Letters and Gifts in the Harems of Eighteenth-Century Istanbul

This Element offers an in-depth look at the material and social worlds of eighteenth-century royal women of the Ottoman court.

This Element focuses on the lives of royal women during Sultan Selim III's reign. Mihrişah Valide Sultan, Sineperver Kadınefendi, and the sultan's sisters, are well known for their philanthropic acts, political engagements, and pleasure pastimes. They were important constituents of Selim III's reform initiatives, known as the nizam-ı cedid.This Element examines the political, architectural, and social transformations of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Selim III (1789–1807), foregrounding the central role of imperial women in shaping reform. While Selim's military and administrative initiatives reconfigured Istanbul's urban fabric, his mother, sisters, and female relatives actively advanced these efforts through architectural patronage, diplomacy, and gift exchange. Drawing on archival sources, visual materials, and microhistorical analysis, the Element reconstructs the dynamic networks sustained by these women and their stewards. It challenges assumptions of female invisibility, demonstrating instead their strategic visibility, economic agency, and integral participation in imperial governance and cross-cultural exchange.