How Kösem Sultan Ruled the Ottoman Empire

In 1623, an eleven-year-old boy became sultan of a broken empire. One sultan had been murdered, the treasury was empty, the army was angry, and Baghdad was about to fall. The person who held it all together was his mother: Kösem Sultan. You asked for it: not how Kösem fell, but how she ruled. In this episode, we open her nine years as regent of the Ottoman Empire: the palace gold melted down to pay the soldiers, the letters she sent from behind the curtain, the loss of Baghdad, the rebel Abaza Mehmed Pasha, Cossack raids on the Bosphorus, the daughters she married to powerful pashas, and the revolt of 1632 that ended it all. And find out why her greatest success was also the reason she lost her power. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 A broken empire 0:52 The return 2:11 The first test 3:04 Behind the curtain 4:22 The lost city 4:58 Fire on every side 5:47 The daughters 6:38 The boy grows up 7:07 The day it ended 7:54 How well did she rule? 9:13 Your turn 📚 Sources include the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam (Mücteba İlgürel), Leslie Peirce's The Imperial Harem, and Baki Tezcan's research on Kösem Sultan's political career. 🔔 Every week, we tell the story of another woman who ruled the Ottoman Empire. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. #KosemSultan #OttomanHistory #WomenWhoRuled