9 Women Who Became Prominent Figures in the Ottoman Empire

Modern-day Turkey has a long history and was ruled by the Ottoman Empire known as Osmanli Devleti in the local language. The Ottoman Empire is also the longest-running empire in history. It was established in 1299 AD by Osman Ghazi, son of Ertugrul Ghazi, who is considered as the founder of the empire. The throne then passed on and on, but it was only men who had power. You can watch shows like “Dirilis: Ertugrul” and “Kurulus: Osman” on Netflix if you want to learn about them.

The entire map of the empire changed when the reign of Sultan Suleiman, also known as Suleiman the Magnificent, started. Credited for extending the empire, he is also regarded as one of the best Sultan of the empire, and his legacy still continues.

Changes started to happen in his era, when for the first time in Ottoman history, he married Hurrem Sultan and was the first ever Sultan to legally marry someone. During those days, Christian girls used to be kidnapped from parts of Europe like Greece, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, etc, and used to be kept in the harem of the Ottoman palace.

The concubine who gives birth to a son or prince, known as Shehzada, is given the highest rank of a woman after the Valide Sultan (Queen Mother). But to get that position, she had to convert herself into Islam and change her name. The first Valide Sultan was Ayse Hafsa Sultan, who was the mother of Sultan Suleiman.

After the arrival of Hurrem, the Sultanate of Women started and the Empire gained more power during this era. The era started in 1533 and ended in 1656.

Today, we are going to read about the women who became Sultanas and changed the face of the Ottoman Empire. Let us start the list:

1. Hurrem Sultan:

Born in Ruthenia, modern-day Ukraine, Rolexana was a woman of beauty and grace. Although her original name has been disputed between Rolexana, Alexandra, and Anastasia. During the Crimean-Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe, Rolexana was captured by the Ottoman army and was presented in the harem of Sultan Suleiman. At the time, Ayse Hafsa Sultan was the Valide Sultan. She converted to Islam from Orthodox Christianity and changed her name to Hurrem.

Slowly, Hurrem started to rise in power from the concubine position to the official wife of Sultan Suleiman, hence becoming Hurrem Sultan. She gave birth to six children: Sehzade Mehmed, Mihrimah Sultan, Sehzade Abdullah, Selim II, Sehzade Bayezid, and Sehzade Cihangir. However, she lost all her sons one by one except Selim II, who became Sultan after the death of Sultan Suleiman, but Hurren Sultan couldn’t be the Valide Sultan as she died before his coronation.

Hurrem Sultan is regarded as the founder of the Sultanate of Women as she gained some political powers too and was involved in state affairs. Suleiman loved her so dearly that he even composed a poem for her.

2.               Mahidevran Sultan:

Mahidevran was the first concubine of Sultan Suleiman, and bore him his first son, Sehzade Mustafa. Mahidevran and Suleiman loved each other very dearly and she also had a good relationship with Valide Sultan, but after Hurrem arrived, things started to get difficult for her.

Due to the grace of Hurrem, Suleiman started to get attracted to her more than Mahidevran, and at a point, it was also said that she beat Hurrem very badly and damaged her beautiful face. After all this, she was sent to Manisa, a city in Turkey, along with Sehzade Mustafa.

Mahidevran Sultan really tried hard to make Mustafa the new Sultan but failed every time as Hurrem emerged more clever than her. It is also said that she was the one to kill Sehzade Mehmed by giving him smallpox, but then Hurrem played her games and Sehzade Mustafa was executed by his own father, Sultan Suleiman.

As she lost her only son, she lived in poverty in Bursa but was helped by Selim II. She outlived both Hurrem and Suleiman and died at the age of 80-81.

3.               Mihrimah Sultan:

The only daughter of Suleiman and Hurrem was Mihrimah Sultan. Being the only princess in the palace, she was favored a lot and had a lot of power as a Sultana too. She is regarded as the most powerful imperial princess the Ottoman Empire has ever seen.

Growing up in the footsteps of her mother, Mihrimah was sharp-minded like Hurrem from a very young age. She was married to Rustem Pasha, who also served as a Grand Vizier for her father.

Mihrimah Sultan also gained political power and went with her father on a lot of journeys. It is also assumed that she teamed up with Hurrem and made Suleiman kill her half-brother Sehzade Mustafa, but no direct evidence has been found.

