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ottomanladies · 2 months ago

Note

DAUGHTERS OF AHMED I AND MURAD IV

Ahmed I had six daughters who reached adulthood: Gevherhan, Ayşe, Fatma, Hanzade, Atike and Ümmügülsüm.

Gevherhan Sultan was Ahmed I’s eldest daughter; married twice to Ökuz Mehmed Pasha and Topal Recep Pasha. She died before 1631. I believe that Ragusian report of 1642 mentioning Ibrahim’s sister as sultana moglie di Mustafa Pascia detta Guiheri was mistaken for Hanzade(?). Again, in Osmanli devltinde kim kimdi it is clearly stated that Hanzade married Mustafa Pasha in 1643. So, it stays as a questionmark...

Atike Sultan was Ahmed I’s daughter born in late 1600s. She was married at the beginning of the reign of Murad IV to Koca Kenan Pasha, and eventually in 1652 to Doğancı Yusuf Pasha (Turhan personaly take care of chosing husband for her). I have just problem detecting year of her death; source claim 1672/74 (but I would say it was when Turhan’s daughter Atike died). One source Atatürk konferansları suggest her death date as 1660. Anyway, it seems that historians were unable to bifurcate daughter of Ahmed I and Ibrahim I, and they mixed them with each other at times…

Ayşe Sultan’s marriages are well dated and known. Exept two things: she married Hafiz Ahmed Pasha in 1622 (which I will prove in discussion below) and we don’t know who was her husband in early 1650s. Her last husband was Mustafa Pasha. She died in 1656.

Ümmügülsüm Sultan was born either in 1610 or 1617. Her only known husband during reign of Murad IV was some Halil Pasha. I maybe have found something about him by Süreyya Mehmed Bey:

Halil Paşa - Enderun'dan yetişip mîrahûr-ı evvel olmuştu. 1048 'de (1638/ 39) veziriik verilerek Bağdadim fetih müjdesini İstanbura getirmiştir. Ardından saltanat değişikliği dolayısıyla gözden düşmüş olarak veffat etmiştir.

She was remarried in 1641 to governor of Herzegovina Ahmed Pasha. This marriage was also recognised by Kamil von Behr, and he referred to her as Patti Sultana. She was presented gifts as his wife in 1642, 1648 and 1655. Even she didn’t continue to receive Ragusian gifts, she was still alive during reign of Süleyman II, being alive in 1688, when she started to receive visits of Katherine Trumbull, wife of an English ambassador. On such visits, Katherine was able to collect news from the Ottoman court, such as the rumour in July 1690, later disproved, that Sultan Mehmed had died.

FATMA SULTAN

I would strongly suggest that not all marriages of Ahmed I’s daughter Fatma Sultan are oficially known. Evliya Çelebi mentioned that Fatma had twelve husbands before Melek Ahmed Pasha. I think that I am only person in this world that would claim now that his claims wasn’t sarcastic and that he was telling truth. Now, ambassador’s report from 1st April of 1622 claimed that Sultan Osman succeeded to marry his half-sisters Ayşe Sultan and her younger sister, and that he plans to marry third sister soon (Gevherhan was already married to Recep Pasha):

Continua tuttavia la Maestà sua gia molti giorni nel detto serraglio, dove ha dissegnato maritar in diversi, soggetti 200 di quelle donne che vi habitano, havendo anche concluso matrimonio di due sue sorelle; una fu moglie di Nasuf, in Cafis Bassa di Van, che hora si trova in viaggio di ritorno, et fu gia capitan del Mare, et l’altra minor nel suo Tornacchi, che è un capo de Giannizzeri, di quelle, che hano cura delle Grue di sua maesta, et di quella caccia un'altra ne voleva dar al figliolo, che fu Cemecogli, ma egli sin hora si scusa con la povertà, riuscendo il matrimonio con le Sultane ne per la molto spesa, et per il loco predominio sopra i mariti, peso granissimo, et intollerabile dai Bassa di conto mai procurato. é stata la maestà sua questa settimana piu d’una volta incognita nell’Arsanele, per veder se si sollecita il lavoro, et ha donato al Capitan Bassa doi Veste a tal effetto, il quale affretta hora grandemente quello delle galee per mar negro, che saranno venti fra pochi giorni all’ordine per partir.

