Mahd-i Ulya

Mahd-i Ulyā or Mahd-e Olyā (Persian: مهد علیا 'sublime cradle'^[1] or 'highest-ranked cradle') was a common title for empress mother, mothers of Shahs, or crown princes, in Iran during the Safavid and Qajar eras, and title of mothers of Ottoman Sultans like Valide Sultan. It is also occasionally used in a similar context for the wife or the mother of a local ruler or a religious leader:

• Asiye Khanum Ezzeddin Qajar, mother of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
• Naneh Khanom Barforoush, wife of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
• Galin Khanom Devellu, mother of Mohammad Shah Qajar
• Malek Jahan Khanom, mother of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar
• Gawhar Shad, wife of Shah Rukh
• Khayr al-Nisa Begum, wife of Shah Muhammad Khodabanda and mother of Shah Abbas I
• Fatimih, wife of Bahá'u'lláh
• Sultanum Begum (c. 1516 – 1593), wife of Tahmasp I
• Safiye Sultan (c. 1550 – after 20 April 1619), mother of Sultan Mehmed III