, often influenced government decisions bypassing the Imperial Council and the Grand Vizier altogether or the grille-covered window from which the Sultan or Valide sultan could observe Council meetings. This left her at the heart of the political ongoings and machinations of the Ottoman Empire.  also traditionally had access to considerable economic resources and often funded major architectural projects, such as the Atik Valide Mosque Complex in Istanbul. Many valide sultans undertook massive philanthropic endeavors and buildings, as this was seen as one of the main ways to demonstrate influence and wealth. Valide sultans were also conveniently one of the few people within the empire with the station and means to embark on these expensive projects. Nurbanu Sultan’s daily stipend as valide sultan to her son, Murad III, was 2000 aspers, an extraordinary sum for the time, which revealed the highly influential position valide sultans held at court. The valide sultan also maintained special privileges that other harem members could not participate in. A valide sultan was not subject to sole seclusion within the confines of the palace. She had mobility outside of the harem, sometimes through ceremonial visibility to the public or veiled meetings with government officials and diplomats. Additionally, the valide sultan spearheaded one of the most crucial elements of diplomacy within the Ottoman Empire’s court: marriages of royal princesses. The most powerful and influential valide sultans had multiple daughters, with whom they forged crucial alliances through by marriage. During the 17th century, in a period known as the Sultanate of Women, a series of incompetent or child sultans raised the role of the  to new heights. Various Valide sultans acted as regents for their sons, assuming the vast power and influence the position entailed.

The most powerful and well-known of all  in the history of the Ottoman Empire were Mihrimah Sultan, Nurbanu Sultan, Safiye Sultan, Kösem Sultan, and Turhan Sultan. 

Sultan Nurbanu Sultan became the first of the great valide sultans during the sixteenth century, as haseki and legal wife to Sultan Selim II. Nurbanu’s influential career as valide sultan established the precedent of valide sultan maintaining more power than her nearest harem rival, the haseki, or favorite concubine of the reigning sultan. The following influential valide sultans, Safiye Sultan, Kösem Sultan and Turhan Sultan, maintained this precedent and occupied positions of extreme power within the Ottoman imperial court. These positions helped them solidify their own power within the imperial court and ease diplomatic tensions on a broader, international scale.

Since Hurrem Sultan died before her son, Selim II, became Sultan she never became a valide sultan. In an extremely rare case in Ottoman history, Selim II bestowed the title of valide sultan upon his older sister, Mihrimah Sultan. It became the only incident in Ottoman history that a valide sultan was a member of the Ottoman royal family, thus reflecting Mihrimah's power.

Most harem women who were slaves were never formally married to the sultans. Nevertheless, their children were considered fully legitimate under Islamic law if recognized by the father.

