a decade of crisis 61In the eye of writers during the fi rst decade of Mehmed IV’s reign, theruler wilted into the background, overshadowed by his powerful mother. She
always stood by his side, if behind a curtain, present when the sultan met with
the grand vizier and other advisors, asking questions or responding to her son’s
questions, and stopped at nothing to ensure she lead the dynasty.^121 There is
much evidence that this female regent ran the empire in place of her son. From
1651 until 1 656, writs of the grand viziers concerning administration, war, and
the state of imperial fi nances, which customarily were addressed to the sultan,
were actually addressed instead to Hatice Turhan, attesting to who was the real
decision maker and de facto head of the dynasty.^122 The body of the documents
consisted of the petition of the grand vizier, and the top of the document con-
tained the command of the valide sultan, covered in gold. In one such docu-
ment the valide sultan refers to her son in the diminutive, as “my lion.”^123 By
1 653, when the sultan was twelve, he was still referred to by his tutor as “a lion
who has not yet hunted,” “an inexperienced white hawk without knowledge of
the world,” and “a blindfolded falcon.”^124 A falcon can hover above the earth,
staying motionlessly aloft in one spot while riding the currents, like a ruler
who rises above palace factions to claim sovereign power alone. The solution
offered by the writers of the advice literature was just such a strong sultan who
would take charge. The answer to their critiques was couched in the language
of conversion and conquest.