Turhan Hatice - From Concubine To Valide Sultan

From Concubine To Valide Sultan

Turhan Hatice, whose original name is Nadya, was considered to be of Ruthenian (Ukrainian) origin. She was captured during one of the raids by Tatars and sold into slavery. When she was about 12 years old, Turhan was sent to the Topkapı Palace as a gift to the mother of Sultan Ibrahim, Kösem Sultan. It was probably Kösem Sultan who gave Hatice to Ibrahim as a concubine. On January 2, 1642 Turhan gave birth to a son, the future sultan Mehmed IV. Ibrahim's behaviour sparked talks of deposing the sultan. On August 8, 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 ascendency, 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 head 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 another young grandson. According to one historian, this switching had more to do with replacing an ambitious daughter-in-law with one who was more easily controlled. The plan was unsuccessful as it was reported to Turhan by one of Kösem’s slaves. Whether Turhan sanctioned it or not, Kösem Sultan was murdered three years after becoming regent for her young grandson.