Haseki Sultan (Ottoman Turkish:خاصکى سلطان,romanized: Hāṣekī Sulṭān,Turkish pronunciation:[haseˈcisuɫˈtaːn]) was a title used for the favorite of anOttoman sultan.[1] It was created forHürrem Sultan, the legal wife ofSuleiman the Magnificent.[2] The title lost its exclusivity underIbrahim, who bestowed it upon eight women simultaneously, but continued to be used until the 17th century, whenkadın became the highest-ranking title for imperial concubines.
The wordhaseki (خاصکي-خاصگی) comes from the Arabic wordkhassa (خاصه), which is suffixed with the Persiangi (گی) and means "to attribute something exclusively to". Ahaseki is, therefore, one who belongs exclusively to the ruler.[3]
Sultan (سلطان) is an Arabic word that indicates "authority" or "dominion". Starting from the 16th century, this title was carried by both men and women, thus replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notablyhatun for women andbey for men).[4] The Ottoman ruler's formal title consisted ofsultan together withhan (e.g. Sultan Suleiman Han). In formal address, the sultan's children were also entitled to thesultan title, with imperial princes (şehzade) carrying the title before their given name (e.g.Şehzade Sultan Mehmed), and imperial princesses carrying it after (e.g.Mihrimah Sultan). Like imperial princesses, the living mothers and chief consorts of the ruling sultan carried the title after their given names (e.g.Hafsa Sultan and Hürrem Sultan). The evolving usage of thesultan title reflects power shifts among imperial women, especially during theSultanate of Women.
While the Ottoman Empire never had an officialempress consort, when Suleiman broke tradition by freeing Hürrem, his favorite concubine, from slavery and legally marrying her, she was elevated to an extraordinary position; thus, thehaseki sultan title that had been created for her can be seen as equivalent to the title of empress consort.[5]
Although a handful of other women held the title after Hürrem, this didn't necessarily result from legal marriages, and none enjoyed the same esteem or authority during their tenures.
Nevertheless, thehaseki sultan title, which continued to be used for more than a century after Hürrem's death, conveys the great power held by concubines who had arrived at the Ottoman court as slaves, elevating their status above imperial princesses and making them equal to the wives of Europe's rulers.
As the position of the chief consort eroded over the course of the 17th century, thehaseki sultan title was replaced by the less prestigious and non-exclusivekadın, a title related to the earlierhatun. Henceforth, the sultan's mother was the only woman of non-imperial blood to carry thesultan title.[4]
Thesultan title is often translated as "sultana" when referring to female members of the imperial family in order to distinguish them from the male ruler.
Thehaseki sultan title was held by the chief consort of the sultan. She had a special standing in the palace, being the second most powerful woman in theimperial harem after thevalide sultan and usually having chambers close to the sultan's own chamber.
When the position of thevalide sultan was vacant thehaseki could take on the role, which meant having access to considerable economic resources, becoming chief of the imperial harem, advising the sultan in matters of state, and even holding sway on international relations. This happened in different measures during the eras ofHürrem Sultan,Nurbanu Sultan,Safiye Sultan,[6]Kösem Sultan andGülnuş Sultan.
Hürrem, the first concubine to becomehaseki sultan, was given several exceptional rights during her tenure, particularly after the death of Suleiman's mother,Hafsa Sultan, the firstvalide sultan, in 1534. Hürrem was allowed to give birth to more than one son, which was a stark violation of the imperial harem's old principle of "one concubine-mother — one son" that was designed to prevent both the mother's influence over the sultan and the feuds of full-brothers for the throne. In 1534, Suleiman married Hürrem in a magnificent formal ceremony, making him the first Ottoman sultan to wed sinceMehmed II (r. 1451–1481), and flouting theOttoman dynasty's custom according to which sultans were not to marry their concubines (Mehmed's legal wife was a free noblewoman,Sittişah Hatun). Later, Hürrem became the first mother of a prince to remain in the sultan's court for the duration of her life; as per tradition, the mother of a prince was to remain in the harem only until her son came of age (around 16 or 17), when she would accompany him as he left the capital to govern a faraway province. Hürrem came to be Suleiman's partner not only in the household, but also in government affairs. Thanks to her intelligence, she acted as Suleiman's chief adviser, and seems to have had influence upon foreign policy.
A mother's political role traditionally began with the creation of a separate household for her son. The establishment of her public identity entailed her separation from the sultan and his court. This kind of functional division appears to have occurred with Nurbanu Sultan, in spite of the fact that she also never left the sultan's court; the shift in her position, that is, her candid undertaking of a political role ashaseki may well have coincided with her son's assumption of a provincial posting.[7]
Thehaseki sultan title was not used during the reign ofMehmed III, which was probably due to the prominent role played by his mother, Safiye Sultan.
The title was used again during the reign of Mehmed's son,Ahmed I, who chose his second consort, Kösem, ashaseki. Her legacy is similar to that of Hürrem in one important aspect.[8] Like Hürrem, Kösem is accused of acting to preserve her own power rather than that of the sultan or the dynasty.[9] Perhaps Kösem's greatest triumph was the significant shift in the pattern of succession from a system ofprimogeniture to one based onagnatic seniority. She must have realized the personal gain that might stem from this change, as she would still have a son "in waiting" depite no longer being thehaseki. According to a Venetian ambassador, Kösem "lobbied to spare Mustafa the fate offratricide with the ulterior goal of saving her own son[s] from the same fate".[10] This new system resulted in all heirs being isolated in thekafes before ascending to the throne, hence the old age or mental issues of certain sultans upon their enthronement; this also made the princes lose their chance to govern an Ottoman province, which was originally an essential part of their training to become a worthy ruler.