In work An Examination of Daily Politics and Factionalism at the Ottoman Imperial Court in Relation to the Regicide of Osman II (r.1618-22) (p. 66) author, using the same report, succeed to identify husbands of these Sultanas:

In late March 1622, the sultan married Ayşe Sultan, the ex-wife of former Grand Vizier Nasuh Pasha, to the Governor of Van, Hafız Ahmed Pasha, and his other sister, to the Governor of Damascus, Murtaza Pasha.

This is great, because the Sultana who was married to this Murtaza Pasha was (as Venetian report says) younger than Ayşe, and I would certainly say that this was Fatma’s first husband. The third one who was planned to be given in marriage to Murtaza Pasha’s son was most probably Hanzade. To remind you, Gevherhan was married for Recep Pasha at the time.

P.S. Who was daughter of Kosem Sultan refferend in letter she prepared for pasha in 1626 after she sent her daughter Fatma? She was never named. Historians made wrong assumption that it was Ayşe Sultan, because Hafiz Ahmed Pasha was Grand Vizier at the time, and they lacked information when did she married him, and with their free will chose is was Ayşe. I would made an assumption that she was most probably Ümmügülsüm. But still, we don’t know who this Pasha was…

At the beginning of reign of Murad IV, one of his sisters married Şehid Ali Pasha (d. 1624) (see Sakaoglu). This also was most probably Fatma, as her sisters Ayşe, Hanzade and Gevherhan had established husbands (Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, Bayram Agha and Topal Recep Pasha). According to Hammer, Atike was married before 1627 to Kenan Pasha who was seventh vizier in Divan. And please don’t ask me in which work, but I also found that Evliya stated that Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Ali Pasha married sister of Murad IV. I remember I was shocked, but I hope I will find again that same statement. Anyway, there is one more thing said in Demetrius Cantemir’s book The History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire about one of Murad IV’s sister which occupied my mind, and made me think that it was about Fatma, because of her well-known greedy character:

Murad IV’s sister had four husbands in one year, and not the one of the marriages was celebrated according to the custom. They were accused of some crime, and put to death by the emperor, and their riches with all their effects assigned indeed to the Sultana as their law-wife…

Her (first officialy known) new husband was Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha, whom she married in 1624. She forcefully divorced him, as Murad IV’s was disturbed by Kösem’s extensive support for Hasan Pasha. Anyway, he continued his duties and even became Kapudan Pasha until he was poisoned by Recep Pasha in 1631, or rumour does say so (source: İstanbul armağanı, p. 117). After divorce, she was married in the same year to governor of Egypt Kara Mustafa Pasha, who was executed by Murad IV because of some action contrary to the law of God.

In work Fatma Sultan: A Sultana in the Shadow of Passion and Wealth on page 255, author cites source which claims she was married in 1629 to Sarraç Mustafa Pasha. Possibly.

I would now stress out that Fatma married Canpoladzade Mustafa Pasha in 1632. But between him and Sarraç Mustafa Pasha, she definitely had one more marriage. I will give you Venetian source I found in Vesna Miović’s work (p. 188, n. 258):

26.10.1631. Il Capitan del Mare si speta qua col primo bon tempo…al quale si tiene per certo che e stata promessa la sultana vedova del Pascia morto a Scopie questa estate…

As you see, Fatma was promissed to Kapudan Pasha (you fill find out Canpoladzade Mustafa Pasha was Kapudan Pasha from October 1630 until July 1632 if you check the right sources) in October of 1631, before she married him in 1632. But the most interesting thing is that, when she was promised to him, she was widow of governor of Skopje who died at summer of 1631. This guy’s identity was Kaçanikli Mehmed Pasha, who was really governor of Skopje and died in 1631.

As you all know, Canpoladzade Mustafa Pasha was executed in 1636. With him, she had sons Hüseyin and Süleyman. After his death, in 1637, she remarried Koça Yusuf Pasha (in 1638 records mentioned as his wife) and stayed with him in marriage until his death in 1658. They even had son, Ömer.

Her last three marriages were with Melek Ahmed Pasha, Kanbur Mustafa Pasha and Közbekçi Yusuf Pasha. But I would suggest she had at least a marriage between Yusuf Pasha’s death in 1658 and marriage with Ahmed Pasha in 1662.

