Zarinebaf|199in the harem to be concerned with imperial governance. The grand vizier ad-
dressed her as “sultanim, devletlu efendin” (my sultan, your stately excellency)
in his petitions regarding very important state affairs, including the war with
Venice over Crete. She issued orders to state officials on behalf of her son Ibrahim
and addressed him as her lion (aslanım) in her own hand, in broken Ottoman
with spelling and grammatical mistakes, and placed her title (valide sultan) at
the bottom.
Ibrahim was deposed by the Janissary commanders with the consent of
Kösem Sultan and Grand Vizier Sofu Mehmed Pasha because of deteriorating
state affairs and the war with Venice in 1648. She then helped place her grand-
son, Ibrahim’s seven-year-old son Mehmed IV, on the throne. Later, Ibrahim was
strangled to death with the consent of Kösem Sultan out of fear that his parti-
sans would attempt to restore him to power and after a fatwa (religious decree)
was issued by Şeyhülislam Kara Çelebizade legitimizing Ibrahim’s forced
dethronement.
As the senior valide sultan, Kösem Sultan continued to be incredibly power-
ful. For example, she forced Grand Vizier Sofu Mehmed Pasha into exile for refus-
ing to follow her orders and replaced him with the former Janissary Kara Murad
in 1649. She also accumulated a massive fortune through tax farming, owning
and leasing commercial buildings, and investing extensively in diverse economic
activities. She was addressed as “the Great Valide Sultan” (buyuk valide), “the
Mother of Believers” (ɇumm al-muminin), and “the Possessor of Rank” (sahibat
al-makam) because of her authority and great acts of charity during the reign
of Sultan Ibrahim. She also enjoyed a measure of influence over the powerful
Janissary leaders within the palace, which made her even more powerful. She
maintained this power and influence into her seventies.
All this power and influence resulted in her accumulation of many enemies
inside and outside the harem. Chief among them was the junior Valide Turhan
Sultan, the favorite wife of Ibrahim and the mother of Sultan Mehmed IV. Turhan
Sultan resented being marginalized in terms of her potential influence over first
her husband (Sultan Ibrahim) and then her own son (Sultan Mehmed IV) by her
mother-in-law. As the mother of the reigning sultan, Turhan felt that she should
have assumed the role of valide sultan. This rivalry and enmity resulted in an as-
sassination plot against Kösem Sultan.
When over seventy years old, Valide Kösem Sultan was strangled to death
in September 1651. The assassination took place within the context of violence
and political intrigue within the harem, as well as social tensions and religious
upheavals throughout the empire but especially in Istanbul. In the month before
Kösem Sultan’s assassination, Istanbul erupted into chaos caused by a major re-
bellion led by Istanbul artisans, traders, and low-ranking Janissaries protesting
policies of Grand Vizier Melek Ahmed Pasha and his officials that imposed new