Kösem Sultan

Kösem retired in the Old Palace during the reign of her brother-in-law Mustafa I and step-son Osman II.[20]

Due to the emergence of seniority as the principle of succession, which meant that a prince's mother might mark time in the Old Palace between the death of her master and the accession of her son, Kösem was able to maintain her Haseki status and daily stipend of 1,000 aspers during her retirement there;[21] still, after the end of Kösem's tenure as haseki, the position lost its prominence. During her retirement, she met Safiye Sultan.[18]

Initially, Mustafa refused to reign as Sultan, claiming that he was uninterested in state concerns, however, the statesman decided to ignore the matter. Kösem held considerable power during the reign of her brother-in-law. However, he was overthrown on 26 February 1618, just 96 days after ascending to the throne, and was replaced by Şehzade Osman, the son of Ahmed and Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan.[20]

Osman II being strangled to death engraving, c. 17th century.

According to John Freely, Osman's mother, Mahfiruz Hatun, who had now presumably become Valide Sultan, was empowered by the Ulema to act as regent for her son, because of his youth. Mahfiruz Hatun immediately used her powers to have Kösem evicted from the Harem and confined to the Eski Saray.[22] However, many historians believe that Mahfiruz Hatun died before her son’s accession to the throne.[23]

In 1619, Osman paid Kösem a three-day visit at the Old Palace, thus manifesting his special fondness for her. Even if their relation was cultivated, though, it did not yield consequential results for the young sultan, whose most exceptional weakness was the lack of a Valide Sultan to lobby in his favour.[17]

Even though Osman was only a teenager, he felt uneasy with Kösem's involvement in state issues. He did not, however, ignore Kösem, who grew up with her and had always admired her.[20][24]

Osman, ambitious and brave, launched a military war against Poland, which had interfered in Ottoman vassal principalities Moldavia and Walachia. Recognizing that his failure at Chocim in 1621 was partly due to the Janissary corps' lack of discipline and degeneracy, he punished them by lowering their pay and closing their coffee shops.[24] Then he claimed his intention to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, but his true goal was to form a new army in Egypt and Syria to depose the Janissaries. When the Janissaries learned of the plot and were already enraged by Osman's prior tactics. On 18 May 1622, they revolted, ousted Osman on 19 May 1622, and murdered him the next day.[20]

The same day, Sultan Mustafa I was installed to reign for a transitional time so that Murad could manage the Ottoman state's affairs, but Mustafa I was unable to do so. Kösem eventually reached an agreement with the ministers to correct the situation, isolate Mustafa I, and install her son, Murad, as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.[20][24]

17th century oil painting depicting Murad IV in his young age.

Kösem came back in power when her son ascended to the throne on 10 September 1623 as Murad IV. Since her son was a minor, she was appointed not only as a Valide Sultan but also as a formal regent (naib-i-sultanat) during his minority, from her son's ascension on 10 September 1623 until 18 May 1632.[20]

The Ottoman Government sent a letter to the Republic of Venice in 1623 to officially declare Murad IV's accession to the throne. Kösem was addressed as Valide Sultan in the letter, which wrote: "Her Majesty the Sultana Valide […] for the late Sultan Ahmed, whom Allah took with him, was a very important person and he loved her so much that he honored her by marrying her." The letter further indicates that Kösem would rule in her son’s name: “We have great hope and faith in the Valide Sultan, who - among all women enjoying the position - is distinguished by maturity and virtue of character.”[25]

Shortly after Murad's enthronement in 1623, a Venetian ambassadorial message remarked on Kösem's political experience:

"[A]ll power and authority [is with] the mother, a woman completely different from that of Sultan Mustafa, in the prime of life and of lofty mind and spirit, [who] often took part in the government during the reign of her husband.”[26]

Roe, the English envoy, wrote a month before the Venetian despatch, predicting that the new sultan would be "gouemed by his mother, who gouemed his father, a man of spirit and witt."[26]

During most of Murad's early reign, his mother, Kösem, essentially ruled through him and effectively ran the empire, attending meetings of the divan (cabinet) from behind a curtain. It is clear from her correspondence with the Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Ali Pasha that Kösem wanted to rule as a regent by accompanying her son to every event so that she would appear in the audience room of the divan with him also. She made this request to the Vizier, who, in turn, did not allow Kösem to do so, citing traditions and asked her to forget this. Kösem at that time agreed to this and worked from the background. She would meet with foreign ambassadors from other countries to discuss international treaties. She was in charge of appointing political figures and overseeing the state's administration. She also formed friendships with statesmen, judges, and other court figures. The leading pashas wrote their letters directly to her, which also proves that every thread ran together in the hands of Kösem. In essence, she was actually steering instead of her son, not along with her son.[27]

