Hurrem Sultan

About Hurrem Sultan

Hurrem Sultan (c. 1502 – 1558) was a highly influential figure in the Ottoman Empire, rising from a slave concubine to become the legal wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Her political acumen and significant sway over imperial policy during her lifetime earned her the 448th spot in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, marking her as a figure of substantial global cultural impact, particularly within the political sphere of the 16th century.

Despite this high historical ranking, Hurrem Sultan faces a notable attention gap in the modern digital landscape. In 2025, her annualized Wikipedia pageviews were only 59K. This level of attention is dramatically low relative to her historical standing, resulting in an "Attention Gap" factor of -7x, meaning she receives seven times less attention than her historical importance would suggest. For contrast, the politician William Ewart Gladstone, ranked #804 in importance, garnered 414K views in the same year, receiving over seven times the online attention.

Furthermore, her digital interest appears to be waning; the 2025 data shows a year-over-year decrease of 11.2% in views, with a sharp 24% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3, signaling a concerning decline in contemporary web relevance.