According to work Fatma Sultan: A Sultana in the Shadow of Passion and Wealth, on page 256, we find out that Fatma Sultan died in 1671, most possibly during March:

Fatma Sultan 1671 yılında yaklaşık 66 yaşında vefat etti. Kaynaklarda Fatma Sultan’ın ölüm tarihiyle ilgili net bir bilgiye yer verilmemiş, genellikle Kozbekçi Yusuf Paşa ile evliliğinden sonra öldüğü ifade edilmiştir. Ölüm sebebi belli değildir. Terekesinde satılacak mücevherlerin kaydedildiği tarih 14 Zilkade 1081/25 Mart 1671 olarak gösterilmiştir (TSMA.d. 10457/124). Fatma Sultan’ın tasarrufunda bulunan Manastır kazası paşmaklık hassı 1671 yılının Mart ayından itibaren Haseki Sultan’a verilmiştir (MŞS. 21: 72, 75). Bu bilgilere göre Fatma Sultan’ın 1671 yılı başlarında vefat ettiği anlaşılmaktadır. Cenaze ve defin işlemlerinden sonra mirasın kayda geçirildiği düşünüldüğünde, terekenin toplanmasının zaman aldığı görülmektedir. Kabri, babası Sultan I. Ahmed’in türbesindedir (Mehmed Süreyya, 1996, s. 14)

Beside Ahmed I’s daughters, there were several unknown marriages of daughters of Murad IV. In Angelo Alessandri’s report from 1637, he says Murad IV had eleven-year-old daughter he intends to marry to Silahdar Mustafa Pasha. Additionally, it is known that thirteen-year-old daughter of Murad IV was married to Tüccarzade Mustafa Pasha in 1640 (Sakaoglu, Alderson). Now, what if I tell you that Silahdar Mustafa Pasha and Tüccarzade Mustafa Pasha were the same person? See this: https://www.suvakfi.org.tr/cesme/adalar/kaptan-i-derya-tuccarzade-silahdar-musahip-mustafa-pasa-cesmesi-h-1048-m-1638

Tüccarzade Silahdar Mustafa Pasha was executed in 1642 (not 1641 as Sakaoglu claims) as governor of Timisoara. Also, work Life After the Harem: Female Palace Slaves, Patronage and the Imperial Ottoman Court , p. 83, says:

According to Naima, in 1642, the sword bearer, husband of Kaya Sultan (daughter of Murad IV) was murdered.

All in all, I want to point to fact that Kaya Sultan was the eldest daughter of Murad IV, born in 1627, who married Mustafa Pasha in 1640 until his execution. She remarried in 1644 to Melek Ahmed Pasha. I am conversant with statements of her being born in 1633, which I strongly evaluate as UNRELIABLE.

Only Öztuna claimed of Murad IV’s daughters, Hanzade Sultan and Gevherhan Sultan, married in August 1645. Hanzade married Nakkaş Mustafa Pasha (d. 1657; different from same-named husband of Hanzade’s same-named aunt, but this Nakkaş Mustafa Pasha died in 1653 – again, I am SUSPICIOUS about this), and Gevherhan Sultan, who married Haseki Mehmed Pasha (who actually married to Turhan’s daughter Ayşe Sultan in 1653). As Haseki Mehmed Pasha remarried in 1553 to daughter of Ibrahim, Gevherhan died before (even before 1648, as she didn’t receive gifts from Ragusians). Hanzade existed, she was still alive in 1662, and was at the time married to some vizier Musa Pasha.

