Ikbal (title)

Ikbal () was the title given to the imperial consort of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who came below the rank of Kadın.
Etymology.
The word ikbal (اقبال) is an Arabic word, which means good fortune, or lucky. Historians have translated it either "fortunare one" or "favourite".
Ranks and titles.
An ikbal was a titled consort, and recognised as such by the Sultan. The number of ikbals varied. They were ranked as "Baş Ikbal" (senior ikbal, senior favourite, senior fortunate one), "Ikinci Ikbal" (second ikbal, second favourite, second fortunate one), "Üçüncü Ikbal" (third ikbal, third favourite, third fortunate one), "Dördüncü Ikbal" (fourth ikbal, fourth favourite, fourth fortunate one), and so on, according to the order in which they had caught the sultan's eye, and elevated to that position. 
The ikbals usually held the prefix titles of "iffetlü" ("honest", "virtuous"), and "ismetlü" ("the virtuous"), and the suffix titles of "hanım", "hatun", and "kadın".
Status.
Eighteenth century.
The rank first appeared toward the end of the seventeenth century, during the reign of Sultan Mustafa II (reigned 1695 — 1703). Two eighteenth century sultans Mahmud I (reigned 1730 — 1754), and Mustafa III (reigned 1757 — 1773), also had ikbals. 
However, in the eighteenth century, the ikbals held the title kalfa which means assistant master, or mistress. This suggests that at that time they were eligible for both kinds of high level harem career. They also appeared in the list of cariyes, which did not include the sultan's kadıns, or the ketkhüda kadın, or daye hatun, emphasizes their identity as part of the household rather than family in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century the term kalfa appears to have been used exclusively for members of the household staff. 
In the eighteenth century, the ikbals had personal servants, and were paid 250 "kuruş" every three months.
Nineteenth century.
This tradition of taking ikbals continued until the nineteenth century. The ikbals were chosen from among the "gediklis". Each ikbal had her "night turn" ("nöbet gecesi"). Their stipend was 20,000 "kuruş". They had personal servants. As clothing reflected a woman's positions in the harem hierarchy, and so the ikbals wore rich fabrics, and in winter they wore stuffed dresses, which was an indicative of their high status. 
Each ikbal resided in her own apartment, or sometimes isolated kiosks. In the nineteenth century, they had two rooms on the second floor of the palace, one facing the Bosphorus Straits, and serving as a saloon, and the other facing the palace gardens, and serving as a bedroom. The sultans came to visit an ikbal, namely, if she was sick, or if she had children.
Although, previously it was thought that after an ikbal became pregnant, she was promoted to the rank of kadın. However, it was not the case. She could only take the position of the kadıns, if one of the kadıns have died, or were divorced. If a vacancy arose among the kadıns, the senior ikbal was moved up to kadın status. Upon the death of a sultan, any of his ikbals who had not borne a child, or who had born a girl or a boy, who had died, was married to some statesman. The others retired to the Old Palace.
The ikbals were subjected to the same law of inheritance as the other women in the harem. However, they were usually buried in places of honour.
Honorific.
Imperial consorts who were traditionally addressed as Ikbal include: