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Following in her mother’s footsteps, Mihrumah acted as Suleyman’s intimate counselor and sent him news and forwarded letters when he was away from the capital. She was instrumental in the decision to undertake the siege of the Mediterranean island of Malta in 1565, for which she offered to outfit four hundred galleys. It was in these years that Mihrumah worked with the royal architect Sinan on two of Istanbul’s most exquisite mosques, one in Rustem’s memory in a busy market neighborhood near the Golden Horn and the other in her own name at the Adrianople gate in the old Byzantine city wall. — Leslie Peirce, Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

funny conversations with our husband

Nurbanu’s influence in the affairs of the state would not have gone unnoticed and she must have been aware that aside from her son’s actions, hers, too, were being closely monitored and commented upon, as were those of her palace faction, which clearly wielded power at the time. The precise amount of influence she held over the court may not have been known to the general public, but her high rank was brazenly displayed by her titulature, first as the legal wife of Selim II (1571) and then holder of the office of Valide Sultan, a position created for her benefit the same year her son, Murad III inherited the throne (1574). — Pinar Kayaalp-Aktan, The Atik Valide Mosque Complex: A testament of Nurbanu's prestige, power and piety

The few days I had passed in the society of the Sultan resulted in my eventually giving birth to a daughter, Merimah-Sultan. When the time came to get her a husband, I resolved that she should make her choice. I showed her the portraits of several young men, each worthy of her hand. She fixed upon Said-Pasha. Very few months had elapsed, when my poor daughter, already enceinte, died, and with her my last solace disappeared. — Hoşyar Kadın in Melek Hanım, Thirty Years in the Harem: or, the Autobiography

Wherever he was, Mustafa was accompanied by his mother Mahidevran. Like Roxelana and countless others, Mahidevran had begun her career in enslavement and conversion to Islam. Her Ottoman name meant “moon of good fortune.” But unlike Roxelana, whose Ruthenian origins were a matter of consensus, Mahidevran’s roots were less certain. She was variously said to be from Albania, Montenegro, Circassia, or the Crimea. Perhaps opportunistically, Venetian ambassadors in the 1520s asserted her Albanian and Montenegrin identities, with the implication that she had been abducted from Venetian-controlled territory on the eastern Adriatic coast (it could be useful if an ex-national rose to the top ranks of power). But in the 1550s, consensus on Mahidevran’s origins would shift to the Black Sea region. The Hapsburg ambassador Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq reported that she was Crimean and the Venetian Bernardo Navagero that she was Circassian. Mustafa must have been Mahidevran’s first (and only) child, for she appears to have had no daughters. “Her whole pleasure is this [child],” commented Bragadin in his brief mention of her. When Mustafa, having come of age, took up his apprenticeship in the provinces in 1533, Mahidevran would continue to win praise, now as a wise counselor to her son. — Peirce, Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire

Meleki was originally a member of Kösem Sultan’s suite. [...] When, however, Turhan began to assert what she saw as her rightful authority, Kösem reportedly planned to depose the young sultan and replace him with another prince, whose mother she believed more tractable. At this point Meleki deserted Kösem and betrayed her plans to Turhan, thus enabling the latter to eliminate her mother-in-law (Kösem was murdered in a palace coup led by Turhan’s chief black eunuch). Meleki became the new valide sultan’s loyal and favored retainer. She was eventually manumitted and married to Şaban Khalife, a former page in the palace training school. The couple established residence in Istanbul, where, as a team, they were ideally suited to act as channels of information and intercessors on behalf of individuals with petitions for the palace. Şaban received male petitioners, Meleki female petitioners; Şaban exploited contacts he had formed while serving within the palace, while Meleki exploited her relationship with Turhan Sultan. The political influence of the couple grew to such a point that they lost their lives in 1656 when troops stationed in Istanbul rebelled against alleged abuses in government. — Leslie Peirce, The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovreignty in the Ottoman Empire

In addition to all this benevolence and generosity, Refia Sultan also appears before us for her extravagance. The princess was a person who loved luxury. In the 19th century and especially during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, it was almost a tradition for the women of the palace to spend more than their income. Refia Sultan was also raised in this period and was influenced by the passion for shopping and fashion of the other women in the palace. In fact, this was the result and necessity of a new lifestyle similar to those in the West. As a matter of fact, Refia Sultan ordered her carriage and harnesses from Paris, and ordered her clothing needs from the famous French shops of Beyoğlu. French brands were preferred for shopping under the influence of the French style. Refia Sultan had Abdullah Fréres and Vasilaki Kargopoulo, who were the official photographers of the palace and the sultan at that time, take pictures; she has had large and small charcoal and painted pictures made. The princess paid considerable sums for these as well. — Arif Kolay, Osmanlı Saray Hayatından Bir Kesit: Ali Akyıldız ve Mümin ve Müsrif Bir Padişah Kızı Refia Sultan

The Circassian Canfeda hatun was the housekeeper of the harem and responsible for the training of the women who lived there; she had been an ally of sultan Murad's strong-willed mother, Nur Banu, whose control of the harem she assumed on the latter's death. Until 1595, when she was dismissed by the new sultan Mehmed III, she frequently contacted the Venetians in order to obtain commodities for the harem. She was not in favour with the new sultan since she had chosen to protect the second son of Murad III, prince Mustafa (1578-1595), who was killed with his eighteen brothers on the eve of Mehmed's accession. Canfeda had at least two brothers: Mahmud paşa, who was beylerbeyi of Halep in 1594, and Divane Ibrahim paşa whom she always protected. When Canfeda lost her power her two brothers lost their lives — Maria Pia Pedani, Safiye's Hoursehold and Venetian Diplomacy