Mahmiye-i İstanbul’da Ali Paşa-yı Atîk mahallesinde sâkin Dergâh-ı âlî dâme mahfûfen bi’l-meâli kapıcıbaşılarından iftihârü’l-emâcid ve’l-ekârim câmi‘ü’l-mehâmid ve’l-mekârim Mîr Mehmed Ağa b. Melek Mehmed meclis-i şer‘-i hatîrde işbu bâ‘isetü’l-kitâb zevcesi Bedirhan bt. Nimetullah tarafından ikrâr-ı âti’l-beyânı tasdîka vekîl olup nehc-i şer‘î üzere vekâleti sâbite olan fahrü’l-akrân dayısı oğlu Ebulkâzım Bey b. Yusuf mahzarında ikrâr ve takrîr-i kelâm edip mahmiye-i mezbûrede hısn ebvâbından Yenikapı hâricinde merhûm eş-Şeyh Merkez Efendi mahallesinde vâki‘ silk-i mülkümde münselik olup bir tarafdan vezîr-i zî-şân düstûr-ı âsaf-nişân Musa Paşa hazretleri mülkü ve bir tarafdan Sultanü’l-muhadderât bürhânü’l-muvakkarât Hanzâde Sultan -dâmet ismetuhâ- hazretleri mülkü ve bir tarafdan Hayrunnisa Hatun bt. Mehmed Efendi mülkü ve bir tarafdan tarîk-i âm ile mahdûd olup hâriciyesi iki bâb tahtânî odayı ve bir ahırı ve su kuyusunu ve mahzeni ve bir dolabı ve hadîkayı ve kenîfi ve dâhil iyyesi bir bâb fevkānî odayı ve bir hücreyi ve bir havuzu ve iki sofayı ve bir kasr-ı yed ve bir matbahı ve üç su kuyusunu müştemil olan menzilimi bi-cümleti’t-tevâbi‘ ve’l-levâhık müvekkile-i mezbûre Bedirhan Hatun’a beş kîse riyâlî guruşa tarafeynden îcâb ve kabûlü hâvî bey‘-ı bâtt-ı sahîh-i şer‘î ile bey‘ ve teslîm edip ol dahi minvâl-i muharrer üzere iştirâ ve kabûl ve tesellüm eyledikde semeni olan meblağ-ı mezbûr beş kîse riyâlî guruşu müvekkile-i mezbûreye cihet-i karz-ı şer‘îden on iki kîse riyâlî guruş deynim olup zimmetimde bâkī altı kîse riyâlî guruşun beş kîsesine takās edip ol dahi mukāssa ve kabûl eyledikden sonra ba‘de’l-yevm hudûd-ı mezbûr ile mahdûde olan menzil müşârün-ileyhâ Bedirhan Hatun’un mülk-i müşterâsıdır keyfe mâ teşâ’ ve tahtâr mutasarrıfe olsun dedikde gıbbe’t-tasdîkı’ş-şer‘î mâ-vaka‘a bi’t-taleb ketb olundu.

Anyway, Hanzade Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I or eventually Murad IV) really had a son with Nakkaş Mustafa Pasha. From judicial report in 1685:

Mahmiye-i İstanbul’da Ayasofya kurbunda Taşodalarda sâkin ekmekçi el-Hâc Ali b. Şaban meclis-i şer‘-i hatîr-i lâzımü’t-tevkīrde mahmiye-i mezbûrda Demirkapı kurbunda Çelebioğlu mahallesinde sâkin umdetü’l-a‘yân ve’l-eşbâh Nakkāş Paşazâde Abdülbâkī Bey mahzarında ikrâr ve takrîr-i kelâm edip târih-i kitâbdan yirmi sene mukaddem mûmâ-ileyhin vâlide[si] merhûme Hanzâde Sultan’ın baş ağası ve abd-i mu‘takı olan İdris Ağa b. Abdullah’a beynimizde ma‘lûmetü’l-evsâf Gürciyyetü’l-asl bir re’s câriyemi yüz otuz guruşa bey‘ ve teslîm ol dahi iştirâ ve tesellüm ve kable’l-edâ ben hacc-ı şerîfe deryâdan giderken harbî kefere beni ahz ve on dört sene mikdârı esir edip ve ben dârü’l-harbde iken merkūm İdris Ağa fevt olup verâseti usûbet-i nesebiyye cihetinden mûmâ-ileyh Abdülbâkī Bey’e münhasıra olmağla mûmâ-ileyh Abdülbâkī Bey terekesine vaz‘ ve kabz eylemeğin hâlâ ben semen-i mezbûr yüz otuz guruşu müteveffâ-yı merkūm İdris Ağa’nın terekesine ber vech-i muharrer vâzı‘ü’l-yed olan mûmâ-ileyh Abdülbâkī Bey’den taleb ve da‘vâ eylediğimde ol dahi cevâbında mûrisim mezbûr İdris Ağa senden ber vech-i mübeyyen iştirâ ve kabz eylediği ma‘lûmum değildir deyû inkâr ve beynimizde münâza‘ât-ı kesîre [84b] vâkı‘a olmuşidi el hâletü hâzihî muslihûn tavassut edip mûmâ-ileyh Abdülbâkī Bey benimle beş guruş üzerine sulh oldukda ben dahi sulh-i mezbûru kabûl ve bedel-i sulh olan meblağ-ı mezbûr beş guruşu yedinden ahz u kabz ettiğimden sonra husûs-ı mezbûra ve gayra müte‘allika âmme-i da‘vâdan mûmâ-ileyh Abdülbâkī Bey’in zimmetini ibrâ-i âmla ibrâ ve iskāt eyledim min ba‘d da‘vâ ve nizâ‘ım yoktur dedikde gıbbe’t-tasdîki’l-vicâhî mâ hüve’l-vâki‘ bi’t-taleb ketb olundu. Fi’l-yevmi’r-râbi‘ aşer min Şa‘bâni’l-mu‘azzam li sene seb‘a ve tis‘în ve elf.

