Sultana (title) Sultana (title) Sultana or sultanah (; ") is a female royal title, and a feminine form of the word sultan. This term has been officially used for female monarchs in some Islamic states, and historically it was also used for sultan's consorts. Nevertheless, westerners have also used the title to refer to Muslim women monarchs and sultan's women relatives who do not hold this title officially. The term sultana is a feminine form of the word sultan (), an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ", meaning "authority" or "power". Later, sultan came to
Valide sultan reigning sultan who assumed the title Valide Sultan. The word "valide" (والده) literally means "mother" in Ottoman Turkish, from Arabic. The Turkish pronunciation of the word "valide" is . Sultan (سلطان) is an Arabic word originally meaning "authority" or "dominion". By the beginning of the 16th century, this title, carried by both men and women of the Ottoman dynasty, was replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notably "hatun" for women and "bey" for men). Consequently, the title "valide hatun" (title for living mother of reigning Ottoman sultan before 16th century) also turned