200 | Policing Morality
taxes on artisans and paid the salaries of the Janissaries in debased coins. The
rebellious Janissaries were also planning to replace Sultan Mehmed IV with his
brother, Süleyman, to get rid of the faction of Valide Turhan Sultan, no doubt
with the approval of Valide Kösem Sultan. Simultaneously, the Kadizadelis were
growing in influence among factions opposing Kösem Sultan, especially that of
Turhan Sultan and her son Sultan Mehmed IV. Their puritanical preaching also
gained traction among many of the lower classes involved in the rebellion against
the Ottoman government in Istanbul. Ottoman chroniclers offer differing views
concerning the cause of her regicide, assigning blame to various Ottoman court
personalities and political circumstances.
Mustafa Naima (1655–1715), the official court historian, recorded the unprec-
edented and violent death of the senior queen mother in great detail. According
to Naima, after the accession of Sultan Mehmed IV to the throne, competition for
power sharply escalated between Valide Kösem Sultan and Mehmed IV’s mother,
Valide Turhan Sultan. The faction of Turhan Sultan was composed of the for-
mer chief black eunuch Lala Süleyman Agha; the teacher of Sultan Mehmed IV,
Reyhan Agha; and the Kadizadelis. Turhan Sultan’s faction clashed constantly
with that of Kösem Sultan, made up of palace Janissary commanders. Mem-
bers of Turhan Sultan’s faction began fearing for their lives when rumors spread
that Kösem Sultan was planning to replace Sultan Mehmed IV and put his half-
brother Süleyman on the throne with the help of her Janissary allies. Süleyman’s
mother (Dilaşub Sultan) was generally viewed as much more docile and easily
controlled than Turhan Sultan, which fit with Kösem Sultan’s plans.
According to Naima, Kösem Sultan secretly asked the palace guards to leave
the palace gates open so that Janissaries could sneak in and kill Turhan Sultan
in her chambers. Additionally, Valide Kösem Sultan gave two bottles of poisoned
sherbet to Uveys Agha, the head helva (sweets) maker in the palace kitchen, to serve
to Sultan Mehmed IV. She promised Uveys Agha a promotion if he succeeded in
poisoning the sultan. The day before enacting the plan, however, one of Kösem
Sultan’s female slaves, Meleki, revealed the plot to Turhan Sultan, who immediately
informed the sultan of the plot to kill him. Uveys Agha fled before he could be ar-
rested. Sultan Mehmed IV together with fourteen people, including Lala Süleyman
Agha and Reyhan Agha, planned the murder of Valide Kösem Sultan.
The showdown occurred on September 2, 1651. A large group of Turhan Sul-
tan’s armed followers led by Lala Süleyman Agha approached Kösem Sultan’s
apartment. Her apartment was guarded by three hundred armed Janissaries.
When Kösem Sultan’s chief private guard (has odabaşı) refused to let the assas-
sins in, they attacked and cut him to pieces. Lala Süleyman Agha and the armed
men then broke into her apartment, swiftly killing the other guards on their way.
When the senior valide sultan heard the tumult and realized her peril, she tried
to escape by fleeing to the inner rooms of her chambers and then into one of