Osman II might have had a concubine with thehaseki rank, but all that can be determined about her is that her name wasAyşe.[note 1]
As with Osman, very little is known about the concubines of his younger half-brother,Murad IV. Privy purse registers show the presence of onehaseki,Ayşe, until the very end of Murad's seventeen-year reign, when a second unnamedhaseki appears. It's possible that Murad had only one concubine until the advent of the second one, or that he had a number of concubines and singled out two of them ashaseki.
Ibrahim had eighthaseki, of whom the first three —Turhan,Saliha Dilaşub, andMuazzez — each had one son who later became sultan.[1]
The presence of more than onehaseki sultan was a significant change in the reigns of Murad IV and Ibrahim, signaling that the age of thehaseki was coming to an end. With Kösem's strong influence asvalide sultan, thehaseki sultan title being held by eight women simultaneously, and the princes no longer being appointed to provincial posts, thehaseki title lost its special status. In this period, its meaning began to shift from a "chief consort" and "single favorite" to something more general like "imperial consort", similar to the earlierhatun.[1]
Gülnuş Sultan was the last influentialhaseki. She had a forceful personality and was very involved in politics, managing to persuadeMehmed IV to dismiss and execute hisgrand vizierKara Mustafa Pasha in 1683. Her authority had previously lessened during the vizierate ofKöprülüzade Ahmed Pasha (1661 to 1676), but increased again after Mustafa Pasha's execution and lasted until Mehmed IV's deposition in 1687.[12]
In the late 17th centurykadın became the highest-ranking title for imperial concubines. The last woman in Ottoman history to use thehaseki sultan title isRabia Sultan, one of the two known concubines ofAhmed II.
The title was first used in the early 16th century forHürrem Sultan, legal wife ofSuleiman the Magnificent and mother of the futureSelim II. It was next held byNurbanu Sultan, favorite concubine and possible legal wife ofSelim II, and mother of his acknowledged heirMurad III. In 1575, just after Murad III's accession, the title was bestowed uponSafiye Sultan.Leslie P. Peirce points out that duringMehmed III's reign, thehaseki sultan title did not came in use.[7] Mehmed's sonAhmed I gave it toKösem Sultan, his favourite concubine and possible legal wife;[13] she was the mother of sultansMurad IV andIbrahim, and dominated the Ottoman Empire in the early 17th century.Osman II might have had ahaseki,Ayşe Sultan. AnotherAyşe Sultan is recorded as Murad IV's onlyhaseki until the very end of his seventeen-year reign, when a secondhaseki appears.[1] Eight women held the title during Ibrahim's era:[1]Turhan,Saliha Dilaşub,Muazzez, Ayşe, Mâhenver, Saçbağli,Şivekar, and his legal wife,Hümaşah. Three of Ibrahim's sons became sultans;Mehmed IV had ahaseki,Gülnuş Sultan;Suleiman II isn't known to have named one; and the most beloved ofAhmed II's two known concubines,Rabia Sultan, is the last woman who held thehaseki sultan title.
| Portrait | Name | Birth name | Origin | Consort of | Ceased to behaseki | Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hürrem Sultan حریم سلطان | Aleksandra or Anastasia Lisowska | Ruthenian | Suleiman I | 15 April 1558 | |
| Nurbanu Sultan نور بانو سلطان | Cecilia Venier-Baffo or Kalē Kartanou or Rachel | Venetian or Greek or Jewish | Selim II | 15 December 1574 sultan's death | 7 December 1583 | |
 | Safiye Sultan صفیه سلطان | unknown | Albanian | Murad III | 15 January 1595 sultan's death | January/April 1619[14] |
 | Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan قسّم سلطان | unknown[15][16] | Greek | Ahmed I | 22 November 1617 sultan's death | 2 September 1651 |
| Ayşe Sultan عایشه سلطان (disputed) | unknown | unknown[9] | Osman II | 1622 sultan's deposition | 1640 | |
| Ayşe Sultan عایشه سلطان | unknown | unknown | Murad IV | 1640 sultan's death | 1680 | |
| Unnamed sultan شمس شاه سلطان (disputed) | unknown | unknown | 1640 sultan's death | after 1640 | ||
 | Hatice Turhan Sultan ترخان سلطان | unknown | Russian[17][18] | Ibrahim | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | 4 August 1683 |
| Saliha Dilaşub Sultan آشوب سلطان | unknown | unknown[19][20] | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | 4 December 1689 | ||
| Hatice Muazzez Sultan معزز سلطان | unknown | unknown[19] | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | 12 September 1687 | ||
| Ayşe Sultan عایشه سلطان | unknown | Tatar | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | 1675 | ||
| Mâhenver Sultan ماه انور سلطان | unknown | Circassian | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | after 1648 | ||
| Saçbağı Sultan سلطان ساچباگلی | unknown | Circassian | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | 1694 | ||
| Şivekar Sultan شیوه کار سلطان | Maria | Armenian | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | 1693 | ||
| Hümaşah Sultan ھما شاہ سلطان | unknown | Georgian or Circassian | 8 August 1648 sultan's deposition | after 1676 | ||
 | Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan گلنوش سلطان | Eugènie[21] | Venetian or Greek[22] | Mehmed IV | 8 November 1687 sultan's deposition | 6 November 1715 |
| Rabia Sultan رابعه سلطان | unknown | unknown | Ahmed II | 6 February 1695 sultan's death | 14 January 1712 | |
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