Safiye Sultan Net Worth

Background and career

Safiye Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: صفیه سلطان; c. 1550 – January/April 1619) was the favourite concubine of Ottoman sultan Murad III, and the mother of Mehmed III. She was one of the eminent figures during the era known as the Sultanate of Women. She lived in the Ottoman Empire as a courtier during the reigns of seven sultans: Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, Murad III, Mehmed III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I and Osman II.

After the death of Selim II in 1574, Murad took the throne as the new sultan in Constantinople. Safiye was by his side and moved with him to Topkapi Palace; less than a year into his reign she received the title of haseki sultan and was given a higher rank than the sultan's own sisters. Nurbanu Sultan, Murad's mother, was unhappy with Safiye's influence on her son, and wanted to replace her with other concubines from the harem. Safiye even led a faction in the court between 1577 and 1580 in opposition to her mother-in-law and her faction, with the support of Murad's cousins Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan and Hümaşah Sultan. The struggle of the two women to gain control over the sultan's life, his decisions and the government increased in 1579, as the death of the powerful grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha along with the sultan self-isolating himself, opened the door to the exercise of power for anyone who was close to the sultan. The conflict between Safiye and Nurbanu reached a crisis point in 1580, and Murad sent Safiye in exile to the Old Palace. She lived there for some years before Nurbanu's death, but Murad brought her back sometime after his mother's death in December 1583.

Without Nurbanu, she became the most powerful woman in the harem. Moreover, she was not contented with her position, and began to intervene in politics, ultimately becoming one of the most powerful figures of Murad's reign, and directing her network on a larger scale to once again influence state affairs. She strengthened her position in the court when she became the valide sultan upon the ascension of her son Mehmed III in 1595, after Murad's death. As valide sultan, her personal purse was three times that of the sultan, the highest level of salary for a person in the empire. During his reign, Mehmed consulted her on important matters and did not make decisions without consent.

Safiye Sultan did not only interfere in internal affairs but also in foreign affairs of the empire. It is known that she corresponded with foreign kings and queens (the most known of them being Elizabeth I of England) and established diplomatic relations with them. Like her mother-in-law Nurbanu, she supported a pro-Venetian policy.

In the last years of her son's reign, her meddling in state affairs caused three destructive rebellions and made her immensely disliked by the soldiers and the people. However, until the end of her son's reign, no one could break her dominance over the government. Upon the death of Mehmed III in 1603, she was sent to the Old Palace on 9 January 1604 by her grandson and new sultan Ahmed I, and lived there in retirement without political influence or returning to the court until her death. She died in 1619 and was laid to rest in the tomb of Murad III in Hagia Sophia.