The Debut of Kösem Sultan's Political Career
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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. Turan OFLAZOGLU, Kösem Sultan∞: Oyun, Istanbul, Adam Yayıncılık, 1982∞; Jean-Louis BELACHEMI, L’empire des ombres∞: Kossem, 1589-1651, Toulouse, Editions Milan, 1988∞; and Jean BELL, La dame de Topkapi∞: Roman, Paris, Denoël, 1997. 2 The source of this assumption may be Ahmed Refik [ALTINAY], Kadınlar Saltanatı, 4 vols., Istanbul, Kitabhane-i Hilmi, 1332-1923, vol. 1, p. 147. Turcica, 40, 2008, p. 347-359. doi: 10.2143/TURC.40.0.2037143 © 2008 Turcica. Tous droits réservés. 2015-09_Turcica40_15_Tezcan 02-07-2009 09:28 Pagina 348 348 BAKI TEZCAN M. Cavid Baysun suggests that Kösem Sultan was most probably Greek by birth, but the various opinions put forward about her origin and real name may not be reliable. While her formal name as a concu- bine was Mahpeyker, that is moon-faced, she was known as Kösem, a nickname which seems to have been given to her either because of her smooth skin (köse∞: hairless) or because of her leadership qualities and independence (kösem∞: leader∞; free). She is believed to have born Ahmed I four sons and three daughters, the eldest son being Prince Murad (Murad IV),3 who was born in July 1612.4 If Kösem’s eldest son was indeed Murad, she could not have played a significant political role in the dynastic politics of Ahmed I’s reign as the sultan had two elder sons, Osman (b. 1604) and Mehmed (b. 1605) whose mothers would have taken precedence to her in prestige, at least in the first half of Ahmed I’s reign.5 Yet as I demonstrate below, con- trary to the established opinion, Osman’s mother had passed away a few years after her son’s birth, and Mehmed was actually Kösem’s own son. Moreover, Ahmed I’s mother Handan Sultan died quite early in his reign, and his paternal grandmother Safiye Sultan was sent to the Old Palace soon after his enthronement. Thus Kösem did not have any potential rivals at the harem and enjoyed the prestige of being the most senior mother at the imperial court after the death of Osman’s mother. Osman’s mother Modern accounts suggest that Osman’s mother was alive when her son ascended the throne in 1618, and that Osman II was very much influenced by her in his decisions.6 Notwithstanding the assumptions of modern scholarship, however, Osman’s mother most probably died while Osman was around the age of five at the latest. Çagatay Uluçay 3 M. Cavid BAYSUN, “∞Kösem Walida or Kösem Sultan, called Mahpaykar,∞” Ency- clopaedia of Islam, New Edition, vol. V, p. 272. 4 Mustafa SAFI, Mustafa Sâfî’nin Zübdetü’t-tevârîh’i, ed., Ibrahim Hakkı Çuhadar, 2 vols., Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2003, vol. 2, p. 145. 5 Actually, Ahmed I had another son, Selim, who was born before Murad in June 1611∞; but he died within a few weeks∞; ibid., vol. 2, p. 137. The Venetian bailo Simon Contarini raises the possibility that there may have been yet another son who died as an infant as he states in the summary report of his embassy to Constantinople, which he wrote in 1612 — apparently before the birth of Murad, that besides the two princes alive, Ahmed had two other sons∞; one of them died soon after his birth, and the other a year after his birth∞; see Nicolo BAROZZI and Guglielmo BERCHET, eds., Le relazioni degli stati europei lette al senato dagli ambasciatori veneziani nel secolo decimosettimo∞: Turchia, 2 vols., Venice, 1871-72, vol. 1, p. 125-254, at p. 133 [reprinted in Luigi FIRPO, ed., Relazioni di ambasciatori veneti al senato, tratte dalle migliori edizioni disponibili e ordinate cronologicamente, vol. 13∞: Constantinopoli (1590-1793), Torino, Bottega d’Erasmo, 1984, p. 473-602, at p. 481]. 6 See, for instance, Ya≥ar YÜCEL and Ali SEVIM, Türkiye Tarihi, 4 vols., Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1990-92, vol. 3, p. 55. 