The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Istanbul was built by her, and she was also like a Valide Sultan to her brother Selim II when he was on the throne.

4.               Nurbanu Sultan:

Born as Cecelia and having a Venetian heritage, she was very beautiful and smart from a very young age and belonged to a well-reputed family. Like Hurrem, she was also kidnapped by the Ottomans and was brought to the palace as a concubine for Selim II. Looking at Hurrem Sultan and how she turned herself from a slave to the most powerful woman in the empire, Cecelia was highly inspired by her.

Later, she converted to Islam, changed her name to Nurbanu, and gave birth to Selim II’s daughter Sah Sultan, and then Ismihan Sultan. Nurbanu only gave birth to one son, Murad III, who went on to become the next Sultan after the death of Selim II.

Nurbanu became the first slave girl to become the Valide Sultan and enjoyed absolute power during her reign. She also directed her son in different political affairs and was allocated 2,000 coins daily. Like Hurrem, she was also the one to legally get married to a Sultan.

5.               Safiye Sultan:

Assumed to be of Albanian origin, Safiye was brought to the palace by Mihrimah Sultan for her nephew and son of Nurbanu, Murad III. She gained a lot of power during her period and even gave birth to many children. When her husband, Murad III died, her son Mehmed III was crowned the new Sultan, thus making her a Valide Sultan.

Like Hurrem, Safiye Sultan was able to gather her own loyal support system and has gone to extreme lengths to get the power. It is also assumed that she hid one of her sons, known as Sehzade Yahya or Iskander so that he didn't get executed by Mehmed III.

Safiye is also known to have a very strong alliance with Elizabeth Tudor, the Queen of England, and has conspired to kill her grandson, Sultan Ahmed I. The story also says that she tried to use her other grandson, Sehzade Mustafa, to become the most powerful woman in the empire.

However, all her plans didn’t work out due to Kosem Sultan, and she was locked up for her crimes. She died during the reign of her great-grandson, Osman II. She is also the only Sultana to live in the Ottoman palace during the reign of seven different sultans: Sultan Suleiman, Sultan Selim II, Sultan Murad III, Sultan Mehmed III, Sultan Ahmed I, Sultan Mustafa I and Sultan Osman II.\

6.               Handan Sultan:

Handan Sultan was the chief consort of Sultan Mehmed III and the Valide Sultan of Ahmed I. She is believed to be of Bosnian origin, and when Mehmed III ascended the throne, she came to Istanbul with him.

Handan got a lot of power as she was the Valide Sultan for Ahmed I, but was constantly in a clash with Safiye Sultan and Halima Sultan. She also acted as a co-regent and gained some political power, and is also credited with making Dervish Mehmed Agha, a loyal pasha to Sultan Ahmed I.

Apart from all that, she was also a very charitable person but died due to a long-term illness.

7.               Halima Sultan:

Halima was also a consort of Mehmed III and the mother of Mustafa I. Due to the practice of fratricide in Ottoman culture, her elder son Sehzade Mahmud was executed by his father, which affected Ahmed I a lot, because of which he promised that he would never kill Mustafa I.

However this decision led to a lot of controversies as it broke the Ottoman traditions, but still Halima feared that Mustafa might be executed. This made her play a lot of games to put Mustafa on the throne and rule as the Valide Sultan.

When Ahmed I was on his tour, Mustafa was made the Sultan for a very short period, and Halima became the Valide Sultan. But after Ahmed arrived back, she lost all her titles.

After the death of Ahmed I, his son Osman II was made the new Sultan, but Halima gathered the support of the Janissaries' army, dethroned Osman from the throne, and killed him. Hence, Mustafa I became the new Sultan, and Halima became the Valide Sultan for the second time.

However, the decision was opposed by Ahmed I’s wife, Kosem Sultan, and soon Mustafa was dethroned. It is said that Kosem killed Halima, but it has not been confirmed.

