I've been an avid fan of Ottoman history for some time now, and particularly intrigued by their written records. One which fascinates me would be those penned by women given the general lack of literacy at this time in the world, on top of the fact it isn't something usually expected from women.
Anyways, here is a letter written by Hurrem Sultan, the wife of Sultan Suleiman, to the Polish King Sigismund Augustus. By any chance, is anyone able to translate what she says? I'd love to know its contents. Additionally, is anyone else aware of letters/documents written by women in the past from the Islamic World from the 17th century or even earlier?
The letter is written in what is known as Ottoman Turkish using a modified Persian script. Ottoman Turkish was a formal, aristocratic/bureaucratic language with an overwhelmingly Arabic and Persian vocabulary, and for this reason it is notoriously difficult and only really known by specialists who have to deal with primary sources in it. When I have seen it previously pop up on this sub, even partial translations have been team efforts.
Tellingly, trying to track down a translation of the letter lead me overwhelmingly to references to a French copy of the letter published by Szymon Askenazy in 1896. Here is the text in full:
Nous faisons savoir à la sublime connoissance de S. M. le Roi, qu’ayant entendu votre avènement à la Royauté après la mort de Votre Père, Nous Vous félicitons, prenant Dieu le Très Haut à témoin, combien de joie et plaisir notre coeur ressentit à cette agréable nouvelle. C’est donc la volonté de Dieu à laquelle Vous devez Vous résigner et conformer à Sa prédestination et décrets. C’est pourqoi Nous Vous avons écrit cette présente lettre amicale et envoyée aux pieds du trône de V. M. par notre serviteur Hassan Aga, lequel en arrivant avec l’aide de Dieu, Nous Vous prions instamment à tout ce qu’il répresentera de bouche à V. M. de lui prêter pleine foi et croyance, comme venant directement de notre part. Du reste je ne sais pas quoi Vous dire de plus qui soit un sécret pour V. M. La très humble servante Hasséki Sultane.”
Unfortunately I can't find a both complete and authoritative translation of the letter from French to English, and I don't read French (if you do, you're in luck!). However, it should be a relatively speaking trivial task to obtain a translation from French to English by whatever means you prefer (Machine translation or finding a French-fluent person to translate it).
I hope that will help you!
