Roxelana
 |
Roxelana |
Roxelana,
Roxolana,
Roxelane,
Rossa,
Ruziac, known also by her
Turkish name of
Khourrem (or
Hürrem or
Karima), meaning "the cheerful one", (circa
1500 -
April 18,
1558) was the wife of
sultan Süleyman the Magnificent of the
Ottoman Empire. Sixteenth century sources are silent as to her maiden name, but later Ukrainian and Polish traditions give it as Aleksandra or Anastasia (diminutive: Nastia) Lisovska.
Probably Khourrem was born to a father who was an Ukrainian, or
Ruthenian,
Orthodox priest, in the town of
Rohatyn which is located 68 km, south east of
Lviv, the capital city of
Galicia which was then part of Poland. She was captured by
Crimean Tatars during one of their frequent raids into Ukraine 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, and then to
Istanbul and in the
1520s, about the time that he became sultan, was selected for Süleyman's
Harem.
In the Harem, she gradually worked her way up to become Süleyman's favourite
concubine, gaining the name "Hasseki." In
1534 she used her influence to have Süleyman's firstborn son, together with his mother, sent away to be a provincial governor, and several years later apparently persuaded Süleyman to have him strangled - see
Süleyman the Magnificent for details.
Khourrem was to bear Süleyman five children and, in an astonishing break with tradition, eventually became his wife, leading to one of her sons,
Selim, inheriting the
empire. Khourrem also may have acted as Süleyman's advisor 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 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.
Aside from her political concerns, Khourrem engaged in several major works of public building, from
Mecca to
Jerusalem, perhaps modeling her charitable foundations in part after the caliph
Harun al-Rashid's wife 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. 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.
Khourrem died on
April 18 1558. She is buried in a domed mausoleum decorated in exquisite Iznik tiles depicting the garden of paradise, perhaps in homage to her smiling and joyful nature. Her mausoleum is adjacent to Suleyman's, a separate and more somber domed structure, at the
Süleymaniye Mosque.
Khourem, or Roxelana, as she is better known in Europe, is well-known both in modern Turkey and in the West, being the subject of paintings, musical works including a symphony by
Haydn and an opera by Sichynsky, a ballet, plays, and novels, especially in Ukrainian, but also in English, French, and German.
* Thomas M. Prymak, "Roxolana: Wife of Suleiman the Magnificent,"
Nashe zhyttia/Our Life, LII, 10 (New York, 1995), 15-20. A nicely illustrated popular-style article in English with a bibliography.
* Zygmunt Abrahamowicz, "Roksolana,"
Polski Slownik Biograficzny, vo. XXXI (Wroclaw-etc., 1988-89), 543-5. A well-informed article in Polish by a distinguished Polish Turkologist.
* Galina Yermolenko, "Roxolana: The Greatest Empresse of the East,"
The Muslim World, 95, 2 (2005), 231-48. Also available on-line to subscribers. Makes good use of European, especially Italian, sources and is familiar with the literature in Ukrainian and Polish.
* For historical novels in English about Roxelana, see Aileen Crawley (1981-83), and Louis Gardel (2003). For Ukrainian language novels, see Osyp Nazaruk (1930), Mykola Lazorsky (1965), and
Pavlo Zahrebelnyi (1980). (All reprinted recently.) In French, there is a fictionalized biography by Willy Sperco (1972), and in German, a novel by Johannes Tralow (1944; reprinted many times).
External links
*
Roxelana
