198 | Policing Morality
extraordinary power. The seventeenth century, therefore, has often been referred
to as the era of the sultanate of women, when several powerful queen mothers
practically ruled the empire even though the position of regent supposedly did
not exist in the empire at this point. According to tradition and sultanic law only
the grand vizier possessed the authority to function as the deputy of the sultan
if he was too young to rule by himself. The grand vizier was then authorized to
issue all imperial orders in the young sultan’s name.
The rise of Valide Kösem Sultan to the position of regent was, therefore, out-
side these existing norms that were spelled out in the advice literature. Accord-
ing to some leading advice writers, such as Mustafa Naima, the rise to power of
valide sultans violated the ethics of proper governance traditionally followed in
the empire. He regarded the crossing of the harem boundaries as one of the main
factors that led to the decline of the empire. Others, like Evliya Çelebi, thought
that the survival of the dynasty depended on a valide sultan’s position as regent,
especially when a series of sultans came to the throne during the seventeenth
century who were too young or too weak to rule effectively.
Valide Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan played an important role in placing two of
her sons, Murad IV (r. 1623–1640) and Ibrahim I (r. 1640–1648), and her grand-
son Mehmed IV on the throne. During her sons’ reigns she also functioned as
their regent from 1623 to 1632 and from 1640 to 1648, respectively. Of Greek
origin, Kösem Sultan (1589–1651) became the haseki of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–
1617) and bore him four sons (Murad, Süleyman, Ibrahim, and Kasim) and three
daughters. After the death of Sultan Ahmed I, she supported the succession of
his brother Mustafa I (r. 1617–1618), but took power into her own hands soon after
his ascension to the throne. The overthrow of Mustafa after a few months and
the enthronement of Osman II (r. 1618–1622), Ahmed I’s son from his concubine
Mahfiruz, relegated her to the old palace and out of direct political power.
After the deposition and regicide of Sultan Osman II by the Janissaries in
1622, she rose to power again and helped place her twelve-year-old son, Murad IV
on the throne. She became effectively the regent to the young Sultan Murad IV
and ran the empire until 1632, when Murad was twenty-one and old enough to
assume full power. She continued to run some governmental affairs when the
sultan was away from Istanbul and directly communicated with him and the
grand vizier. When Murad IV had three of his brothers (Bayezid, Kasim, and
Süleyman) strangled, Kösem Sultan protected his fourth brother, Ibrahim, in the
harem, thus preventing the extinction of the dynasty when Murad failed to pro-
duce any male heirs.
Kösem Sultan became regent for a second time in 1648 when Sultan Mu-
rad IV was succeeded by his mentally ill brother Sultan Ibrahim I (r. 1640–1648),
known as Mad Ibrahim. She was able to run the empire with the help of Grand
Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha since Ibrahim was too involved with his concubines