In one letter, the Valide Sultan wrote, “You say that attention must be paid to provisions for the campaign. If it were up to me, it would have been taken care of long ago. There is no shortcoming on either my or my son’s part.” In another, she sends good news: “You wrote about the provisions. If I were able to, I would procure and dispatch them immediately. I am doing everything I can, my son likewise. God willing, it is intended that this Friday ten million aspers will be forwarded to Üsküdar, if all goes well. The rest of the provisions have been loaded onto ships.” Bayram Pasha, the governor of Egypt and Kösem’s son-in-law, wrote directly to the Valide Sultan on a number of issues, and she communicated the contents of the governor’s letters to the Grand Vizier Hafız Ahmed Pasha along with her own comments on these matters. Among the problems discussed cussed were delays in the provision of gunpowder, the troublesome situation in the Yemen, and shortfalls in the province’s revenue (in 1625 Egypt sent only half of its normal revenue because of the ravages of a plague known in Egyptian annals as “the plague of Bayram Pasha”). The extensive cooperation between Grand Vizier Hafız Ahmed Pasha and the Valide Sultan is suggested by Kösem’s frank comment to the former: “You really give me a headache. But I give you an awful headache too. How many times have I asked myself. ‘I wonder if he’s getting sick of me’? ‘But what else can we do?”[28]

Murad's criticism of Kösem's foreign policy was evident during this period of her regency. In 1625, Murad vocally objected his mother’s truce with the Spanish Empire; the treaty was called back on the Sultan’s orders.[29]

Serial marriages of a royal princess occurred frequently in the Ottoman dynasty in the century after Suleiman the Magnificent, allowing the royal family to establish a network of alliances with the most powerful of the pashas. Kösem, in particular, used her daughters to help maintain herself in power for nearly half a century. As she wrote to the Grand Vizier Hafiz Ahmet Pasha in 1626, a few months before he became her daughter Ayşe Sultan‘s third husband: 'Whenever you're ready, let me know and I'll act accordingly. We'll take care of you right away. I have a princess ready. I'll do just as I did when I sent out my Fatma.'[30]

Kösem Sultan's letter to the Grand Vizier Hüsrev Pasha, 1627.

In 1627, the Ottomans lost Aden and Lahej. Kösem expressed her concerns regarding the situation in Yemen and Murad's health in one of her letters to the Grand Vizier Damat Pasha. It also implies that the sultana is frustrated by her lack of direct control over important decisions; she wrote to the Grand Vizier Damat Pasha:

"Letters have come from Egypt—apparently to you too—which describe the situation there. Something absolutely must be done about Yemen—it's the gate to Mecca. You must do whatever you can. You'll talk to my son about this. I tell you, my mind is completely distraught over this [the Yemen situation].... It is going to cause you great difficulty, but you will earn God's mercy through service to the community of Muhammad. How are you getting along with salary payments? Is there much left? With the grace of God, you will take care of that obligation and then take up the Yemen situation. My son leaves in the morning and comes back at night, I never see him. He won't stay out of the cold, he's going to get sick again. I tell you, this grieving over the child is destroying me. Talk to him, when you get a chance. He must take care of himself. What can I do—he won't listen. He's just gotten out of a sickbed and he's walking around in the cold. All this has destroyed my peace of mind. All I wish is for him to stay alive. At least try to do something about Yemen. May God help us with this situation we are in.... You two know what's best."[31]

The next year, Murad was twice ill to the point where his life was in peril, according to a Venetian ambassadorial message from September 1628. Another letter expresses the similar worry that the young sultan be counseled and chastised by the Grand Vizier Hüsrev Pasha, if not by Kösem herself. It also implies that Kösem was getting information about events outside the palace from Murad rather than directly:

“I heard from my son that he had written you and warned you that [your steward] is not a man of good intentions. Is it true that he is giving you a bad name? To a degree it is a pasha's own men who cause his bad reputation. May God give them the reward they deserve. I'm not referring to anything specific. A friend is one who tells a person his faults to his face. I wouldn't wish ill on any of you. May God protect us all from evil. I wish you would listen to me and have them stop practicing the javelin in the Hippodrome. Why can't they go play in Langa? My son loves it, I lose my mind over it. Whoever says it's good for him is lying. Caution him about it, but not right away. What can I do? My words are bitter to him now. Just let him stay alive, he is vital to all of us. I have so many troubles I can't begin to write them all. You must give him as much advice as you can—if he doesn't listen to one thing, he'll listen to another.”[32]

In the following year, Murad moved to break Kösem's damad ties with Admiral Hüseyin Pasha, the spouse of her daughter Fatima. Murad had the marriage dissolved after becoming enraged by his mother's excessive support for the Pasha. Hüseyin Pasha had benefited from the protection of both the powerful chief black eunuch and the Valide Sultan. Murad's move against the otherwise successful admiral may have stemmed from his wish to break free from the influence of his inner palace advisers and exercise authority over the government's most influential officers. Kösem is said to have tried to satisfy her son with a gift of ornately dressed horses and a banquet of ten thousand aspers.[33]

A depiction of an Ottoman noblewoman by John Stafford, c. 1634

In 1632, Kösem's 9-year term of office ended as a result of her son, Murad, removing her from the political scene quickly, after Murad decided not to allow any power to interfere in his administration of the empire, and ordered Kösem to cut off her contacts with his statesmen, and threatened her with exclusion and exile away from the capital if she did not comply; this was probably a response to the May 1632 uprising in Constantinople. Murad was compulsively trying to keep his mother away from politics, and it is clear from his actions that he was disturbed by his mother’s great influence. That is why, as soon as he took power under his own control, Murad sought to replace his mother’s loyal men, so that he could begin his monopoly by withdrawing himself from his mother’s influence. However, Kösem acted as the Valide Sultan, in which she had great power in the court and her own rooms (always adjacent to her son's) and state staff, and administering the harem and dealing with her charitable projects.[34][35][36]

During the early years of Murad’s sultanate, the Empire fell into anarchy; the Safavid Empire invaded Iraq almost immediately, Northern Anatolia erupted in revolts, and in 1632 the Janissaries stormed the palace and killed the Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha, among others. Murad feared suffering the same fate as his elder brother, Osman II, and decided to assert his power. He later tried to quell the corruption that had grown during the reigns of previous sultans, and that had not been checked while his mother was ruling through proxy. His absolute rule started around 1632, when he took the authority and repressed all the tyrants, and he re-established the supremacy of sultan.[36]

Kösem tried to influence her son in every possible way and tried to cushion her son’s aggressive actions with her own charities. Even though Murad didn’t really heed the her suggestions, but his mother, Kösem never gave up; she continued to attend meetings of the divan (cabinet) from behind a curtain and tried to support her some in government and social affairs. Thus, for example, when Murad was away from Constantinople, she thoroughly reported that someone had not followed his orders. Kösem was also in constant contact with officers and officials, and even bribed soldiers and Janissaries in order to further influence Murad's reign. In one instance, Murad asked his mother to head a diplomatic mission with the Crimean Khan.[36]

During Murad's departure on a royal advance through the area near Bursa in 1634, Kösem moved quickly to safeguard him from a threat of sedition. Murad's execution of an Iznik judge for a minor offense sparked such outrage among Constantinople's religious hierarchy that reports began to circulate that the mufti Ahizade Hüseyin Efendi was stirring up sentiment against the sultan and plotting hot overthrow him. When the Valide Sultan learned about the accusations against the mufti, she promptly sent word to Murad to return to the capital as soon as possible. The unfortunate Hüseyin Efendi was strangled before proof of his innocence could reach the irate sultan. This was the first execution of a mufti in the history of the Ottoman state.[37]

Angelo Alessandri, secretary to Venetian envoy Pietro Foscarini, who claimed to have seen Kösem later in life in 1637, characterizes her as follows:

“..this lady, of Greek origin, is now about 45 years old, very beautiful and has delicate features. A person with a good heart, interesting amusements and pleasures, virtuous, wise and reasonable. Majestic, with wide horizons."[38]

The death of Murad IV, engraving by Paul Rycaut, 1694.

