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". 
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 
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 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. 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.

## 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.

### 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.

	
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## 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:

## 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