Behind
every strong man, there is a strong woman. A girl born and raised in what is now
western Ukraine, was, “abducted, and snatched away. Fate dictated that she would
become the wife of a Sultan.
At age 17 she was captured
and taken to Istanbul. There the girl was bought by the great vizier Ibrahim
Pasha and delivered in the Sultan’s harem. After some time, Roxelana became a
concubine and favorite who ascended the throne of Suleiman I.
The
story of Hurrem Sultan is a unique facet of the Ottoman Empire’s rich history.
Hurrem, also known as Roxelana, lived a life that shocked her contemporaries
and still inspires fascination in modern-day audiences.
Roxelana
is what she was called by the Europeans but among the Ottomans she was called
Hurrem, which means joyful, mirthful.
Much
of Hurrem Sultan’s early life is theoretical or simply unknown. Her name may
have been Anastasia or Alexandra Lebowski or Lisowska, and she may have been
the daughter of an Orthodox Christian priest. It is generally accepted that she
was born between 1502 and 1506.
She was believed to have been captured
by Crimean Tatars in a slave raid in the Ruthenia region of what was then part
of the Kingdom of Poland, which today is part of Ukraine.
The
Tatars conducted regular raids on this region, capturing people to be taken to
Caffa on the Crimean Peninsula to be sold at the slave market. Hurrem Sultan
was one of these people.
The Ottoman Empire owned the slave market
at Caffa. From here, Hurrem would have been taken to another slave market at
the heart of the Ottoman Empire itself in Constantinople. The journey took
around ten days by sea.
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| Roxolana-Hurrem Sultan |
It was at this slave market that Pargali
Ibrahim Pasha allegedly purchased Hurrem as a gift for his childhood friend,
Suleiman, who was the son of the Sultan.
Slavic
slaves were highly valued for their pale skin and fine features, and Pasha may
have known what Suleiman the Magnificent found attractive in a woman.
Hurrem
is often depicted with red hair, a common feature amongst people from Ukraine,
and may have been considered exotic in the Ottoman Empire’s epicenter.
Being
a Christian was another factor that worked in Hurrem’s favor. It was customary
for the Sultan to father sons with Christian women to avoid the dynastic
struggles that might emerge if two powerful Islamic houses intermarried.
The
young Ruthenian slave acquired two new names once she entered the royal
household. One of these names was “Roxelana”, meaning “maid from Ruthenia”.
She
was called “Hurrem”, which means “joyful”, or “the laughing one” in Persian.
This name tells us a great deal about her nature and why Suleiman the
Magnificent found her company so compelling.
It
was Suleiman’s mother, Hafsa Sultan, who selected Roxolana Hurrem to spend a night
pleasuring her son. There were hundreds of women in the Sultan’s harem, and the
likelihood of these women ever meeting the Sultan in person was slim.
In
preparation for this meeting, Hurrem would have been bathed, shaved, anointed
with fragrant oils, and dressed in fine clothing in order to please her master.
However
their first meeting played out, fate decreed that Hurrem would spend a night
with Suleiman. The combination of her fine Slavic features, her unusual red
hair, her daintiness, and her joyful manner must have been a compelling
combination because Suleiman called for Hurrem to join him again and again.
Suleiman already had
a favorite, who was also his consort. Her name was Mahidevran Sultan, and she
had given Suleiman a son.
Now
that Hurrem was making a name for herself at court as the Sultan’s new
favorite, one day Muhidevran took matters into her own hands and attacked
Hurrem, scratching her face.
When
Suleiman called for Hurrem that night, she refused to see him on account of her
appearance. Intrigued, Suleiman called for her again and saw the marks on her
face that Muhidevran had left.
Hurrem’s position as the Sultan’s favorite concubine was
solidified even further after this incident. These events are very telling
about how clever Hurrem was, and they show that she instinctively knew how to
play the political game to her best advantage.
Hurrem converted to Islam, and entered the imperial harem as a
slave before the year 1520 and Suleiman’s ascension to the throne.
Suleiman the Magnificent became Sultan
in 1520, which was around the same time that Hurrem became his concubine.
She
bore him a son, Mehmed, the following year. When Suleiman’s mother, Hafsa
Sultan, died in 1534, this left a vacant position of power in the harem over
which she had presided.
Hafsa’s
death also meant that Suleiman was now truly independent and, therefore, able
to make a decision that would change the course of history.
In 1533, something truly astonishing
happened. Suleiman the Magnificent freed Hurrem from her concubinage in order
to marry her. Islamic law forbade a Sultan to marry a slave, so in order to
make Hurrem his queen, he had to free her.
The empire was to be shaken up once again when Hurrem bore
her husband yet another son.
Prior to this, it was customary that concubines only bore
the Sultan one son, so that she could then focus on her son’s upbringing and
education. Yet, Hurrem and Suleiman had six children together in all, five sons
and one daughter.
When
his first consort, Muhidevran, left the harem to follow her son to his first
political posting (which was customary; concubines were accordingly educated to
be able to advise their sons on matters of politics and religion), this left
Hurrem as the undisputed head of the harem.
Eventually, in another unprecedented
move, Hurrem convinced her husband to allow her to leave the harem and join him
at Topkapi Palace, where she was given a suite of apartments next to his.
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Love and Influence in
the Ottoman Empire
When
her
husband was away on military campaigns, he entrusted her with keeping him
informed about affairs back at home. It is even speculated that Hurrem was
instrumental in having Pargali Ibrahim Pasha, who was by this time Grand Vizier
and now her rival, killed due to his uncontrolled ambition.
Hurrem
had to have her wits about her if she was to protect herself and her children
from the plotting and intrigue of the court. It was less the case that she was
cunning and more so that she was adept at doing what she had to do to keep herself
and her loved ones safe.
She
protected what was hers, even to the extent of throwing tantrums when fresh
young Ruthenian slaves entered the harem, and having them married off to other
nobles lest her husband take a liking to them.
But there was more to Hurrem than just looking after her own. Due
to the level of trust between Hurrem and Suleiman, she earned herself the
freedom to preside over infrastructure works in the city:–
such
as the creation of public drinking and bathing facilities, charitable projects,
such as the establishment of soup kitchens for the poor, and religious works,
such as the building of mosques and hostels for pilgrims. Hurrem was also a
patron of the arts.
Hurrem converted to Islam, and entered the imperial harem as a
slave before the year 1520 and Suleiman’s ascension to the throne.
She
also used her love to exert influence over matters of state. As the sultan’s
advisor and confidante, she was the first to receive the title ‘Haseki Sultan’
– the chief consort. Hurrem also managed to ensure that it was her son, and not
one from the other wives or concubines, who inherited the throne.
The
powerful Hurrem Sultan took an active role in internal politics and
international relations, not just connected to the fate of her children. Often
described as manipulative and power-hungry (she was accused of bewitching
Suleiman), Hurrem was also involved in several charity initiatives.
Death of Roxelana
Roxelana
did not live to see her greatest ambition, the ascension of her son to the
throne, become reality. She died on April 15th, 1558 – eight years before her
husband’s death, and her son Selim becoming the ruler of the Ottoman Empire.
She was buried in a mausoleum in the courtyard of the Süleymaniye Mosque.
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| Süleymaniye Masjid |
The
century that followed was to become known as the “Sultanate of Women”, one in
which royal wives and mother’s wielded power via political influence over their
royal men — all due to the legacy of a nameless slave.
The
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