8.               Kosem Sultan:

Born as Anastasia on an island in Greece, she was brought to the Ottoman harem at a very young age as a concubine to Ahmed I. She soon started to get a lot of attention from the Sultan but then lost her title after another concubine, Mahfiruze gave birth to Ahmed I’s first son, Osman II. Mahfiruze died shortly after, and she took care of Osman II like her own son and also gave birth to five sons: Sehzade Mehmed, Murav IV, Sehzade Kasim, Sehzade Suleyman, and Ibrahim. She also has 4 daughters: Gevherhan Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Ayse Sultan, and Hanzade Sultan. She also abolished the system of killing brothers.

After Anastasia, she was named Mahpeyker and finally was named Kosem Sultan by Ahmed I. She had a very good relationship with Ahmed I until he died, and she had to clash with Safiye Sultan and Halima Sultan to protect her children. She ruled as Valide Sultan for the first time when Osman II sat on the throne, but was killed by the Janissaries army. Osman II also killed his brother Sehzade Mehmed, which was forbidden.

After the death of Osman II, Mustafa I sat on the throne, but when Halima ordered all of Kosem’s sons to be killed, she protected her children, dethroned Mustafa I, and made Murad IV the new Sultan.

During the reign of Murad IV, Kosem couldn’t use much of her power as Valide Sultan, as he was not in favor of that. Like Osman II, Murad IV also conspired to kill Sehzade Kasim and Sehzade Ibrahim, to secure his throne. He killed Kasim, but at the right time, Ibrahim was saved by Kosem Sultan.

Shortly after Murad IV died, Ibrahim I became the new Sultan, hence making Kosem Valide Sultan for the third time. This was the first time when a woman was crowned Valide Sultan three times. But Ibrahim soon grew mad and she couldn’t control him much. With the help of Ibrahim’s wife and her daughter-in-law, Turhan Sultan, she dethroned Ibrahim and placed her grandson on the throne.

It is said that Kosem was betrayed by Turhan Sultan, and in her order, she was murdered. But Kosem is still regarded as the most powerful woman in the Ottoman Empire to date.

9.               Turhan Sultan:

Turhan was brought to the palace from Ukraine as a concubine to Sultan Ibrahim I. She gave birth to only two children: Mehmed IV and Fatma Sultan. Like Kosem, she also had power as the mother of the prince and teamed up with Kosem to dethrone her husband Ibrahim and make Mehmed IV the new Sultan. Hence, they succeeded, but Kosem was soon murdered after that.

Turhan ruled as a Valide Sultan to Mehmed IV and gained a lot of power. She was also a part of conferences as Mehmed IV was too young at that time.

Her influence in the empire grew stronger day by day and her regency also marred the war with the Venetians.

Turhan Sultan died in 1683 and was considered the last greatest woman in Ottoman history. Hence, her death ended the 133-year-old Sultanate of Women.

During this period, the Ottoman Empire flourished a lot, and a lot of improvements took place. All of these women are still remembered today and if you wanna know more about them, there are also different books, shows, and movies about them.

The book, Empress of the East, is about Hurrem Sultan. There is a Turkish drama called “Muhtesem Yuzyil” (translated as The Magnificent Century), that tells the story of Hurrem Sultan and Sultan Suleiman. Also, there is the storyline for Mahidevran Sultan, Mihrimah Sultan, and Nurbanu Sultan. The show has 4 seasons and 139 episodes. Actresses Meryem Uzerli and Vahide Percin play the character of Hurrem Sultan, while Nur Fettahoglu plays Mahidevran Sultan, Pelin Karahan plays Mihrimah Sultan and Merve Bolugur plays Nurbanu Sultan in the show.

Another show is the spin-off series of Muhtesem Yuzyil and is called “Muhtesem Yuzyil: Kosem” (translated as The Magnificent Century: Kosem). This show highlights the life of Kosem Sultan. Also, the show shows the storyline of Safiye Sultan, Handan Sultan, Halima Sultan, and Turhan Sultan, but not much of Turhan is shown in the show as it mostly focuses only on Kosem Sultan. The character of Kosem Sultan is played by three actresses: Anastasia Tsilimpiou, Beren Saat, and Nurgul Yesilcay. Other Sultanas like Safiye Sultan are played by Hulya Avsar, Handan Sultan is played by Tulin Ozen, Halima Sultan is played by Aslihan Gurbuz and Turhan Sultan is played by Hande Doğandemir. The show has two seasons and 60 episodes.