 List of  
The list does not include the complete list of mothers of the Ottoman sultans. Most who held the title of  were the biological mothers of the reigning sultans. The mothers who died before their sons' accession to throne, never assumed the title of , like Hurrem Sultan, Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan, Muazzez Sultan, Mihrişah Kadın, Şermi Kadın, Tirimüjgan Kadın, Gülcemal Kadın, and Gülüstü Hanım. In special cases, there were grandmothers, stepmothers, and sisters of the reigning sultans who assumed the role, if not the title, of , like Kösem Sultan, Mihrimah Sultan and Perestu Kadın.
AppearanceNameMaiden nameOriginBecame Ceased to be DeathSultan(s)175x175pxHafsa Sultan unknown Daughter of Crimean Khan Meñli I Giray or more likely a Christian slave 30 September 1520son's ascension 19 March 1534  Suleiman I (son)Hurrem Sultan has died before Selim became sultan Selim II (son)166x166pxNurbanu Sultan Cecilia Venier-BaffoGodfrey Goodwin, The Private World of Ottoman Women, Saqi Book, , , 2001. page 128 orRachelValeria Heuberger, Geneviève Humbert, Geneviève Humbert-Knitel, Elisabeth Vyslonzil (ed.), Cultures in Colors, page 68. , 2001  Venetian or Jew or Greek 15 December 1574son's ascension 7 December 1583  Murad III (son)168x168pxSafiye SultanSofia Albanian  15 January 1595son's ascension  22 December 1603son's death  10 November 1618  Mehmed III (son) Handan Sultan unknown or probably Helena unknown or probably Bosnian  22 December 1603son's ascension 9 November 1605  Ahmed I (son)Halime SultanAccording to Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları (Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications), 15th Ed., 2009, page 245, , Mustafa I's mother is Handan Sultan. unknown Abkhaz  22 November 1617son's ascension  26 February 1618son's deposition  1623  Mustafa I (son) 19 May 1622son's reinstatement  10 September 1623son's deposition Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan has died before osman became sultan Osman II (son)184x184px Kösem Sultan Anastasia  Greek. Born on Tinos, Republic of Venice  10 September 1623son's ascension 12 August 1648 son's death 2 September 1651 Murad IV (son)Ibrahim (son)181x181pxTurhan Sultan
   Nadya Ukraine 2 September 1651son's ascension 4 August 1683  Mehmed IV (son)Aşub Sultan
  Katarina  unknown or probably Serbian  8 November 1687son's ascension 4 December 1689  Suleiman II (son)215x215px Rabia Gülnuş Sultan 
  Evmania Voria  Greek  6 February 1695son's ascension 6 November 1715  Mustafa II (son)Ahmed III (son)209x209px Saliha Sultan 
  ElizavetaA. D. Alderson, The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, Oxford: Clarendon, 1956, p.83  unknown Serbian or Greek 20 September 1730son's ascension 21 September 1739  Mahmud I (son) Şehsuvar Sultan 
  Maria Russian or Serbian 13 December 1754son's ascension April 1756  Osman III (son) Mihrişah Sultan
  Agnes Daughter of Georgian Orthodox priest  7 April 1789son's ascension 16 October 1805  Selim III (son) Sineperver Sultan  unknown Bulgarian, Georgian, or Circassian 29 May 1807son's ascension  28 July 1808son's deposition  11 December 1828  Mustafa IV (son)Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları (Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications), 15th Ed., 2009, page 387 & 395, 156x156px Nakşidil Sultan 
  unknown  Georgian  28 July 1808son's ascension 22 August 1817  Mahmud II (son) Bezmiâlem Sultan 
   unknown Georgian or Jewish 2 July 1839son's ascension 2 May 1853  Abdülmecid I (son) Pertevniyal Sultan 
  probably Hasna  Kurd or Romanian or Circassian 25 June 1861son's ascension  30 May 1876son's deposition  5 February 1883  Abdülaziz I (son) Şevkefza Kadın probably Vilma  Georgian or Circassian 30 May 1876son's ascension  31 August 1876son's deposition  17 September 1889  Murad V (son) Perestu Kadın probably Rahime Gogen  Ubykh princess  31 August 1876step-son's ascension 11 December 1904  Abdul Hamid II (step-son)Brookes, Douglass Scott, The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher, p.287. University of Texas Press, 2008. 

 Exceptional cases 
Normally, the living mother of the reigning sultan held the title of . But in exceptional cases, there were women did not exercise valide sultan's duties when their sons became sultan.
NameMaiden name and originSonNote126x126px Mahfiruz Hatun unknown name, probably Serbian Osman II Privy Purse registers no  during Osman's reign. Apparently, Mahfiruz fell into disfavour, was banished from the palace at some point before Osman's accession, and never recovered her status. Banishment in disgrace would explain both Mahfiruz's absence from the palace and her burial in the popular shrine of Eyüb rather than in her husband's tomb. The Venetian ambassador Contarini reported in 1612 that the sultan, Ahmed I, had a beating administered to a woman who had irritated Kösem. Perhaps this woman was Mahfiruz.


 බූයුක් වාලිදේ සුල්තාන් 
The title of Büyük Valide Sultan (Senior Valide Sultan) or Büyükanne Sultan (Grandmother Sultan) was created by Kösem Sultan and officially used only by her during the reign of his nephew Mehmed IV, thus limiting the power of Turhan Sultan who was deemed too young to fulfill the title of Valide Sultan.

The official and unofficials Büyük Valide Sultan that lived in the reign of their grandsons are:

AppearanceNameMaiden nameNoteBecame Ceased to be DeathSultan(s)168x168pxSafiye SultanSofia She never was Büyük Valide Sultan as official title, but she lived during the reign of her two grandosons (Ahmed and Mustafa) and the reign of her great grandson (Osman)  (unofficial)22 December 1603 - her death  10 November 1618  Ahmed I (grandson)
Mustafa I (grandson)
Osman II(great grandosn)184x184px Kösem Sultan Anastasia  During the Mehmed IV's accession, she proclaimed herself as Büyük Valide Sultan  12 August 1648 – her death 2 September 1651 Mehmed IV (grandson)

See also
Hanımefendi
Harem
Haseki Sultan
Kadınefendi
List of mothers of the Ottoman sultans
List of Ottoman titles and appellations
Ottoman family tree
Seraglio
Sultana (title)

References

Further reading

External links
 Guide2womenleaders.com


Category:Lists of queens
Category:Turkish words and phrases