Shaykh al-Islam. When Mehmed III went on the campaign of Eğri in 1596, he left a treasure of one billion akçe to her service, and he gave her the power to audit important matters in his absence. She distributed alms to the poor, orphan and widows upon the fall of Eğri Castle. Safiye Sultan did not only interfere in interior affairs but also in foreign affairs of the empire. It is known that she corresponded by letters with foreign kings-queens and established diplomatic relations with them. Just as her mother-in-law Nurbanu, she supported a pro-Venetian policy in foreign politics. But in the last years of her son's reign, her meddling in state affairs caused three destructive rebellions and made her immensely hated by the soldiers and the people. Upon the death of Mehmed III in 1603, she was sent to Eski Saray on January 9, 1604 and lived there in retirement without political influence until her death in 20 April 1619. She was laid to rest in the tomb of Murad III. Background According to Venetian sources, Safiye was of Albanian origin, born in the Dukagjin highlands but was confused for her origins with Nurbanu Sultan. Her original name was Sofia. In 1563, at the age of 13, she was presented as a slave to the future Murad III by his cousin Hümaşah Sultan, granddaughter of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem Sultan through their deceased son Şehzade Mehmed, older full brother of Murad's father Selim. Given the name Safiye, she became a concubine of Murad (then the eldest son of Sultan Selim II). On 26 May 1566, she gave birth to Murad's son, the future Mehmed III, the same year Suleiman the Magnificent died. Haseki Sultan Selim II died in 1574 and Murad became the new sultan. Safiye and her children immediately traveled to the capital to settle next to Murad. Almost as she arrived in Istanbul, Safiye immediately received the Haseki rank and a salary of 800 aspers per day. However, her new life in Istanbul also meant that Nurbanu, deeply loved and revered by Murad, would be part of their private lives. Of course, Nurbanu, as the Valide and head of the harem, ruled over the entire palace and family, and Safiye lived as a Haseki under the shadow of her mother-in-law. For the first few years, even if there were tensions in the harem, there was no