Next very interesting daughter of Murad IV was Rûkiye Sultan. She was born in early 1630s, as she married around 1640s to Küçük Musa Pasha. Musa Pasha was mistaken to be husband of daughter of Ahmed I, Abide Sultan – who didn’t exist. Abide Sultan was daughter of Murad III and wife of Muslu Agha, and Rûkiye was Küçük Musa Pasha’s wife. She received gifts in 1648 as his widow. Rûkiye Sultan was mentioned by Ragusians in 1655 (source: Acta et Diplomata Ragusina) as Ruchie sultana, moglie di Telak Mustafa passa. Also, in 1662, she received gifts as Rukie Sultana moglie di Zelak Mustai Passa, the same guy. I succeeded to figure out his identity, he was Dellak Mustafa Pasha. And very interestingly, Dellak Mustafa Pasha was executed in 1662 by orders of Mehmed IV. It seems that it is right information that Rûkiye Sultan was remarried in 1663 (Sakaoglu) to Seytan Ibrahim Pasha. And he was also executed in 1685, while being governor of Buda. I would note that it is incorrect she married Gürcü Mehmed Pasha, he was husband of Murad IV’s granddaughter, daughter of Safiye Sultan, Rûkiye Sultan (d. early 1697). She died in March 1696 (Sakaoglu) or 1716 (Alderson). What problem did Mehmed IV had with Rûkiye Sultan, so he executed both her husbands?

Safiye Sultan married at least two times: in 1649 she married firstly Haydarzade Mehmed Pasha. She was recorded in 1655 gifts as Safie sultana moglie di Haidar Sade, figlia di sultan Mourad, and as his widow in 1662. It was false information that he married Ibrahim’s daughter Kaya, she never existed. Anyway, her next known marriage was in probably 1663 to Sari Hasan Pasha, during which she died. But according to Ragusian envoys, he was referred in 1670 as Hussain passa. She died before 1676.

Murad IV also had a daughter named Hafsa Sultan. Only thing known about her is that she married some Hüseyin Pasha (source: İslâm ansiklopedisi: İslâm âlemi tarih, coğrafya, etnoğrafya ve biyografya lûgati – cilt 8; page 646). Actually, if you see Türkischer Biographischer Index (page 489), you will see there were eight Hüseyin Pashas who were governors during reign of Mehmed IV (different than Deli Hüseyin Pasha).

There is possibility that Murad IV had a daughter named Ayşe Sultan, but I am reasonably sceptical about it. I will explain it later, when I make a discussion of daughters of Ibrahim and Mehmed IV, which is the hardest task. I don’t know when I will make that one because my academic year starts in ten days, and I need more time to research and observe the Sultanas from the second half of the seventeenth century. Anyway…I really tried hard to find some unrecorded marriages of these analysed Sultanas, I’m glad that I have determined at least one-two marriages of Ahmed I’s daughter Fatma we didn’t know, and also with daughters of Murad IV.

This is also a topic I’m very interested in.

I’m going to sum up everything so it’s easier to read. I am very sorry but it’s long.

