Ikbal (title)

Ikbal (Ottoman Turkish: اقبال) was the title given to the imperial consort of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who came below the rank of kadın.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The word ikbal (اقبال) is an Arabic word, which means good fortune,^[6] or lucky.^[7] Historians have translated it either 'fortunate one' or 'favorite'.^[8][9]

An ikbal was a titled consort, and recognised as such by the sultan.^[10] The number of ikbals varied. They were ranked as baş ikbal ('senior ikbal, senior favourite, senior fortunate one'), ikinci ikbal ('second ikbal, second favourite, second fortunate one'), üçüncü ikbal ('third ikbal, third favourite, third fortunate one'), dördüncü ikbal ('fourth ikbal, fourth favourite, fourth fortunate one'), and so on,^[9][8][4] according to the order in which they had caught the sultan's eye,^[2] and elevated to that position.^[11]

The ikbals usually held the prefix titles of iffetlü^[12] ('honest, virtuous'),^[13] and ismetlü^[12] ('the virtuous'),^[14] and the suffix titles of hanım,^[12][15] hatun,^[16][17] and kadın.^[18][19]

The rank first appeared toward the end of the seventeenth century,^[4] during the reign of Sultan Mustafa II (reigned 1695 — 1703).^[20] Two eighteenth century sultans Mahmud I (reigned 1730 — 1754), and Mustafa III (reigned 1757 — 1773), also had ikbals.^[8]

However, in the eighteenth century, the ikbals held the title kalfa which means 'assistant master, mistress'.^[21][5] This suggests that at that time they were eligible for both kinds of high level harem career.^[5] They also appeared in the list of cariyes, which did not include the sultan's kadıns, or the ketkhüda kadın, or daye hatun, emphasizes their identity as part of the household rather than family in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century the term kalfa appears to have been used exclusively for members of the household staff.^[22]

In the eighteenth century, the ikbals had personal servants,^[23] and were paid 250 kuruş every three months.^[24]

This tradition of taking ikbals continued until the nineteenth century.^[4] The ikbals were chosen from among the gediklis.^[25] Each ikbal had her "night turn" (nöbet gecesi).^[2] Their stipend^[26] was 20,000 kuruş.^[27] They had personal servants.^[4] As clothing reflected a woman's positions in the harem hierarchy, the ikbals wore rich fabrics and in winter they wore stuffed dresses,^[28] which was indicative of their high status.^[4]

Each ikbal resided in her own apartment,^[29] or sometimes isolated kiosks.^[30] In the nineteenth century, they had two rooms on the second floor of the palace, one facing the Bosphorus Strait and serving as a saloon, and the other facing the palace gardens and serving as a bedroom.^[31] The sultans came to visit an ikbal namely if she was sick or if she had children.^[2]

Although previously it was thought that after an ikbal became pregnant she was promoted to the rank of kadın, this was not the case.^[32] (Eric Newby states that after an ikbal gave birth she was elevated to the title of haseki, and that the kadinefendis were 4 favourites who had each given birth to a male heir.^[33]) She could only take the position of the kadıns if one of the kadıns had died^[34] or was divorced.^[15] If a vacancy arose among the kadıns, the senior ikbal was moved up to kadın status.^[4] Upon the death of a sultan, any of his ikbals who had either not borne a child or who had borne a child who had then died, was married to a statesman. The others retired to the Old Palace.^[35]

The ikbals were subjected to the same law of inheritance as the other women in the harem. However, they were usually buried in places of honour.^[36]

Imperial consorts who were traditionally addressed as ikbal include:

• Nükhetsezâ Hanım (1827–1850), wife of sultan Abdulmejid I
• Navekmisal Hanım (1827–1854), wife of sultan Abdulmejid I
• Şayeste Hanım (1836–1912), wife of sultan Abdulmejid I
• Serfiraz Hanım (1837–1905), wife of sultan Abdulmejid I
• Müşfika Kadın (1867–1961), wife of sultan Abdul Hamid II
• Peyveste Hanım (1873–1943), wife of sultan Abdul Hamid II
• Fatma Pesend Hanım (1876–1928), wife of sultan Abdul Hamid II
• Behice Hanım (1882–1969), wife of sultan Abdul Hamid II
• Nevvare Hanım (1901–1992), wife of sultan Mehmed VI
• Nevzad Hanım (1902–1992), wife of sultan Mehmed VI

• List of Ottoman titles and appellations
• Hatun
• Haseki Sultan
• Kadın (title)
• Valide Sultan
• Cariye

• Davis, Fanny (1986). The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-24811-5.
• Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010). The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
• Argit, Betül Ipsirli (October 29, 2020). Life after the Harem: Female Palace Slaves, Patronage and the Imperial Ottoman Court. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48836-5.
• Sancar, Asli (2007). Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality. Light, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-597-84115-3.
• Peirce, Leslie P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-08677-5.