Empress of the East
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Others made critical contributions to the writing of the book. Joanne Omang read the first draft of every chapter, making valuable suggestions, and also answered endless questions. Eric Bogosian generously read parts of the manuscript and gave me tips on how to make the narrative more compelling. Kerim Peirce gently reminded me not to get overly academic. NYU students asked challenging questions about the Ottomans that gave me fresh perspectives on why they are interesting and what needs to be explained about them.
For repeated conversations over the years that yielded insights and encouragement, I owe special thanks to Refia Akgök, Günhan Börekçi, Lale Can, Karen Kupperman, Alan Mikhail, Aslı Niyazioğlu, Lynda Ozgur, Amy Singer, Joshua White, and Sara Wolper. My colleagues at NYU have been unstinting in their support. Larry Wolff shared his knowledge on many occasions and has also been Roxelana’s keenest fan, while Karl Appuhn patiently helped with translations from Italian. I am also grateful to Sibel Erol, Linda Gordon, Molly Nolan, and Everett Rowson. A special thanks goes to Guy Burak for his enthusiastic support and bibliographic expertise.
Evdoxios Doxiadis and Joshua White provided welcome forums for discussing the challenges of writing about an individual whose life is not well documented. Robert Dankoff’s expertise was invaluable in unlocking the meaning of passages in Roxelana’s letters to Suleyman. Others kindly answered queries, debated issues with me, or suggested sources I was not aware of, among them Rıfat Bali, Deniz Beyazit, Erdem Çıpa, Natalie Zemon Davis, Lerna Ekmekçioğlu, Caroline Finkel, John Freely, Didem Havlioğlu, Christine Isom-Verhaaren, Sait Özervarlı, Ünver Rüstem, Baki Tezcan, Hülya Tezcan, Başak Tuğ, Jane Tylus, and Fariba Zarinebaf. Dariusz Kołodziejczyk, Almut Bues, and Mateusz Falkowski acquainted me with an aspect of Roxelana’s career and reputation I was hitherto unaware of. Many others have helped me along the way, and I am sorry not to have named them all.
I am grateful to the numerous individuals who facilitated my research in Istanbul. Fuat Recep, Director of the Reading Room of the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives, pointed me to valuable registers of Suleyman’s princely household. At the Topkapı Palace Museum Archive, Sevgi Ağca Diker suggested relevant documents and miniature paintings, and generously shared her knowledge of the palace and its history. I also thank Zeynep Atbaş and Merve Çakır for their assistance. Muhittin Eren has kindly advised me over the years on sources, old and new publications, and scholarly trends. Mahir Polat, specialist at the General Directorate of Foundations, generously gave his time to guiding me around Roxelana’s foundation in the Avrat Pazar district, then undergoing renovation; without this tour, I fear Chapter 10 of the book would be rather lifeless.
The writing of the book overlapped with the worldwide popularity of the Turkish television series Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), which dramatized Suleyman’s reign and featured Hurrem (Roxelana) as one of its key figures. Time and again I have been asked what I thought of the show; my answer is that I learned from it, although its goals and my goals were quite different. The royal children, for example, were key players in the television drama, inspiring me to give them a greater presence in the book than I might otherwise have. In addition, the show and my book shared a concern with the fortunes of captives drafted into the service of the Ottoman dynasty. Thanks to Arzu Öztürkmen and Nermin Eroğlu, I was able to visit the set during a filming session and to converse with directors and some of the actors about their characters.
To Joanne Omang, Lynda Ozgur, Nancy Öztürk, Linda Robinson, and the late Jude Ülgen, old friends who share a love of Turkey and its history, I am enormously grateful for their encouragement, willingness to traipse around old monuments, and toleration of my frequent complaints about the rigors of writing. Finally, there is a reason that acknowledgments such as these often end with family—for one thing, they keep pulling you away from the computer. The writing of Roxelana’s story has developed along with Samson, almost three, who has learned to love books instead of chewing on them. His mother Amy, also a book lover, has been an attentive and intelligent supporter of this project, while my son Kerim has been not only my most reliable sounding-board for sorting out knotty problems of interpretation but also this book’s biggest booster. Thank you!
