2015-09_Turcica40_15_Tezcan 02-07-2009 09:28 Pagina 347 Baki TEZCAN 347 THE DEBUT OF KÖSEM SULTAN’S POLITICAL CAREER For Leslie Peirce, in gratitude for her encouragement and support of my work K ösem Sultan (d. 1651) is a very well known figure of seventeenth century Ottoman history. Her political role during the reigns of his sons Murad IV (1623-40) and Ibrahim (1640-48), and the early reign of Mehmed IV (1648-87) is well attested in the sources, analyzed in con- temporary Ottoman historiography, and even fictionalized in literature.1 All sources agree that she was the favorite concubine of Ahmed I (1603- 17). Twentieth century studies tend to date the starting date of her prominence to a couple of years before the birth of Murad IV in 1612.2 A closer look at the seventeenth century sources, however, suggests that her political career started earlier, soon after the succession of Ahmed I to the Ottoman throne. The present piece will substantiate this claim and argue that Kösem Sultan should be assigned a more significant role in the politics of succession during the reign of Ahmed I. Baki TEZCAN is Assistant Professor of History and Religious Studies, University of Cali- fornia, Davis, CA 95616-8611, USA e-mail∞:
[email protected]. 1 See, for instance, the many references to Kösem Sultan in Leslie P. PEIRCE, The Imperial Harem∞: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, New York, Oxford University Press, 1993∞; as examples of fiction and fictionalized popular histories about her, one could cite Re≥at Ekrem KOÇU, Kösem Sultan, 2 vols., Istanbul, Kervan Yayınları, 1972∞; A.