According to the reports of Venetian bailos Morosini (1585) and Lorenzo Bernardo (1592), she was of Albanian origin, an information confirmed by Lazzaro Soranzo (1598) who precises that she was from the village of "Rezi" (perhaps modern Kriezi) in the Dukagjin Highlands.

However, her new life in Constantinople also meant that Nurbanu Sultan, Murad's mother, who was deeply loved and revered by him, would be a part of their private daily lives.

Nurbanu advised him to take other concubines for the good of the dynasty,[7] which by 1580 had only one surviving heir: Mehmed, Murad's son by Safiye.

[9] After Nurbanu's death on December 1583 and her return to Topkapi Palace, by then, Safiye had perhaps been disillusioned with Murad and was only interested in gaining power.

[10] As Giovanni Moro reported in 1590: with the authority she {Safiye} enjoys as mother of the prince, she intervenes on occasion in affairs of state, although she is much respected in this, and is listened to by His Majesty who considers her sensible and wise.

With the support of the chief eunuch, Gazanfer Agha, she influenced Murad's decisions more and gained more power, which made some Grand Viziers very uncomfortable.

As much as Safiye could hate Murad's mother, she continued Nurbanu's pro-Venice policy under the influencer of Beatrice Michiel, Chirana and Esther Handali versus the anti-Venice Esperanza Malchi.

Thus, although her power and influence grew during Murad's reign and she managed to achieve many of her interests and goals, the Sultan also set serious boundaries for her.

[15] Moreover, the bailo Giovan Francesco Morosini responded to a question from the Venetian Senate in 1585 that Murad III did not marry his Haseki,[14][15] although he granted her exceptional privileges.

[14] However, Pedani noted that Morosini left Istanbul that year, and rumors of the Sultan's marriage began to spread after his departure.

[17] However, Peirce noted that «Solomon the Jew», who prepared a report for the English envoy at the time of Murad III death, wrote that the Sultan had not married Safiye because «some bitter enemy of his mother advised him not to do so, otherwise he would not live long after the marriage, as his father had done».

[20][21] At the same time, Peirce, referring to the Genoese sailor Giovanni Antonio Menavino, captured by the Turks, wrote that from the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman sultans did not enter into legal marriages, although they could in fact marry during their tenure as Şehzade.

[22] When Murad died in 1595, Safiye arranged for her son Mehmed to succeed as a sultan, and she became the Valide Sultan—one of the most powerful in Ottoman history.

She became more active in internal and foreign affairs due to her son being committed to her to the extreme, the new sultan essentially allowed his mother to rule and gain influence, one instance being, she was responsible for suspending the drowning in the Bosphorous as a punishment for adulterous women.

[24] People and civil servants directly appealed to her when they needed help, since they knew how influential she was within the Ottoman court; sometimes they would even throw themselves in front of her carriage for help.

When Mehmed III went on the campaign of Eger 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.

[25] When Mehmed III went on the Eger campaign in Hungary in 1596, he gave his mother great power over the empire, leaving her in charge of the treasury.

During her interim rule she persuaded her son to revoke a political appointment of the judgeship of Constantinople and to reassign to the grand vizierate to Damat Ibrahim Pasha, her son-in-law.

[26] During this period, the secretary of the English ambassador reported that while in the palace, Safiye "spied a number of boats upon the river [the Bosphorus] hurrying together.

Safiye was held responsible for this, along with the debased currency the troops were paid with, and nearly suffered the wrath of the soldiers, who brutally killed Malchi and her son.

To prevent the soldiers from suspecting her influence over the Sultan, Safiye persuaded Mehmed to have his decrees written out by the Grand Vizier, instead of personally signing them.

However, she had built extensive support network, and continued to exert a tacit influence over the state through one of the chief eunuchs, appointing her allies to powerful positions.

After five weeks, the Sultan canceled his mother's exile and brought her back to his palace and placed her in the inner circle of advisors, who actually ran the government.

Safiye was instrumental in the execution of her grandson Mahmud in 1603, having intercepted a message sent to his mother by a religious seer, who predicted that Mehmed III would die in six months and be succeeded by his son.

[34] Safiye, like Nurbanu, advocated a generally pro-Venetian policy and regularly interceded on behalf of the Venetian ambassadors, one of whom described her to the senate as "a woman of her word, trustworthy, and I call say that in her alone have I found truth in Constantinople; therefore it will always benefit Your Serenity to promote her gratitude.

[39] An unusual occurrence in Safiye's relationship with England was her attraction to Sir Paul Pindar, secretary to English ambassador and deliverer of Elizabeth's coach.

According to Thomas Dallam (who presented Elizabeth's gift of an organ to Mehmed III), "the sultana did take a great liking to Mr. Pinder, and afterward, she sent for him to have his private company, but their meeting was crossed.

Part of Constantinople's Jewish quarter was razed to make way for the structure, whose massive building costs made Safiye unpopular with the soldiery, who wanted her exiled.

She endowed the mosque with a deed that provided for thirty-nine custodians including a general supervisor, a preacher, the khatib (orator), two imams, timekeeper, an incense burner, a repairman, and a gardener.