Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire

[Olga]

Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire

Roxelana, Roxolana, Roxelane, Rossa, Ruziac, known also by her Turkish name of Hürrem (or Khourrem or Karima), meaning "the cheerful one", (c. 1510 - April 18, 1558)  was the Ukrainian ("Ruthenian" in the terminology of the day) and only legal wife of the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. Sixteenth century sources are silent as to her maiden name, but much later Ukrainian and Polish traditions, especially Ukrainian folk traditions first recorded in the nineteenth century, give it as Anastasia (diminutive: Nastia); in polish tradition: Aleksandra Lisovska.

[Olga]

Early life

Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire

According to late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century sources like the famous Polish poet, Samuel Twardowski, who actually did research on the subject in Turkey, Hürrem was born to a father who was a Ukrainian, or Ruthenian, Orthodox priest, in the town of Rohatyn which is located 68 km, south east 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 (Kefe in Turkish, Caffa in Italian), a major centre of the slave trade, then to Istanbul, and was selected for Süleyman's Harem. She quickly came to the attention of her master, and attracted the jealously of her rivals. One day Süleyman's former 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 sent Mahidevran away from Istanbul 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 Hurrem, the Sultan ordered Mustafa to be strangled.

[Olga]

Marriage

Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire

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 advisor on other 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 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.

[Olga]

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, 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 embroidery done under her supervision, has survived, examples being given in 1547 to the Shah of Iran and in 1549 to King Sigismund Augustus.

Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire

[Olga]

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.

Hürrem, or Roxelana, as she is 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

Ukrainian movie "Roxelana"

Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire

The novel "Roxelana" by Poulo Zagrebelny

Ukrainian woman with power at the Ottoman Empire