The Sultanate of Women (Turkish: Kadınlar Saltanatı) was the near 130-year period during the 16th and 17th centuries when the women of the Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire exerted extraordinary political influence. Many of the Sultans during this time were minors and it was their mothers, leaders of the Harem, who effectively ruled the Empire. Many Sultanate women were born Christian and are among the most famous European and Greek Muslims. The main cause of frequent marriages with women of foreign backgrounds was rather for preserving the fidelity of non-Muslim provinces and preventing discrimination of minorities in the late Ottoman period. Importance of this policy was better understood by the split of 39 provinces after the collapse of Ottoman Empire, which were not considered solely Turkish communities.[1]
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- ^ Published by Cafrande Kültür Sanat ve Hayat. Mar 13th, 2008 at 23:53 and is filed under * General Culture.
[edit] Literature
- İlhan Akşit. The Mystery of the Ottoman Harem. Akşit Kültür Turizm Yayınları. ISBN 975-7039-26-8
- Leslie P. Peirce. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press (1993). ISBN 978-0195086775
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