Following the capture of Baghdad from the Safavids in 1638, Kösem was a key figure in the celebrations surrounding her son Murad's triumphal return to Constantinople. The Valide Sultan retraced her path after processing out of Constantinople to welcome Murad in İzmit, two days' journey from the city, while the Sultan returned by sea. She rode in a carriage draped with gold fabric, its wheels studded, and spokes fully coated in gold, preceded by viziers and high-ranking religious authorities on gorgeously caparisoned horses. Twelve additional carriages followed the Valide Sultan's carriage, most likely transporting members of the harem.[39]

During Murad’s final chaotic years, Kösem managed to convince Murad from preventing the murder of his sole surviving brother Ibrahim, by arguing that he was ‘too mad to be a threat', but failed to save the lives of her two other sons, Şehzade Süleyman and Şehzade Kasım, heir apparent to the Ottoman throne since 1635.[34]

One of Kösem's two last surviving sons, Ibrahim, lived in terror of being the next of his brothers to be executed by Murad's order. Murad's liver cirrhosis had left him terminally ill. The sultan's dying wish was to have Ibrahim killed in the final days of his reign. Despite the fact that the House of Osman was in complete disarray, Murad informed his statesmen that he did not want a maniac as sultan. His life was only saved by the intercession of his mother Kösem.[1] After Murad's death in 1640, Ibrahim was left the sole surviving prince of the dynasty. Upon being asked by the Grand Vizier Mustafa Pasha to assume the sultanate, Ibrahim suspected Murad was still alive and plotting to trap him. It took the combined persuasion of Kösem and the Grand Vizier Mustafa Pasha to make Ibrahim accept the throne. For instance, Kösem had ordered his brother's corpse to be displayed before him, and she even threatened Ibrahim that he may face ‘strangulation, not inauguration' if he had refused to be crowned the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.[24]

Kösem Sultan assuring Ibrahim I of Murad IV's death by displaying his corpse before him by Paul Rycaut, 1694.

When Ibrahim succeeded his brother in 1640, he proved too mentally unstable to rule. This enabled Kösem to continue in power. He was encouraged by his mother to distract himself with harem girls. The distractions of the harem allowed Kösem to gain power and rule in his name.[1]

As Ibrahim retreated from politics, he turned increasingly to his harem for comfort and pleasure. During his sultanate, the harem achieved new levels of luxury in perfumes, textiles and jewellery. Ibrahim's love of women and furs led him to have a room entirely lined with lynx and sable. Because of his infatuation with furs, the French dubbed him "Le Fou de' Fourrures."

The heifer-like woman described by Cantemir was an Armenian from the Bosphorus village of Arnavutkoy, who is said to have weighed nearly 330 pounds. According to Rycaut, Ibrahim became so infatuated with his new love that he couldn't deny her anything, which led to her downfall because she incurred the wrath of Kösem: ‘By these particulars the Queen Mother becoming jealous, one day inviting her to Dinner, caused her to be Strangled, and persuaded Ibrahim that she died suddenly of a violent Sickness, at which the poor Man was greatly afflicted.'[40]

According to one historian, "Ibrahim allegedly kidnapped a girl, held her as a slave in his harem for many days, and then returned her to her father". Despite his inappropriate behavior, Kösem helped to provide him with virgins and overweight women, for whom he craved. In one instance, when Ibrahim allegedly tried to rape a concubine, the concubine spurned him and threatened to stab him with a dagger if he persisted. Their struggle was overheard by Kösem, who reprimanded Ibrahim and allowed the woman to escape the harem.[24][41][42]

In the early 1640s, Kösem triumphed over a concubine of her recently deceased son Murad in a dispute over the marital fortunes of Kaya Sultan, the concubine's thirteen-year-old daughter and Kösem's granddaughter. Kaya Sultan wanted to marry one of her own political friends, the previous sultan's sword-bearer, but Kösem's nominee, Melek Ahmed, won out.[43]

Portrait of Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan, c. 19th century.

