Ottoman Woman, Agency and Power: Melek Hanim in Belgrade 1847-1848

Abstract

А series of written accounts bу Ottoman and Muslim women appeared in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Melek Hanim contributed to this corpus of literature with her memoirs, published in two volumes. The first one Thirty Years in the Harem (1872) draws attention with the episode of Melek Hanim stay in Belgrade During 1847/48 she was accompanying her husband Kibrisli Mehmed Emin Pasha on his governor appointment in Belgrade, at the time when Ottoman and Serbian governments were negotiating power over the city. Dedicating the entire chapter to her Belgrade stay, Melek Hanim brought outlook on the city which is an almost unique case of Ottoman woman perspective in written records on Belgrade of the 19th century. The Belgrade episode also brings accounts of her benefactions, business investments and political engagements, revealing more on а position and possibilities for agency of the elite Ottoman women.