Kösem Sultan Murder. Photo by: Antoine-Laurent Castellan- Wikimedia

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Kösem Sultan


 

Kösem Sultan, (born around 1589—died September 2, 1651), Ottoman sultana who wielded considerable power in Ottoman politics for several decades during a period when palace women wielded significant, even structured, power.

Kösem Sultan’s life is like combining Game of Thrones, Cinderella, and Succession into one potent cocktail, then setting it on fire.

During the final years of the Ottoman Empire’s great “Sultanate of Women,” this Machiavellian momager knew how to gain power: through cunning, betrayal, and total manipulation of men. Watch out, even though she rose from rags to riches. Kösem Sultan’s life is anything but a fairy tale.

1. Kösem Sultan’s adolescence was terrifying

Kösem  was born on the Greek island of Tinos, the daughter of a Greek Orthodox priest, and had a relatively peaceful childhood. However, it quickly became spine-chilling.

Ottoman raiders kidnapped Kösem and tore her away from her family as she was just approaching her teenage years. As things were about to get a lot worse for the girl.

2. Kösem Sultan’s had an unbelievable experience with kidnappers

Engraving of Kösem Sultan, 1694. Photo by: Paul Rycaut- Wikimedia

As if being taken from her home wasn’t bad enough, the kidnappers then sold Kösem like a piece of property. Human markets were big in the Ottoman Empire, and Kösem fit the bill perfectly: she was young, virginal, healthy, and hot.

More than that, she was already displaying stunning intelligence, which drew the attention of someone very important.

3. Kösem Sultan’s was a mistress without her consent

While Kösem was on the market, an envoy for none other than Sultan Ahmed I noticed her keen intellect and beauty. Then he made a decision that forever altered her life.

He took her to Constantinople to live in the sultan’s Imperial Harem, believing she was a diamond in the rough. It was a lucky break…but Kösem soon discovered the harem was a snake pit.

4. Kösem Sultan faced some difficult competition

By no means was Kösem the only girl who entered the Imperial Harem. Sultan Ahmed, who was a year younger than Kösem, had a plethora of beautiful women at his disposal. In other words, she was up against stiff competition.

On top of that, she had homework: the harem tested her knowledge of literature, music, and Ottoman politics. But, in less than a year, Kösem proved she could handle it all—and she received a significant raise.

5. Kösem Sultan turned Sultan’s head

Kösem Sultan Murder. Photo by: Antoine-Laurent Castellan- Wikimedia

Kösem won her first stunning victory in 1605. Sultan Ahmed had taken a keen interest in her during her time in the Imperial Harem.

In fact, he was so taken with her milky, brown-eyed beauty and political savvy that he made her his legal wife and, more importantly, his leading queen (he had many wives). Another influential change happened with this impactful title.

6. Kösem Sultan made a name for herself

The sultan decided to change Kösem’s name now that she was chief consort and had earned the prestigious title of Haseki Sultan. This is when she was given the name “Kösem,” which means “herd leader.”

The name alludes to her extraordinary political acumen, even at such a young age. And boy, was she about to put it to use.

7. Kösem Sultan practiced witchcraft on Sultan

Engraving of Kösem Sultan, 1694. Photo by: Paul Rycaut- Wikimedia

Guests to Constantinople and the Sultan’s court couldn’t help but notice his lovely bride. She did, however, arouse some dark suspicions. One English traveller described Kösem as “delicate” and “shy,” but he was disturbed by Sultan Ahmed’s obsession with his consort, and he accused Kösem of witchcraft.

Whether it was hocus pocus or not, Kösem had other ways to get what she wanted.

8. Kösem Sultan was manipulative and always got what she wanted

Kösem’s “witchcraft” was simply highly advanced political abilities. To put it another way, outright manipulation. Sultan Ahmed, at the height of her power, desired her constant presence, and Kosem took every opportunity to make herself available to him.

This meant she was frequently in the room with him during important conversations. Nonetheless, her impact advanced to a completely different realm…one that was far more sinister.

9. Kösem Sultan’s marriage and children

He prioritized her above all his concubines as Haseki Sultan to Ahmed, splurging on her with the finest jewels from his hoard.   Her stipend was 1,000 aspers per day. During their early marriage, she gave Ahmed four daughters: Ayşe Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Hanzade Sultan, and Gevherhan Sultan.

She had the authority to organize political marriages for her daughters because she was their mother. At the age of seven, one of her daughters, Ayşe Sultan, married Nasuh Pasha. Gevherhan Sultan married küz Kara Mehmed Pasha at the age of five that same year.

In his report in 1612, Venetian ambassador Simon Contarini, the bailo between 1609 and 1612, mentions Kösem and describes her as: “[A woman] of beauty and wisdom, and also… of many talents, she sings brilliantly, which is why the king continues to adore her… Not everyone respects her, but she is heard in some matters and is the king’s favorite, who wants her by his side all the time.” 

In the early 1610s, George Sandys, an English traveller visiting Constantinople, recorded Kösem’s name as “Casek Cadoun” (haseki kadn) and thought she was “a witch beyond beauty.” He claimed that the sultan had a “passionate” love for Kösem that was the result of witchcraft.

Sandys goes on to describe her as a woman with “a gentle and yet shy personality.”

10. Kösem Sultan’s competition was an ex-wife

A portrait of Devetlu Izmetlu Haseki Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan Büyük Valide Sultan, the wife of Ottoman Sultan Bahti Ahmed I- Wikimedia

Kösem may have risen above her peers in the Imperial Harem, but she faced one formidable foe: Mahfiruz Hatun, one of the sultan’s very first concubines. Apart from being slightly older than Kösem, Mahfiruz had also given birth to Sultan Ahmed’s first child, Osman.

So no matter how many children Kösem gave her husband, Mahfiruz would always come out on top in terms of succession. Obviously, the uber-competitive Kösem was not going to stand for that. You know she had a plan to destabilize her adversary.

 

 

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