LESLIE PEIRCE has been interested in Turkish and Ottoman history ever since she joined the Peace Corps in Turkey. She has taught at Cornell University; the University of California, Berkeley; and New York University. The award-winning author of two previous books, Peirce lives in New York City.
More advance praise for Empress of the East
“Leslie Peirce, one of the world’s foremost historians of the Ottoman empire, has created a brilliant, absorbing, and profoundly insightful account of one of the most enigmatically interesting figures of the sixteenth century: Roxelana, the captive slave who ultimately reigned alongside Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Peirce is rightly celebrated for her expertise on the fascinating subject of the Ottoman harem, and there is no one better qualified to help us understand how Roxelana emerged from the sultan’s harem to become one of the most powerful political figures of her times. This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in understanding the deep history of Turkey, the Ottoman empire, and the Muslim Middle East.”
—Larry Wolff, author of The Singing Turk
“From harem girl to Ottoman queen—Roxelana is one of the most fascinating women of the sixteenth century. Leslie Peirce brings Roxelana to life as wife, mother, and sultana, and gives us a vivid picture of her Muslim world. A gripping and well-told tale!”
—Natalie Zemon Davis, author of Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds
Who’s Who and What’s What
BRIEF IDENTIFICATIONS AND GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
The Ottoman Dynastic Family
Abdullah: Fourth child of Roxelana and Suleyman, born c. 1525, died as a small child
Bayezid: Fifth child of Roxelana and Suleyman, born c. 1526–1527
Cihangir: Sixth child of Roxelana and Suleyman, born c. 1530; suffered a physical disability
Daye Hatun: Title for the governess of a prince or princess, as well as for the female head of the harem administration
Gulfem: Harem woman of high standing, exact role undetermined: possibly former concubine of Suleyman, possibly Daye Hatun
Hafsa: Concubine of Selim I, mother of Suleyman
Hurrem: Ottoman name of Roxelana
Mahidevran: Concubine of Suleyman, mother of Mustafa
Mehmed: First child of Roxelana and Suleyman, born 1521
Mihrumah: Second child and only daughter of Roxelana and Suleyman, born 1522; married to Rustem (see “Government”)
Mustafa: Only child of Mahidevran and Suleyman, born 1515
Roxelana: Concubine then wife and queen of Suleyman, mother of six children
Selim I: Ninth sultan, father of Suleyman, born 1470; remembered as a great conqueror
Selim: Third child of Roxelana and Suleyman, born 1524
Shah: Sister of Suleyman, wife of Lutfi (see “Government”); also called Shah Sultan
Suleyman: Tenth sultan of the Ottoman empire, born 1494; became sultan in 1520
Government
Divan: Imperial Council. The sultan’s council of advisers (viziers, treasurer, chancellor, military judges, and others); met in the Divan Hall in the New Palace’s second courtyard
Ferhad: Governor, executed in 1524 for unlawful conduct; married to Suleyman’s sister Beyhan
grand vizier: Highest-ranking vizier
Gritti: Alvise Gritti. Adviser to Ibrahim and Suleyman; son of Andrea Gritti (doge of Venice 1523–1538)
Hayreddin: Hayreddin Barbarossa. Corsair turned Ottoman admiral, founder of the Ottoman imperial navy
Ibrahim: Suleyman’s male favorite, grand vizier 1523–1536; from Parga (Epirus) on the Adriatic Sea
lala: Title for statesman appointed as tutor to an Ottoman prince in government service
Lutfi: Governor, grand vizier 1539–1541; mar
ried to Suleyman’s sister Shah, then divorced; of Albanian origin
Ottoman: European name for the dynasty, derived from Osman, name of the first ruler
Pasha: Title for most prominent statesmen and military leaders; placed after name (e.g., Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha)
Rustem: Governor, grand vizier 1544–1553, 1553–1561; married to Mihrumah; probably of Croatian origin
Sinan: Mimar (architect) Sinan. Chief royal architect, builder of the Avrat Pazar foundation and the Suleymaniye; of central Anatolian origin
Sokollu: Sokollu Mehmed. Governor, grand vizier 1565–1579; married to a granddaughter of Roxelana and Suleyman; of Serbian origin
sultan: Title connoting possessor of sovereign authority; used also for Ottoman princes and high-ranking dynastic women (e.g., Sultan Mehmed, Hafsa Sultan)