2015-09_Turcica40_15_Tezcan 02-07-2009 09:28 Pagina 349 THE DEBUT OF KÖSEM SULTAN’S POLITICAL CAREER 349 claims that Osman’s mother died in 1620 and was buried in Eyüb.7 It is correct that she is buried in Eyüb, yet the chronogram marking the con- struction of her tomb suggests that she must have died before 1618.8 According to the resident French ambassador at the Ottoman capital in 1618, Osman’s mother had actually died while Osman was a little boy.9 The Venetian bailo Ottaviano Bon in 1609 simply states that Ahmed I had two sons and two daughters by three women.10 George Sandys writes, most probably in 1610, that the mother of the firstborn prince had passed away.11 In 1612 another Venetian bailo, Simon Con- tarini, does not refer to the mother of Osman at all but states that Osman went for carriage rides with the “∞queen,∞” the mother of the second born son,12 who is Kösem Sultan as I demonstrate below. Pietro Della Valle asserts in 1614 that the mother of the firstborn prince had already died.13 Cristoforo Valier, Contarini’s successor between 1612 and 1615,14 states 7 The document that M. Çagatay ULUÇAY, Padi≥ahların Kadınları ve Kızları, Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1980, p. 48, n. 1, cites as evidence for the date of her death specifies her burial place but does not seem to suggest that she died in the year that the document is dated. Peirce states that the document cited by Uluçay is “∞not to be found in the Top- kapı Palace Museum Archives under the number he cites∞;∞” see PEIRCE, The Imperial Harem, op. cit., p. 336, n. 8. 8 “∞Hazret-i Eyyûb’da Sultân Osmân vâlidesi türbesinin binâsına Kesbî târîh demi≥tir∞: Türbe-i vâlide-i pâdi≥âh oldu âbâd, 1027 (1618),∞” Hâfız Hüseyin AYVANSARAYI, Mec- muâ-i Tevârih, eds., Fahri Ç. Derin and Vâhid Çubuk, Istanbul, Istanbul Üniversitesi Ede- biyat Fakültesi Yayınları, 1985, p. 304-5. This chronogram suggests that Osman II built a tomb over his mother’s grave in 1618, yet does not inform us about the exact date of her death. 9 Achille de Harlay, baron de Sancy, the French ambassador to the Ottoman capital, identifies Osman II in his letter to Louis XIII, the King of France, as “∞non le fils de la Sultanne vivante mais l’ainé nommé Osman, orfelin de sa mere des il y a dix ans∞;∞” Bib- liothèque nationale de France [BnF hereafter], MS fr. 16148, f. 281a, dated on February 26, 1618, the day of Osman’s enthronement. That Osman’s mother is dead is also stated in a relation on the life and death of Nasuh Pasha, written sometime after Nasuh’s execu- tion in 1614 and sent by the same ambassador on March 5, 1616∞; BnF, MS Collection Dupuy 429, f. 109b. 10 “∞Non ha la Maestà Sua sposata alcuna schiava fin hora, et si ritrova haver con tre donne quattro figli, due maschi et due femine. Il maggiore, destinato alla successione, haverà cinque anni forniti∞;∞” the relation of Ottaviano Bon, read to the Venetian Senate on June 9, 1609, in Maria Pia PEDANI-FABRIS, ed., Relazioni di ambasciatori veneti al sen- ato, vol. 14∞: Constantinopoli, Relazioni inedite (1512-1789) (Padova∞: Bottega d’Erasmo, 1996), p. 475-523, at p. 514. The two sons must be Osman and Mehmed. Although Bon read this report in June 1609, the information it reproduces may have been somewhat dated as he had left Istanbul earlier. 11 George SANDYS, A Relation of a Journey begun an∞: dom∞: 1610, London, 1615, p. 74. 12 BAROZZI and BERCHET, eds., Le relazioni degli stati europei∞: Turchia, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 133 [FIRPO, ed., Relazioni∞: Constantinopoli, op. cit., p. 481]. 13 Pietro DELLA VALLE, Reiss-Beschreibung in unterschiedliche Theile der Welt, ed. in German, Philippo Maria Bonini, Genff, 1674, p. 29. 14 Although his relazione was read in the Senate of Venice in 1616, he had actually 2015-09_Turcica40_15_Tezcan 02-07-2009 09:28 Pagina 350 350 BAKI TEZCAN that Ahmed had four sons, two from the sultana who died, and two from the one alive.15 Thus the available evidence strongly suggests that Osman’s mother had died by 1610 at the latest, if not earlier.