Kösem kept track of the misdeeds of her "aggressive tax collectors," who were responsible for her massive hass income in order to boost their own take. Sarih ül-Menarzade, a historian who disapproved of Kösem's position and fortune, was quoted by Mustafa Naima as saying:

"The valide sultan's stewards... collected incalculable amounts of money. The peasants of the Ottoman domains suffered much violence and disaster on account of the excessive taxes, but because of their fear of the stewards, they were unable to inform the valide sultan or anyone else of their situation."[44]

Kösem did have a less compatible relationship with Grand Vizier Musa Pasha than she had with the previous Grand Viziers of Murad's early reign. Kösem was a clever and experienced politician, now in her second regency and fourth decade of political engagement. The competition between the two was reported by the Venetian ambassador Alvise Contarini:

"In the present government, to the extent that this son's capabilities are less, she is held in greater esteem [than at the end of Murad's reign]. And thus, with her commanding affairs within the palace and the grand vezir [commanding] those outside, it happens quite often that these two rulers come up against each other and in doing so take offense at each other, so that one can say that in appearance they are in accord but secretly each is trying to bring about the downfall of the other."[45]

Cinci Hoca, a minor religious figure with occult powers who was brought into the palace to compensate for the sultan's lack of successors. Cinci Hoca was a spiritualist and fraud who worked his way into the palace under the invitation of Kösem to cure her son, Ibrahim. The sultan rewarded Cinci Hoca with a chief justiceship, the second highest ulema position, as a reward for his achievements. When Kösem lost control of the Sultan, Cinci Hoca’s appointment was just one of numerous examples of the overturning of authority and procedure at court.[46][44] According to Naima:

“[T]he valide sultan would sometimes speak affectionately, giving counsel to the... padishah. But because he paid no attention to her, she became reluctant to talk with him, and for a long while resided in the gardens near Topkapi. During this time the padishah became angry as a result of some rumors and sent the grand vezir Ahmed Pasha to exile the valide sultan to the garden of Iskender (thereby breaking the hearts of all, great and small.”[47]

Ibrahim I, engraved by Arolsen Klebeband, 1641.

After becoming regent, Kösem was required to distribute service pay to the Janissaries in accordance with Ottoman tradition, but there was no money left in the treasury. She had attempted to obtain this money from Cinci Hoca, but Cinci Hoca had not responded positively. She had later explained this situation to the Janissaries as “I want to distribute your service pay but Cinci Hoca does not allow me” and caused the Janissaries to consider Cinci Hoca as an enemy and kill him.[48] Due to a lack of funds in the treasury, Kösem and her allies urged Ibrahim to launch a naval assault on the Venetian-controlled island of Crete. The Ottomans defeated the Venetians in the Cretan War (1645–1669) after years of fighting for control over the island.[49]

In the following years, Kösem attended a conference with leading viziers at the entrance to the harem. The Agha of the Janissaries, who complained to Kösem about Ibrahim's failure to quell the ongoing rebellions in the Balkans region, wrote to Kösem:

"Gracious mistress, the folly and madness of the Padishah have put the world in danger; the infidels have taken forty castles on the frontiers of Bosnia and are blockading the Dardanelles with eighty ships while the Padishah thinks only of pleasure, debauch and selling offices."

Simultaneously, Ibrahim humiliated his sisters Ayşe, Fatma, and Hanzade, as well as his niece Kaya, subordinating them to his concubines, whom he gave their land and jewels. He also forced his sisters and niece to work as maids for his wife Hümaşah Sultan. This infuriated Kösem, who turned against Ibrahim.[42]

Ibrahim's behaviour sparked talks of deposing the sultan. In September 1647, the newly placed Grand Vizier Salih Pasha, Kösem, and the şeyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi plotted to depose the sultan. The şeyhülislam deferred to Kösem in the matter of her son's deposition, aware that she needed to be consulted before any final decision was made. They informed the Valide Sultan that all of the statesmen were in favor of Ibrahim’s deposition and that they were prepared to swear allegiance to Ibrahim's son, Mehmed, the eldest prince. But Kösem hesitated, likely out of maternal instinct. She begged the coconspirators to consider leaving her son in possession of the throne under the guardianship of the şeyhülislam and the Grand Vizier Salih Pasha.[50]

A few days later, Ibrahim was made aware of the attempt to topple him. As a response, the Grand Vizier Salih Pasha was executed and Kösem was exiled from the harem. Initially, Ibrahim planned to have Kösem exiled to the island of Rhodes, but this indignity was resisted by his hasekis, and the sentence commuted to exile in one of the imperial gardens in the capital.[46] Kösem has been accused of encouraging Ibrahim's desire in reproduction by diverting him with cuncubines so that she might take over the country. But, at least initially, her motivation was to ensure the dynasty's survival. Moreover, Kösem, like others, despised Ibrahim's concubines' excessive influence over public matters. During the closing months of Ibrahim's reign, Kösem was thrust back into the position of dynasty protector when the Janissary aghas, who were going to demand the resignation of the unpopular Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha, warned her to take great care to safeguard the princes' safety.[51]