vizier: Title for ministers of the sultan; they numbered three or four under Suleyman
Religion
chief mufti: From the sixteenth century, highest-ranking member of the body of Muslim clerics (muftis, judges, jurisprudents, notable religious scholars, and madrasa professors)
dervish: Synonym of “sufi” in Ottoman lands of the period; also connoted poor, humble, itinerant, and/or ascetic
Ebu Suud: Celebrated jurist and scholar, chief mufti 1545–1574
hostel: Accommodation for travelers and pilgrims, sometimes a resident community
Merkez: Merkez Efendi. Sufi preacher; patrons included Hafsa, Suleyman, Shah Sultan, and Roxelana
mufti: Religiously learned Muslim who provides answers to queries on points of Islamic law
Rumi: Jalal al-Din Rumi, d. 1237. Great Persian mystic who settled in central Anatolia; his tomb in Konya remains a popular pilgrimage destination
sufi lodge: Common term for a hostel for itinerant sufis or one where a sufi community might meet or reside; sometimes accompanied by a mosque where the resident sufi master preached
sufi: Muslim mystic, seeker of closeness to God; often a follower of a holy man or spiritual leader
the two Noble Sanctuaries: Term for Mecca and Medina, today in Saudi Arabia; Mecca is the principal destination of the annual pilgrimage (hajj) taking place in the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar
Sultans Before Selim I and Suleyman
Bayezid I: R. 1389–1402. Known as “thunderbolt” for rapid expansion of borders; taken prisoner by Timur (Tamerlane) and died in captivity, initiating civil war among his sons
Bayezid II: R. 1481–1512. More a state builder and consolidator than conqueror; fostered greater prominence of royal concubine mothers; overthrown and possibly poisoned by his son Selim I
Ertuğrul: Father of Osman, subject of legends of migration into Anatolia
Mehmed I: R. 1413–1421. Victor in civil war, 1402–1412; reunified the Ottoman state
Mehmed II: R. 1444–1446, 1451–1482. “The conqueror” of Constantinople; began its Ottomanization; expanded empire into Black Sea, western Balkans, Serbia, and central Anatolia; expanded roles of slave-convert servants of the state
Murad I: R. 1362–1389. Led expansion into southeastern Europe and Anatolia; martyred at Battle of Kosovo
Murad II: R. 1421–1444, 1446–1451. Fought constantly against Christian lords in the Balkans and Muslim rulers in Anatolia; abdicated, then was recalled to face European crusade; made Adrianople second capital
Orhan: R. 1324–1362. Made Bursa the capital; expanded Ottoman principality into Byzantine lands
Osman: R. 1299(?)–1324. Local Turkish warlord; counted as first Ottoman ruler
Foreign Political Actors
Safavid Iran
Alqas Migrza: Renegade brother of Tahmasp, received in Istanbul in 1547
Ismail: First Safavid shah, r. 1501–1524; converted Iran to shi`ism; lost major battles to Selim I in 1514
Tahmasp: Son of Ismail, r. 1524–1576; lost war to Suleyman in 1535; subsequent wars ended in a draw in 1548 and 1555
Western Europe
Charles V: Heir to multiple royal legacies (Spain, Holy Roman Empire, House of Hapsburg), d. 1556; enemy of Suleyman
Ferdinand I: Brother of Charles, Archduke of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor following Charles, d. 1564; enemy of Suleyman
Francis I: King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547; ally of Suleyman
Republic of Venice: Relatively good relations with Suleyman; represented in Istanbul by numerous ambassadors and special envoys
Central and Eastern Europe
Bona Sforza: Wife of Sigismund I of Poland-Lithuania; Ottoman partisan, contacted by Roxelana
Giray Tatars: Rulers over Crimea and northern Black Sea region; allies of the Ottomans
Isabella: Daughter of Sigismund I and Bona; regent mother of Transylvania, supported by Roxelana and Suleyman
Sigismund Augustus: Son and successor of Sigismund I; corresponded with Roxelana
Sigismund I the Old: King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, d. 1548; kept peace with Suleyman
Pronunciation Guide
Every letter in Turkish words and names is pronounced. For example, Sultaniye (the imperial), the name of Hafsa’s foundation, is pronounced “sul-tan-i-ye” (with vowels enunciated according to the guide below). Syllables tend to have equal stress; for example, the three syllables of Istanbul have equal stress in Turkish pronunciation, as opposed to “Is-TAN-bul” or “IS-tan-bul.” Longer words, such as the four-syllable name of Mustafa’s mother, Mahidevran, may have a slight stress on the final syllable.