Gevherhan Sultan binti Ahmed I

she was Ahmed I’s eldest daughter (child?), named in honour of his great-aunt Gevherhan Sultan binti Selim II, who was still alive at the time of the princess’ birth. She firstly married Öküz Kara Mustafa Pasha in 1611-1612 (when the pasha came back from Egypt). Mustafa Pasha died in 1620. She secondly married Topal Recep Pasha during Osman II’s reign, with whom had a daughter, Safiye Hanımsultan, probably born in 1630. Gevherhan died before July 1631 (Muharram 1040), when an imperial decision calls her “deceased”. The Ragusian diplomats were wrong when they listed “Guiheri” among Ibrahim’s sisters in 1642. Gevherhan had already died by then. This is confirmed by a harem register dated February 1638-39 in which her daughter Safiye is listed but not her. (I should probably make a gifset about this but I deleted all my gifmaking stuff DDDD:)

Atike Sultan binti Ahmed I

as of now, we don’t have solid evidence on her date of birth, except for Öztuna who says she was born around 1614 (but he also says she’s Kasım’s twin…). Interestingly, Tezcan in Searching for Osman says that she was married to “the son of Ekmekçizade Ahmed Pasha (d. 1618), most probably in 1618”. Unfortunately, I don’t know who that is because I couldn’t find his name. Anyway, in the early years of Murad IV’s reign, Atike married Kenan Pasha, as Giustiniani in 1627 says that “Chinan” was married to the sultan’s sister:

Per ultimi sedevan nel Divano doi altri cognati del re, l’uno Chinan, l’altro Mustaffà, ambidoi poco prima del mio partir spediti quello in Grecia et questo in Natolia sotto titolo de inquisitori con suprema auttorità contra le violentie et tirannidi che si commettevano in quelle provintie, ma in effetto per cavar da esse grosse somme de denari per le guerre contra il Persiano.

Koca Sofu Kenan Pasha died in 1652 and in the same year, according to Uluçay, she married Doğancı Yusuf Pasha.

About her death, Uluçay says nothing. Sakaoğlu, on the other hand, says she died before 1670, that is when Doğancı Yusuf Pasha died. According to Öztuna she died in 1674. Interestingly, when talking about Atike’s tomb, Evliya Celebi mentions her as “Kenan Paşa Sultanı, Ahmed Han kızı Buy’unaz Âtike Sultan”, as if her other marriage never happened (or maybe he was away from Istanbul and didn’t know about it). If only we could date the first volume of the Seyahatnâme we could estimate Atike’s death DD:

Ayşe Sultan binti Ahmed I

I too have found some new (to me) information while I was researching Mehmed III’s daughters. Tezcan in Searching for Osman says that she was only betrothed to Karakaş Mehmed Pasha:

Ayşe Sultan, after the death of her husband in 1614, was promised to Karakaş Mehmed Pasha, probably during the reign of Osman II as well. Yet the latter was killed in battle at Khotin in 1621, and she was married to Hafiz Ahmed Pasha.

You’re right in saying that it’s Osman II who married off Ayşe to Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, because that’s what the Venetian ambassador said in April 1622:

It is interesting, though, that Uluçay said that they were engaged in 1626 and married in 1627 (probably because the pasha wasn’t in Istanbul). I wonder what happened in 1627 because I doubt that it’s the date of consummation… she would have been 22. In any case the marriage was consummated because it produced two sons: Sultanzade Mustafa Bey and an unnamed one who probably died as a baby.

I don’t think she married someone else between Hezargratlı Voynuk Ahmed Pasha (m. 1645-49) and İbşir Mustafa Pasha (m. 1655).

I too thought that İbşir Mustafa Pasha was Ayşe’s last husband but Ragusian diplomats mention a “Aise Sultana moglie di Suleiman Passa” on 28 July 1662, so maybe Öztuna is right in saying that her last husband was actually Malatyalı Koca Süleyman Pasha? On the other hand, Alderson says that the princess married to Koca Süleyman Pasha (also called Ermeni) was Murad IV’s daughter but, annoyingly, doesn’t give any sources.

According to Kütükoğlu, who wrote Malatyalı Koca Süleyman Pasha’s entry in the Islamic Encyclopedia, the Ayşe Sultan he married was Ibrahim’s daughter, adding that Alderson was mistaken in identifying her as a daughter of Murad IV. The only problem is he says that the princess was later married to İbşir Mustafa Pasha… which is impossible.

So, basically, everyone is confused.

Ümmügülsüm Sultan binti Ahmed I

I think it’s impossible to say when she was born. I don’t know who Kamil von Behr is and google didn’t give me any answers…

Anyway, I really don’t know who this Halil Pasha could be because he doesn’t have a nickname so he could be anyone. The one you found in Sicill-i Osmani is a contemporary of Murad IV and therefore of Ahmed I’s daughters so it could be him.