The next year, the Janissaries and members of the ulema revolted. Ibrahim then lost his temper and fled into the arms of his mother, begging her to protect him. Kösem persuaded him to abdicate, whereupon the Janissaries installed Ibrahim's eldest son as Mehmed IV.[52]

The Valide Sultan's resistance had another purpose, it enabled for the practice of important political arguments. "Wasn't every single one of you raised up through the benevolence of the Ottoman dynasty?" Kösem asked the statesmen, emphasizing the need of dynasty allegiance. They replied with a holy law imperative: “a mentally ill person cannot lead the ummah, the community of Muslim believers.” The statesmen used a tactic at one point in the debate: they addressed the Valide Sultan as umm al-mu'minin, "mother of the [Muslim] believers." This honorific title, given to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad by Qur'anic revelation, gave Kösem an identity that allowed her to extend her maternal function as mentor/guardian beyond her son and the dynasty to the empire.[51] Hanifezade, an Ottoman judge, appealed to her not as a mother but as a stateswoman:

“Oh, royal lady, we have come hither, fully relying on your grace, and on your compassionate solicitude for the servants of God. You are not only the mother of the sultan; you are the mother also of all true believers. Put an end to this state of trouble; the sooner the better. The enemy has the upper hand in battle. At home, the traffic in places and ranks has no bounds. The Padishah, absorbed in satisfying his passions, removes himself farther and farther from the path of laws. The call to prayers from the minarets of the Mosque of Aya Sofia is drowned in the noise of fifes, and flutes, and cymbals from the palace. No one can speak counsel without danger to the speaker: you have yourself proved it. The markets are plundered. The innocent are put to death. Favorite slaves govern the world.”[50]

Engraving depicting the execution of Ibrahim I by Paul Rycaut, 1694.

The Valide Sultan made one more effort, and said, "All this is the doing of wicked ministers. They shall be removed; and only good and wise men shall be set in their stead." "What will that avail?" replied Hanifezade, an Ottoman judge, "Has not the Sultan put to death good and gallant men who served him, such as were Mustafa Pasha and Yusuf Pasha, the conqueror of Canea?" "But how," urged Kösem, "is it possible to place a child of seven years upon the throne?" Hanefizade answered: "In the opinion of our wise men of the law, a madman ought not to reign, whatever be his age; but rather let a child, that is gifted with reason, be upon the throne. If the sovereign be a rational being, though an infant, a wise Vizier may restore order to the world; but a grown-up Sultan, who is without sense, ruins all things by murder, by abomination, by corruption, and prodigality." "So be it, then," said Kösem; "I will fetch my grandson, Mehmed, and place the turban on his head." She agreed to surrender when they promised not to murder Ibrahim, but instead imprison him. On 8 August 1648, Ibrahim was dethroned, seized and imprisoned in Topkapı Palace.[1][53] Kösem gave consent to her son's fall, saying "In the end he will leave neither you nor me alive. We will lose control of the government. The whole society is in ruins. Have him removed from the throne immediately."[54][55]

The newly placed Grand Vizier Sofu Mehmed Pasha, petitioned the Sheikh ul-Islam for a fatwā sanctioning Ibrahim's execution. It was granted, with the message "if there are two caliphs, kill one of them." Kösem also gave her consent and two executioners were immediately sent.[56] As the executioners drew closer, it was reported that Ibrahim's last words were: "Is there no one among those who have eaten my bread who will take pity on me and protect me? These cruel men have come to kill me. Mercy! Mercy!"[57] Ibrahim was strangled to death on 18 August 1648.[58]

Eventually, Kösem rushed to the divan and presented her seven-year-old grandson, Mehmed, with the words "Here he is!, see what you can do with him!" Thus, she declared herself regent for the third time. When a group of government authorities insisted that the palace send the Sultan's seven-year-old son to be enthroned in a mosque, Kösem refused and demanded that they instead come to the palace. Her rejection was based on the fact that no sultan had ever been enthroned in a mosque before. Her purpose was undoubtedly in part to compel the situation to occur so that she could have some influence over the outcome.[59][60]

Left: Engraving of Sultan Mehmed IV in his young age (c. mid-17th century.) Right: Engraving of Turhan Sultan as Valide Sultan (c. 19th century.)

As the senior Valide Sultan, Kösem continued to be incredibly powerful. During this particular stage of her regency, she had supreme control over the Ottoman Empire. She also accumulated a massive fortune through tax farming, owning and leasing commercial buildings, and investing extensively in diverse economic activities. She styled herself as Büyük Valide "the Great Valide Sultan" or “the Great grandmother” in 1649.[61]

At the head of the Ottoman Empire stood the child sultan, Mehmed IV. During the beginning of Mehmed IV‘s reign, Kösem would usually sit beside the Sultan, concealed behind a curtain, if the Sultan's presence was needed at the divan. During an imperial audience, a foreign ambassador recorded the child sultan turning to his grandmother and asking: “What answer should I give?” The answer is then conveyed to him.[62] Her candor outweighed her caution; to those who felt uneasy with Mehmed IV’s handling over the sultanate, Kösem would chastise the statesmen in abrasive tones in front of their faces: "Have I made you vizier to spend your time in gardens and vineyards: Devote yourself to the affairs of the empire and let me hear no more of your deportments!"[57]

With Mehmed's ascendancy, the position of Valide Sultan should have gone to his mother Turhan Sultan. However, Turhan Sultan was overlooked due to her youth and inexperience. Instead, Kösem was reinstated to this high position since she was requested by leading statesmen to continue on as regent to the child sultan, her seven-year-old grandson Mehmed IV, instead of retiring and giving her position to the mother of Ibrahim's successor. Turhan, on the other hand, began to exert what she saw to be her rightful authority.[63]

According to Abdülaziz Efendi, then the chief justice of Rumeli and a central figure in the dynastic upheavals of the time, it was considered prudent to appoint the more experienced woman regent in contravention of tradition:

"It being an ancient custom that upon the accession of a new sultan the mother of the previous sultan remove to the Old Palace and thus give up her honored office, the elder valide requested permission to retire to a life of seclusion. But because the loving mother of the [new] sultan was still young and truly ignorant of the state of the world, it was thought that if she were in control of government, there would result the possibility of harm to the welfare of the state. Therefore the elder valide was reappointed for a while longer to the duty of training and guardianship, and it was considered appropriate to re-new the assignment of crown lands to the valide sultan."[64][65]

Mehmed IV attending an Imperial audience by Paul Rycaut, 1694.

However, Kösem's interpretation of her mission does not appear to have been widely accepted. She inherited direct sultanic authority as a politician, undoubtedly one of the most experienced and informed of the ruling elite. It was unavoidable that Kösem would fight with Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha, who appears to have seen himself as both regent and temporary ruler. According to the historian Naima, the Grand Vizier was misled by "certain would-be doctors of religion" who quoted legal texts to the effect that the guardian of a minor sultan was entitled to exercise the prerogatives of sovereignty.

The Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha despised Kösem's absolute authority and control over the government, as Naima noted on the Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha's futile hope that he, rather than the Sultan's grandmother, would act as regent to the young Mehmed IV. He bragged: "the soldiers of this exalted state respect only the honor of inherited nobility."[66]

In any event, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha was unable to resist the power of Kösem and her Janissary allies. During an imperial audience to which all leading statesmen were summoned, the Sultan, with his grandmother seated at his side behind a curtain, dismissed Sofu Mehmed Pasha and appointed the Agha of the Janissaries, Kara Murad Pasha, to the vacant office. Speaking from behind the curtain, Kösem defended her role and silenced her critics in a speech the vehemence of which surprised all present. She cited the former Grand Vizier's shortcomings, including his plans to assassinate her, to which she commented:

"Thanks to God, I have lived through four reigns and I have governed myself for a long while. The world will be neither reformed nor destroyed by my death."[64]

She then chastised Abdülaziz Efendi, ally of the former Grand Vizier, by referring to his rebuke of Mehmed IV:

"When certain imperial commands have been issued, they have said [to the sultan], ‘my dear, who taught you to say these things?' Such patronizing behavior towards sultans is impermissible! And what if the sultan is instructed?"

