Everything about Roxelana totally explained
Roxelana (c.
1510 -
April 18,
1558) was the only legal wife of
Süleyman the Magnificent of the
Ottoman Empire.
Names
Sixteenth-century sources are silent as to her
maiden name, but much later traditions, for example
Ukrainian folk traditions first recorded in the nineteenth century, give it as "Anastasia" (
diminutive: "Nastia"), and
Polish traditions give it as "Aleksandra Lisowska". She was known mainly as Huerrem Sultan or Huerrem "balsaq" Sultan; in European languages as Roxolena,
transliterated as Roxolana, Roxelane, Rossa, Ruziac; in
Turkish as Hürrem (from -
Khurram, "the cheerful one"); and in
Arabic as
Karima ("the noble one"). "Roxelana" might be not a proper name but a nickname, referring to her Ukrainian heritage; "Roxolany" or "Roxelany" was one of the names of East Slavs, inhabitants of the present
Ukraine, up to the fifteenth century. Thus her name would literally mean "the Ruthenian one" or "the Ukrainian one".
Early life
According to late-sixteenth-century and early-seventeenth-century sources, such as the Polish poet
Samuel Twardowski, who researched the subject in Turkey, Hürrem was born to a father who was a
Ukrainian ("Ruthenian" in the terminology of the day)
Orthodox priest. She was born in the town of
Rohatyn, 68 km southeast of
Lviv, a major city of
Galicia which was then part of the
Kingdom of Poland, today in western
Ukraine. She was captured by
Crimean Tatars during one of their frequent raids into this region and taken as a slave, probably first to the
Crimean city of
Kaffa, a major centre of the
slave trade, then to
Istanbul, and was selected for Süleyman's
harem.
Life with the sultan
She quickly came to the attention of her master, and attracted the jealousy of her rivals. One day Süleyman's favorite, the concubine
Mahidevran (also called "Gul Bahar", the Flower of Spring), got into a fight with Hürrem and beat her badly. Upset by this, Süleyman banished Mahidevran to the provincial capital of
Manisa, together with her son, the
heir apparent, Prince Mustafa. Thereafter, Hürrem became Süleyman's unrivalled favorite or
haseki. Many years later, probably at the instigation of Hürrem, the Sultan ordered Mustafa to be strangled.
Hürrem's influence over the Sultan soon became legendary; she was to bear Süleyman five children and, in an astonishing break with tradition, eventually
was freed and became his legal wife. This strengthened her position in the palace and eventually led to one of her sons,
Selim, inheriting the empire. Hürrem also may have acted as Süleyman's adviser on matters of state, and seems to have had an influence upon
foreign affairs and
international politics. Two of her letters to the
Polish King Sigismund II Augustus have been preserved, and during her lifetime, the Ottoman Empire generally had peaceful relations with the Polish state. Some historians also believe that she may have intervened with her husband to control Crimean Tatar slave-raiding in her native land.
Charities
Aside from her political concerns, Hürrem engaged in several major works of public buildings, from
Mecca to
Jerusalem, perhaps modeling her charitable foundations in part after the caliph
Harun al-Rashid's consort
Zubaida. Among her first foundations were a mosque, two koranic schools (
madrassa), a fountain, and a women's hospital near the women's slave market (
Avret Pazary) in Istanbul. She also commissioned a bath, the
Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı, to serve the community of worshipers in the nearby
Hagia Sophia. As well, some of her
embroidery, or at least that done under her supervision, has survived, examples being given in 1547 to
Tahmasp I, the
Shah of Iran, and in 1549 to
King Sigismund Augustus of Poland.
Death
Hürrem died on
April 18 1558. She is buried in a domed mausoleum (
türbe) decorated in exquisite
Iznik tiles depicting the garden of paradise, perhaps in homage to her smiling and joyful nature. Her mausoleum is adjacent to Süleyman's, a separate and more somber domed structure, at the
Süleymaniye Mosque.
Legacy
Hürrem, or Roxelana, as she's better known in Europe, is well-known both in modern Turkey and in the West, and is the subject of many artistic works. She has inspired paintings, musical works (including
Joseph Haydn's
Symphony No. 63), an opera by
Denys Sichynsky, a ballet, plays, and several novels written mainly in Ukrainian, but also in English, French, and German.
In
2007,
Muslims in Mariupol,
Ukraine, opened a mosque to honor Roxelana.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Roxelana'.
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