Mahd-i Ulyā (Persian: مهد علیا|link=no, meaning "Sublime Cradle" or the highest ranked cradle), also transliterated as Mahd-e Olyā, 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: