Honor and Belonging : Post-Harem Lives of Ottoman Palace Women

This book explores the post-harem lives of Ottoman palace women who-unlike valide sultans, mothers of princes (sehzades), or imperial princesses (hanim sultans)-lost their formal prominence after the death of the reigning sultan and have remained largely overlooked in imperial historiography.These women, often without surviving children or powerful networks, have been relegated to the background of dynastic narratives and treated as peripheral figures in mainstream history writing. Focusing on the consorts of Sultan Abdülhamid I (r. 1774-1789), this volume examines how these women sustained their social status, financial stability, and symbolic ties to the dynasty in the aftermath of palace life.Drawing upon a wide range of Ottoman archival materials-including rental agreements, vakfiye (waqf deeds), household expense records, and posthumous inventories-it reveals the economic strategies, spatial transitions, and charitable activities through which these women rebuilt a sense of belong