Fatma Sultan binti Ahmed I

So, I don’t know whether to trust everything Evliya Celebi said because he was known to exaggerate things.

Anyways, Çiçek says that in late March 1622 a sister younger than Ayşe married the governor of Damascus, Murtaza Pasha. Murtaza Pasha was governor of Damascus until 1623 (did he die? Who knows). However, in this register, Fatma is unmarried:

A privy purse register from 1622 gives the names of five unmarried princesses, who may be daughters of Ahmed, Osman II, and even Mehmed III: Ümm-i Külsum, Hanzade, Halime, Fatma, and Akile. (Tezcan, B. - Searching for Osman, p. 334, n. 58)

Of course it could have been written before March 1622 but Ayşe (who married Hafiz Ahmed Pasha at the same time) is not among these princesses. It’s interesting, though, that Atike too is absent.

P.S. Who was daughter of Kosem Sultan referred in letter she prepared for pasha in 1626 after she sent her daughter Fatma? She was never named. Historians made wrong assumption that it was Ayşe Sultan, because Hafiz Ahmed Pasha was Grand Vizier at the time, and they lacked information when did she married him, and with their free will chose is was Ayşe. I would made an assumption that she was most probably Ümmügülsüm. But still, we don’t know who this Pasha was…

Well, I mean, Peirce has identified the pasha. As Uluçay believes that Hafiz Ahmed Pasha and Ayşe were married in 1626, this letter makes sense.

In 1626 or thereabout she wrote to the grand vezir Hafiz Ahmed Pasha proposing marriage to one of her daughters: “Whenever you’re ready, let me know and I’ll act accordingly. We’ll take care of you right away. I have a princess ready. I’ll do just as I did when I sent out my Fatma.” Hafiz Ahmed became the third husband of Ayşe. (Peirce, Leslie P. - The Imperial Harem, p. 148)

I don’t particularly like the assumption that Peirce (or other historians) “with their free will chose Ayşe”. If the letter is dated 1626 ca and the grand vizier at the time was Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, then it’s only logical that Peirce (or others) say: she’s talking about Ayşe. I don’t see anything wrong with that tbh.

If Kösem is not talking about Hafiz Ahmed Pasha’s marriage, though, then the princess could be any unmarried princess in the harem at the time. As Valide Sultan and Regent she arranged all the marriages, not only her daughters’.

Şehid Ali Pasha… Alderson didn’t give any sources for that claim, and the only Şehid Ali Pasha I’ve found is Fatma binti Ahmed III’s husband (so he died in 1716).

Let’s move on to Dimitrie Kantemir’s book:

So, Kantemir wasn’t a contemporary. He lived in Istanbul in 1688-91 and again in 1693-1710. His work, Historia incrementorum atque decrementorum Aulae Othomanicae (History of the Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire), was written in Istanbul before 1710 and completed in Russia in 1717. This is what he says about a sister of Murad IV’s:

Murad IV’s Sister had four Husbands in one year, and not one of the Marriages appears to have been consummated. For as soon as the Nuptials were celebrated according to custom, they were accus’d of some crime, and put to death by the Emperor, and their Riches with all their effects assign’d indeed to the Sultana as his lawful Wife, but in reality brought into the royal Treasury (p. 179)

This quote is a little vague. It doesn’t say who this princess is and, most importantly, when this happened. We assume it happened during Murad IV’s reign but we don’t know that with certainty. Also, Fatma's marriage to Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha lasted at least four years, as Murad IV divorced them in 1628.

About Kaçanikli Mehmed Pasha, I have found in Kaçanikli Mehmed Paşa Vakfiyesi ve Kütüphanesi that he may have died before 1631:

Although it was reported that he died in 1631, according to the Divan-ı Hümayun records, he died before 1616 (Kul, 2013: 2001). (p. 1847)

Unfortunately I couldn’t get access to E. Kul’s PhD thesis “XVII. yüzyılda Üsküb şehri”, which is the source.

Anyway, let’s move on.