It was really a magnificent century for the Ottoman Empire when all these women made a mark for themselves.

Do let us know what you think about the Sultanate of Women and which Sultana you think was the most powerful one?

5 Times Urvashi Rautela was targeted by the Meme Community

Urvashi Rautela is an Indian actress, model, and beauty pageant winner, and has appeared in a lot of Bollywood movies like Singh Saab The Great, Sanam Re, Great Grand Masti, Hate Story 4, etc.

 Although most of her movies have done average or failed at the box office, she remains one of the most followed Indian actresses with over 40 Million followers on Instagram. Rautela was also crowned Miss Diva Universe 2015 and she represented India at the Miss Universe 2015.

 However, some of her bizarre moments on social media have made her the target of a lot of meme communities, where she has received backlash for posting silly and stupid content. Today, we are going to look at five times when Urvashi Rautela was targeted by the meme community. Let us start the list:

5. Urvashi Rautela’s Instagram Bio:

There is no doubt that Rautela is a gorgeous woman, but people have given their remarks against her saying that she has over-exaggerated her achievements in her Instagram bio.

Her bio says, “Youngest Most Beautiful Woman in the Universe | Only Actor to win max no. of beauty titles in entire history ever | Miss Universe | IITian | Singer | Investor |” 

The title of Youngest Most Beautiful Woman in the Universe was given to her by the government and tourism of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Also, she won Miss Diva Universe in 2015, which was an internal beauty pageant in India, and she did represent India in Miss Universe 2015, but she didn’t win the contest. In fact, she was not even placed in the top 15 that year, and the contest was won by Filipino beauty Pia Wurtzbach. So, technically she is wrong to call her Miss Universe. Talking about her singing, she has appeared in a lot of music videos, but no one knows her as a singer.

 All these things have led her to become a meme material for a lot of meme pages.

4. Urvashi Rautela’s education:

Rautela calls herself an IITian, which means she graduated from the Indian Institution of Technology. However, many people claim that she was not a part of IIT, and that too with proof.

Quora user Atul Anurag writes, “Urvashi Rautela is from my hometown, the place is Kotdwara in Uttarakhand. In school, she was one year senior to me. She completed her Senior Secondary Education in 2011 from DAV Public School, Kotdwara. From her childhood days, she was fond of acting and modeling. Her mother Meera Rautela owns a beauty parlor in the town. In the initial days, she used to shoot for the advertisement of their parlor shop. After a year, she left the town so as to pursue her dreams. Then of course she got admission at Gargi college, and the rest is history. So, as per I know she never went for an IIT exam. So, she is not an alumni of any of the IIT’s.”

 Also, she shared news regarding two students in India who were not satisfied with their scores. The headline of that news article reads, “Two Students In India Retake Exams As They Were Not Satisfied With Their 99.99% & 99.97% Scores”. According to the picture that Rautela shared on her Instagram, this news was published on March 31, 2021. However, we don’t claim the news to be 100% authentic. Under the post, Urvashi writes, “I’M ONE OF THEM 📖📚 WANTED 100% IN MY 12TH BOARD EXAMS AS A HEAD GIRL HOWEVER GOT ONLY 97% + 😥 PATA NAHI KAHAN TEACHER NE MARKS CUT KARDIYE 😞 TAG SOMEONE WHO CAN RELATE WITH ME & UNDERSTAND MY FEELINGS 😭.”

 Translation: “I’M ONE OF THEM 📖📚 WANTED 100% IN MY 12TH BOARD EXAMS AS A HEAD GIRL HOWEVER GOT ONLY 97% + 😥 I DON’T KNOW WHERE DID THE TEACHER CUT MY MARKS😞 TAG SOMEONE WHO CAN RELATE WITH ME & UNDERSTAND MY FEELINGS 😭.”

 

3. Urvashi Rautela’s Instagram live with Logan Paul:

Rautela also went live on Instagram with American YouTuber and social media star Logan Paul during the COVID-19 lockdown. Although the live session was just for fun, Urvashi said something that made a lot of people, even Logan himself confused.

 Between the live session, Paul asked Rautela, “So what do you do for fun?”

To which, she replied saying, “Watching your Vines, watching your music videos, watching your movies…”

Paul interrupted and asked her, “Did you say you watch my Vines?”

