Kösem Sultan

Born in 1589, Kösem became the favored wife of Sultan Ahmed I and bore him multiple sons and daughters whose survival she turned into statecraft. She likely saved Ahmed's half-brother Mustafa from execution, a move that helped end the old succession-by-murder and install a new system based on seniority. After Ahmed's death she ruled as regent during Murad IV's minority from 1623 to 1632, navigated the erratic reign of her son Ibrahim from 1640 to 1648 - pushing him to launch a failed naval assault on Crete in 1645 - and took the reins again when her grandson Mehmed IV inherited the throne as a child in 1648. She placed daughters in strategic marriages, commanded policy, and held the loyalty of both palace elites and the street. On September 2, 1651, rivals strangled her in the harem, ending the longest reign of any woman in Ottoman history.