In Naima's words, Abdülaziz Efendi "drowned in the sea of mortification."[67]

It was Mehmed IV's mother, Turhan Sultan, who proved to be Kösem's nemesis. When she was about 12 years old, Turhan was sent to the Topkapı Palace as a gift from the khan of Crimea to Kösem.[68][69] It was probably Kösem who gave Turhan Sultan to Ibrahim as a concubine. Turhan turned out to be too ambitious a woman to lose such a high position without a fight. In her struggle to become Valide Sultan, Turhan was supported by the chief black eunuch in her household and the incumbent Grand Vizier, while Kösem was supported by the Janissary Corps. Although Kösem's position as Valide Sultan and regent was seen as the best for the government, the people resented the influence of the Janissaries on the government.[2]

In this power struggle, Kösem planned to dethrone Mehmed IV and replace him with another young grandson. According to one historian, this switching had more to do with replacing an ambitious daughter-in-law with one who was more easily controlled. According to Mustafa Naima, Kösem 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, Kösem gave two bottles of poisoned sherbet to Uveys Agha, the head helva (sweets) maker in the palace kitchen, to serve to the young 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's slaves, Meleki Hatun, betrayed her and revealed the plot to Turhan Sultan, and the plan failed.[2][20]

When news of Kösem's death became public on September 3 1651, the people of Constantinople spontaneously observed three days of mourning.[75] Beginning the following day, Constantinople's mosques and markets were closed for three days. The assassination of Kösem sparked a political uproar and a wave of retaliation. The first phase was the assassination of Kösem's Janissary supporters and the demise of the faction they led, which had ruled the country during Kösem's three-year regency over Mehmed. In the second phase, public outrage over the purge prompted Turhan's new royal administration to dismiss the Grand Vizier Abaza Pasha who had carried out the executions. By this time, a huge crowd had gathered by the gates of Topkapi Palace, the Sultan summoned his statesmen and the palace functionaries to the audience. Fired up, the crowd blamed the Janissaries for Kösem's murder and swore to avenge it.[78]

Around this particular period of time, Kaya Sultan, Murad IV's daughter and Kösem's paternal granddaughter, condemned Abaza Siyavuş Pasha's apparent role in Kösem's assassination:

“You tyrant Siyavuş! You murdered my grandmother, your lord Murad's mother. Aren't you and my kinsmen? […] By the soul of my grandfather [Sultan Ahmed I] I will curse you, and you will get no pleasure from this seal."[79]

More famously, Ayşe Sultan, Kösem's daughter, is believed to have apprehended those suspected of murdering her mother, which consisted of both eunuchs and concubines, most notably Meleki Hatun, and turned them over to the Janissaries, where they were executed. It was said that she witnessed the execution of her mother's alleged murderers.[80]

Execution of Kösem Sultan portrayed in Histoire de l'état présent de l'Empire Ottoman, 1670.

Evliya Çelebi, a famous Ottoman traveler, writer, and admirer of Kösem Sultan, described the regicide:

“The mother of the world, wife of Sultan Ahmed (I); mother of Osman (II), Orhan, Bayezid, Murad (IV), and Ibrahim; the grand Kösem Valide—was strangled by the Chief Black Eunuch Div Süleyman Agha. He did it by twisting her braids around her neck. So that gracious benefactress was martyred. When the Istanbul populace heard of this they closed the mosques and the bazaars for three days and nights. There was a huge commotion. Several hundred people were put to death, secretly and publicly, and Istanbul was in a tumult."[81]

It was reported that twenty boxes loaded with gold coins were discovered in the Büyük Valide Han that Kösem had built. The valide sultans' cash fortune could be transformed into profit: for example, in 1664, the profit on cash investments accounted for nearly two-thirds of the revenue of the endowment established for Safiye Sultan's Karamanlu mosque. In addition to directly endowing funds, the valide sultans are likely to have utilized their funds to acquire the above-mentioned urban assets. The valide sultan's riches and business transactions were so broad that her many agents might become very wealthy and enjoy popular esteem. When recording in his history the death of Kösem's steward, Koja Behram, Naima commented:

“The afore-mentioned Behram Kethiida enjoyed great prestige and distinction and wealth. As the manager of all the affairs of the valide sultan and the pious institutions she had established, and as an extremely trustworthy man, he acquired a great deal of wealth and property. But his children and his grandchildren did not maintain the high stature he had enjoyed, and his wealth and property were squandered.”[44]