a: a as in star
c: g as in George
ç: ch as in church
e: e as in bet
ğ: unvocalized, lengthens preceding vowel (exception to “every letter pronounced” rule)
i: ee as in see
ı: io as in motion
o: o as in okay
ö: French eu, as in deux
ş: sh as in ship
ü: French u, as in tu
u: oo as in boo
List of Illustrations and Credits
Map of the Ottoman empire: Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press (p. xix, map, “The Ottoman Empire and Its Vassals” from Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire by Leslie Peirce, 1993).
The young Roxelana: Courtesy of the Amram Family Collection, Istanbul.
Vavassore’s map of Istanbul: Courtesy of Harvard University, Houghton Library, 51-2570.
First courtyard of the New Palace: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, H. 1523, fol. 15b.
Headband and handkerchief belonging to Roxelana: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul, 31/1473, 1477.
Venetian ambassadorial residence: From Franz Taeschner, Alt Stambuler Hof-und Volksleben: Ein Türkisches Miniaturen Album aus dem 17. Jahrhundert, Hanover: Orient-Buchhandlung H. Lafaire, 1925. Taeschner Album, No. 48.
Talismanic shirt: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul, 31/1477.
Circumcision festival, 1530: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, H. 1524, 103b–104a.
Sultana, eunuch, and lady-in-waiting: Ms. possibly in the collection of Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I/ VI (d. 1612), All Souls College, Codrington Library, Ms. 314, nos. 29-30-31. Courtesy of The Warden and Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford.
Second courtyard of the New Palace: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, H. 1523, 18b–19a.
New Palace kitchen: From Franz Taeschner, Alt Stambuler Hof-und Volksleben: Ein Türkisches Miniaturen Album aus dem 17. Jahrhundert, Hanover: Orient-Buchhandlung H. Lafaire, 1925. Taeschner Album, No. 12.
Suleyman wearing the four-tiered crown: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 42.41.1.
The women’s market: Museo Civico Correr, MS Cicogna 1971, “Le Memorie turkische.” Photo credit: bpk Bildagentur / Art Resource, NY.
The Haseki foundation at Avrat Pazar: From Gülru Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire, Prin
ceton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. By permission of Gülru Necipoğlu.
Tughra of Suleyman: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 38.149.1.
Suleyman and Mehmed conversing: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, A. 3592, f. 79a.
Portrait of Mihrumah: Photo credit: HIP / Art Resource, NY.
“Dance of the Mevlevi dervishes”: From Franz Taeschner, Alt Stambuler Hof-und Volksleben: Ein Türkisches Miniaturen Album aus dem 17. Jahrhundert, Hanover: Orient-Buchhandlung H. Lafaire, 1925. Taeschner Album, No. 29.
Suleyman mourns the death of Mehmed: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, H. 1524, 171a.
Portraits of Suleyman and Roxelana, late sixteenth century: From Jean Jacques Boissard, Vitae et icones sultanorum Turcicorum, principum Persarum…, Franckf. ad Moem, 1596. Courtesy of Rare Book Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Tile depicting the Ka`aba in Mecca: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2012.337.
Suleyman receiving Mustafa: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul.
Letter from Roxelana to Suleyman, 1553: By permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Archive, Istanbul, E 5038/2.
Engraving of Suleyman and the Suleymaniye: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 59.570.35.
View of the queen mother’s apartments: Photo by B. Diane Mott.
Turhan Sultan’s mosque: From G. J. Grelot, Relation nouvelle d’un voyage de Constantinople, Paris 1689. Courtesy of Rare Book Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Abdullah, Meaning Abdullah YusufAli, trans. and com. The Meaning of the Holy Qur`an. Brentwood, MD: Amana Corporation, 1989.