The Sultanate of Women: When Ottoman Mothers Controlled an Empire

For over a century, the Ottoman Empire wasn't ruled by sultans - it was ruled by their mothers and wives from inside the imperial harem. During the "Sultanate of Women" period (1533-1656), powerful women like Hürrem Sultan and Kösem Sultan manipulated succession, commanded armies, built mosques, and orchestrated the murders of rivals, sons, and even sultans themselves.

The harem wasn't just a collection of concubines - it was a brutal political training ground where slave girls could rise to become the most powerful women in the Islamic world. These women controlled access to the sultan, raised future rulers, and accumulated vast wealth. Hürrem Sultan, a Ukrainian slave girl, became so powerful she legally married the sultan (unprecedented) and influenc ...