 This left Logan confused as the Vine app was discontinued back in 2017, and no one makes Vines right now. Logan asked, “But my vines, from 5 years ago?”

To which Rautela replied, “The old ones.”

 This clearly tells us that she has no idea about the Vine app and when it was launched and discontinued. Her awkward laugh and pause also state that she was clearly lying about her watching Logan’s vines and movies. If she had researched a little about this issue, this conversation wouldn’t have been this cringe.

2. Urvashi Rautela’s rapid-fire round in an interview:

Back in 2017, Rautela gave an interview for Bollywood Hungama. In the interview, the host Faridoon Shahryar asked her, “One habit you think you need to change?”

To this question, Rautela took a lot of time to answer as it was supposed to be rapid fire. She answered saying, “I do have a lot of flaws which I want to change…” but after some time she said, “There’s nothing. I am just like so goody-goody girl like I follow my regimen, I follow my exercise, I follow every single thing so particularly” and then she ends up asking the host back to tell any of her flaws.

In another question, Shahryar asks, “If you were stranded on an island and you had to take three things with you, what would you like to take?”

For this question, she answered cellphone, water, and knife, but later changed her answer from knife to money. This must be one of the stupidest answers ever. Why would you need money on a stranded island!!!

Also, in one of the questions, the host asks, “If you could describe your ideal date, what would be your ideal date?”

For this question, Urvashi answers Zayn Malik, while the host is trying to ask what kind of date she would consider to be an ideal and not the person. This is literally one of the dumbest answers ever.

1.     Urvashi and her UAE’s Golden Visa:

On 30th September 2021, Urvashi shared a picture of her holding the Golden Visa of UAE on her Instagram account. Under the post, she wrote, “FIRST INDIAN FEMALE ACTRESS & YOUNGEST INDIAN TO RECEIVE 10 YEARS UAE’S GOLDEN VISA WITHIN 12 HOURS. AN ABSOLUTE HONOUR I FEEL SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS AMAZING RECOGNITION FOR ME & MY FAMILY WITH GOLDEN RESIDENCY. MY BEST WISHES & REGARDS TO THE BELOVED UAE GOVERNMENT, ITS RULES & PEOPLE. VIGOROUS & KIND HEARTED LEADERSHIP”.

 However, this is not true. Shivani Paliwal is the youngest Indian person to receive UAE’s golden visa at the age of 19. Also, talking about actresses, Boney Kapoor, Jahnvi Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, etc have received this golden visa. So technically, Jahnvi Kapoor is the first actress to receive this golden visa.

 In the post, Shivani Paliwal commented saying that she is the youngest one, and also called out Urvashi on her social media. But her comment was deleted and since then Urvashi has been trolled a lot because of the false information she is putting out in public.

 Hence, these were the five times Urvashi Rautela was targeted by the meme community. Do you think whatever Urvashi has said or done deserves to be trolled? Do let us know your opinion regarding this.

Impact of Fashion Industry Standards on Body Image and Self-Esteem

Fashion, being one of the biggest industries in the world, holds the power to make people perceive a lot of things. In this growing industry, one of the most overlooked concepts is its beauty standards and how it has affected a lot of people around the world. These bodily limitations have not only made many people insecure regarding their physique but also impacted their mindset.

In the field of fashion, the human body is generally categorized into five types: rectangle, hourglass, triangle, inverted triangle, and circle. Among these types, the hourglass is considered to be the best type of body, where the bust and hips are of almost the same size and the waist is comparatively very much narrower than them. Due to this pressure of having the best type of body, a lot of well-known celebrities have undergone surgeries to get it. The most notable examples are Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, who have got millions of followers on their social media platforms. However, for runway modeling, rectangle body types are highly preferred.

The limitations not only end in terms of body type but there are also criteria on height. The female models should be a minimum of 5’ 7” or 5' 8” while men are required to have a minimum height of 5’ 11” or 6”. Besides this, the models are also required to have clear skin with no acne or pimples, perfectly placed teeth, well-shaped ripped bodies, and good voluminous hair. So we can clearly see how the body limitation has been created in the fashion industry.

