valide sultan

Valide Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: والده سلطان, lit. "Sultana Mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans first formally used the title in the 16th century for Hafsa Sultan (died 1534), mother of Sultan Suleyman I (r. 1520–1566), superseding the previous epithets of valide hatun ("lady mother"), mehd-i ulya ("cradle of the great"). Normally, the living mother of a ruling sultan held this title; mothers who died before their sons' accession to the throne never received it. In special cases, there were grandmothers, stepmothers, adoptive mothers and sisters of the ruling sultans who, although not officially holding the title, assumed the role of valide sultan, like Mihrimah Sultan the most powerful and influential Ottoman princess, and Rahim...