Rabia Sultan


Rabia Sultan was the main consort of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed II and the last Haseki sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1692 to 1695. She was the last woman to held the title and position of Haseki sultan before it was abolished by Sultan Mustafa II.

As Haseki Sultan

Her origin is unknown, but the consorts of the Ottoman sultans were by custom normally concubines of Christian origin, who came to the Ottoman Imperial harem via the Ottoman slave trade, and converted to Islam and given a slave name after their arrival.
Since Muazzez Sultan, the mother of Sultan Ahmed, had died in 1687 before his accession to the throne in 1691, when Rabia became Ahmed's favorite she assumed the position of the highest-ranking female member of the royal family, with the title of "Senior Consort".
On 6 October 1692, she gave birth to twin sons, Şehzade Ibrahim and Şehzade Selim, in the Edirne Palace. Following their birth, Ahmed presented her the mansion of Bayburtlu Kara Ibrahim Pasha located in Kuzguncuk. Şehzade Selim died in May 1693.
On 11 November 1692, she was given the title of "Haseki Sultan". Rabia was the last woman in history to have this title and position: after Ahmed II's death, the main consorts of subsequent sultans were titled Kadın, a nonexclusive and less prestigious title. Kara Mustafa Pasha, who had been executed in 1683, had left a large amount of assets that had been placed in the imperial treasury. In December 1692, diamond froggings from these assets ended up on Rabia's fur coat. She also received a diamond crown from the same assets.
In January 1694, Rabia attended the wedding of Ümmügülsüm Sultan, daughter of Mehmed IV, and Silahdar Çerkes Osman Pasha. On 23 October 1694, she gave birth to her third child and only daughter, Asiye Sultan. Following her birth, Ahmed granted her lands in Aleppo.
Rabia is believed to have been very wealthy, as evidenced by an archive document from Topkapı Palace dated 28 November 1694, which records that Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Ibrahim I, and thus Ahmed's sister or half-sister, had large debts, most of which were to Rabia Sultan. In a document dated 1 December 1694, it is recorded that some of those debts were covered by the transfer of some of Gevherhan Sultan's properties and income to Asiye Sultan, Ahmed and Rabia's infant daughter Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Ibrahim, and Rabia's sister-in-law, is understood to have been in great debt, according to Topkapı Palace archives dating 28 November 1694, a substantial amount of which was owed to Rabia.
Some of the debts mentioned were covered by the allocation of Gevherhan's grants from her hass, that is revenue-producing estates to Asiye Sultan, the infant daughter of Ahmed and Rabia, as shown in archives dating 1 December 1694.

Widowhood, later life and death

Rabia was widowed following Ahmed's death in February 1695. On 7 March, her son Şehzade Ibrahim, was put in the care of Valide Sultan Gülnuş, whereas she and her daughter Asiye were sent to the Old Palace in Istanbul, where Asiye died in December 1695.
Rabia Sultan died on 14 January 1712 in the Old Palace, and was buried beside Ahmed II in the mausoleum of Suleiman the Magnificent, Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul.
Her son, Şehzade Ibrahim, who became heir apparent in 1703, after Sultan Ahmed III's accession to the throne, outlived her by two years, dying in 1714.

Issue

Together with Ahmed, Rabia had three children, two twins sons and a daughter:
  • Şehzade Ibrahim, twin of Selim, became Crown Prince on 22 August 1703;
  • Şehzade Selim, twin of Ibrahim;
  • Asiye Sultan ;

    Primary sources

Category:17th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans
Category:1712 deaths
Category:18th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans
Category:17th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire
Category:Concubines of Ottoman sultans
Category:Royal favourites
Category:Haseki Sultan