Meleki Hatun ( ota, ملکی خاتون; "''Angel''" died February 27, 1656) was a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom ...

Kösem Sultan Kösem Sultan ( ota, كوسم سلطان, translit=;, 1589Baysun, M. Cavid, s.v. "Kösem Walide or Kösem Sultan" in ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'' vol. V (1986), Brill, p. 272 " – 2 September 1651), also known as Mahpeyker SultanDouglas Arth ...

, her son Sultan Ibrahim, and later to Turhan Hatice Sultan, Haseki of Ibrahim and mother of

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV ( ota, محمد رابع, Meḥmed-i rābi; tr, IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter ( tr, Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the ...

Life

Meleki Hatun had originally been a ( cariye or

odalisque An odalisque (, tr, odalık) was a chambermaid or a female attendant in a Turkish seraglio, particularly the court ladies in the household of the Ottoman sultan. In western usage, the term came to mean the harem concubine, and refers to th ...

) member of Kösem Sultan's staff. She became a lady-in-waiting () to Sultan Ibrahim after he ascended the throne in 1640. In early 1648, the treasury of Egypt was lavished on Ibrahims favourite wives and women, which also included Meleki. In the same year Ibrahim was deposed, and replaced by his six-year-old son, Prince Mehmed as

. Instead of retiring to the Old Palace, Kösem was asked by the leading statesmen of the state to act as

Valide Sultan #REDIRECT Valide sultan {{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from miscapitalization{{R unprintworthy ...

to her grandson, the new Sultan, and Meleki remained with her. However, Mehmed's mother

Turhan Sultan Turhan Hatice Sultan ( ota, تورخان سلطان, "''nobility of the Khan''" or ''mercy of the Khan'' " and "''respecful lady''"; 1627 – 4 August 1683) was the first Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim (reign 1640–48) and V ...

turned out to be ambitious. Kösem planned to replace Mehmed by another grandson,

Süleyman Suleyman or Süleyman is a variant of Suleiman (the Arabic name ). It means "man of peace". Notable people with the name include: Suleyman * Suleyman I of Rûm or Suleiman ibn Qutulmish (d. 1086), founder of an independent Seljuq Turkish state i ...

, whose

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ge ...

could easily be controlled. However, her plan was exploited by Meleki Hatun. Kösem was killed in a palace coup in 1651 led by Turhan's chief black eunuch. Meleki became a favourite retainer of the new Valide Sultan because of her loyalty to her. She married Şaban Halife, a former page in the palace training school. The couple set up a residence in the imperial capital, Istanbul. They suited to act as channel for information and intercessors on behalf of individuals with petitions for the palace. Meleki received female petitioners, and her husband received male petitioners. Meleki exploited her relationship with Turhan Sultan, while Şaban exploited contacts he had formed while serving within the palace. Meleki was accused of having a forbidden relationship with one of Turhan's step sons and with Turhan herself.

Death

The political influence of the couple grew so much that they lost their lives in 1656, when the troops stationed at Istanbul rebelled against alleged abuses in government.

In popular culture

*In the 2010 film ''Mahpeyker: Kösem Sultan'' Meleki Hatun is portrayed by a Turkish actress Bulut Köpük. *In the 2015 TV series '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem'', Meleki Hatun is portrayed by Turkish actress

Ahsen Eroğlu Ahsen Eroğlu (born 27 October 1994) is a Turkish actress. Life and career Eroğlu was born on 27 October 1994 in Çorlu. Her family is of Turkish descent who immigrated from Bulgaria. She finished her education at Ege University School of Phy ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meleki Hatun 1656 deaths 17th-century women from the Ottoman Empire Ladies-in-waiting of the Ottoman Empire 17th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 1598 births Slaves from the Ottoman Empire House slaves