Such limitations have created a hurdle for a lot of people who want to get into this profession or just want to feel good about themselves. Since the models are highly featured in advertisements, people can get a very easy look at their bodies and faces, and this creates an impression that only such people are beautiful and others are not. This leads to body dysmorphia and eating disorders among the common folks, which may lead to hampering health issues.

To get that perfect model body, the models go through a lot, even up to the extent of suffering themselves. Statistics about eating disorders show that more than 40% of models engage in disordered eating, which may be higher according to the experts. Other statistics show that about 39% of models have taken IV drips to offset malnourishment from eating disorders and 25% of models have reportedly used self-induced vomiting behaviors. One of the most infamous headlining examples of this is the supermodel Gigi Hadid, whose eating has been excessively controlled by her mother, Yolanda Hadid, from a very young age. Gigi was not allowed to eat her own birthday cake and when she felt weak from hunger, she was advised to eat a few almonds by Yolanda. Later, when she was invited to a talk show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she was given a burger to eat by the host Jimmy Fallon, which was applauded by the audience.

Even the common people have been a victim of these industry standards and many of us want to look like the models we see. This has caused people, especially youngsters to hate their bodies. One common thing that we usually see in these models is that they are tall, slim, and fair, which have been a beauty standard for everyone. Even today, many women reject men because of their height, and many men reject women because of their weight. Darker-skinned people are still taunted with names, which has further ignited the spark. 

Reports have shown that many youngsters are facing the issue of low self-esteem due to their bodily features. In men, the insecurities are generally about being less muscular, height, acne, hair thinning, hairline, weight, and facial hair, whereas in women, the concerns are mostly about weight, facial hair, complexion, height, acne, and shape of the nose. Also, gay and bisexual men tend to be more vulnerable to body image than straight men. Due to these issues, people tend to avoid social gatherings and feel discomfort even in their day-to-day lives.

We see that even the big fashion brands usually hire standardized models for their shows and campaigns, while beauty pageants have given a further push to these notions. They have criteria for height, weight, body measurements, skin marks, etc. These beauty pageants don't let people be comfortable in their own skin and project the idea of the fashion industry on them. For example, in the selection round of Miss Nepal 2019, the judge Rachana Gurung Sharma, called out a contestant, Ashmita Maharjan, for not wearing makeup even though Maharjan was comfortable with her natural skin. Sharma even went out to call it “disrespect” and asked her why she wore spectacles instead of contact lenses. Another judge, Ishani Shrestha, asked Maharjan to show her teeth. This incident was widely called out on social media and news platforms.

On a positive note, we can see that the fashion industry is getting more inclusive and diverse, however, the pace is very slow and it is going to take a lot of time to completely eradicate these standards. Efforts are being made by some people in power. For example, Rihanna has included models with different body shapes and skin complexions, and even differently-abled people for her brand, Fenty Beauty. Another brand TomboyX has also created collections featuring diverse groups of people from different body types, sexualities, ethnicities, etc.

Different models in the industry have crossed the border of beauty standards. For instance: Winnie Harlow is a supermodel with a skin condition called vitiligo, while Ashley Graham is the first plus-size model. Donyale Luna was the first black model who started her career during the late 1960s. RJ Mitte, an American actor, with cerebral palsy, walked on the ramp for Vivienne Westwood in 2015. Viktoria Modesta, Paola Antonini, Lauren Wasser, and Jack Eyers, to name a few, are the models with prosthetic legs. From these examples, we can say that the industry is steadily but surely developing.

If the pace of inclusivity and diversity is increased then I'm pretty sure that the change is going to happen much sooner than expected. We see that the smaller fashion brands have started to break the chain and it is important for the big fashion houses to do the same. There shouldn’t be criteria for physical features that cannot be changed and the people holding the position in these companies should be aware of how their small decisions can affect the masses.

Another potential strategy is to portray different types of human characters in movies and TV shows, and they should be treated as normal people. Media has the power to change the mindset of people and this will definitely help. Some popular examples of inclusivity and diversity in TV and movies are Walter Jr. with cerebral palsy in Breaking Bad, the plus-size portrayal of Kat Hernandez in Euphoria, Black Mermaid in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, etc.

Hence, we can conclude that the fashion industry body standards have not only affected the people in the industry but also on people outside the industry, and it has taken some serious turns in the present day. Also, the change is happening and we hope that the change happens sooner.