Tezcan in Searching for Osman says this:

During the reign of Murad IV, a daughter of Ahmed was married to Berber Mustafa Pasha; upon the execution of her husband, she married Sarrac Hasan Pasha. After the death of her second husband, she married Janpoladzade Mustafa Pasha, who was executed by the orders of Murad IV in 1045/1635-6. This princess seems to be Fatma Sultan, who, probably after some other marriages, married Melek Ahmed Pasha in 1662. Melek Ahmed Pasha, who died in the same year, was not her last husband. (p. 334, n. 58)

I’m almost sure that Sarraç Hasan Pasha and Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha are the same man:

When he entered the palace, Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha was a “saddle (saraç) apprentice”

Tezcan says that Sarraç Hasan Pasha was a protegé of Hacı Mustafa Ağa (”Mustafa Agha sponsored the careers of such men as the future grand vizier Tabamyassi Mehmed Pasha, the vizier and finance minister Hasan Pasha, and two other viziers Sarrac Hasan Pasha and Hamidi Mustafa Pasha). Well, Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha was a protegé of Hacı Mustafa Ağa too.

I know Tezcan’s thesis is about Osman II but Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha is never mentioned, not even as Kapıcıbaşı.

Also, it’s not true that Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha became Grand Admiral after his divorce with Fatma because Giustinian in 1627 calls him “Capitan del mare”, which is the Italian translation of Kapudan-ı Derya.

For some reason, though, Civelek and Çakır’s essay İhtiras ve Servetin Gölgesinde Bir Sultan: Fatma Sultan calls him Sarrac Mustafa Pasha. I couldn’t find anything about him.

About this: “Il Capitan del Mare si speta qua col primo bon tempo..., al quale si tiene per certo che e stata promessa la sultana vedova del Pascia morto a Scopie questa estate...”. Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha died on his way to Buda, on 1 August 1631 (some say poisoned by Topal Recep Pasha, as you said). I think he’s the pasha “morto a Scopie questa estate”

(I know Skopje is not in Greece but bear with me)

I don’t think the Ragusian diplomat is saying that that princess is the widow of the governor of Skopje, but that her husband simply died in Skopje that year (I first thought it had happened during a battle or a rebellion). It is certainly interesting that Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha died on 1 August 1631 on his way to Buda, between Yenişehir and Tırhala (Greece).

I know he and Fatma were already divorced but I think that’s only the way the Ragusian diplomat chose to refer to her (as princesses were most often referred to as wives of some pasha). Maybe with more sentences from that dispatch it becomes clearer.

Thanks to İhtiras ve Servetin Gölgesinde Bir Sultan: Fatma Sultan we found out that Fatma had a son with Koca Yusuf Pasha who was alive at least until 1671 when he was noted as one of her heirs, so that’s definitely new information.

As for new marriages, I wouldn’t change anything at the moment. I personally don’t think she kept remarrying so fast.

Let’s move on to Murad IV’s daughters.

Kaya Ismihan Sultan binti Murad IV

Alderson doesn’t give any source for this supposed marriage between an unnamed princess and Tüccarzade Mustafa Pasha (which, interestingly, he says happened in 1640). On the other hand, it’s documented that Kösem and the Grand Vizier blocked the marriage between Kaya and said Tüccarzade Mustafa Pasha (who was Silahdar Mustafa Pasha, yes):

The Queen mother and the Vizier who foresaw their inevitable ruin if they did not undermine this union by its principal foundation, asked Mustafa for fifteen hundred thousand crowns; Mustafa delivered this sum in less than fifteen days, but as he saw that his enemies, having found it so easy to pay it, still wanted to make him ask for new loans, he had them tell him that he knew well that their hatred desired his blood rather than his money, that he was ready to satisfy them, and that if conscience had not arrested his despair, he had already performed the office of the executioner that he expected at any time from them. Notwithstanding this abandonment, they did not have the boldness to undertake anything openly against his life, fearing to irritate the Princess his Lover and to raise the militia; But to make believe that they wished rather to change his condition into one amenable to his grief, than to ruin him, they asked him to resign his office of Capudan Pasha in favour of a Page of the Serrail named Yusuph, and gave him the Government of Buda, where he could more solitarily than at Court, vacillate to the resentment of his affliction. Mustafa to whom all things were indifferent, except tears and sighs, consented to all that was desired, and when he was countermanded on the road to Temisuar, he went thither without murmuring, although it is one of the smallest Governments of Romelia. Thus this inconsolable Pasha still drags out a languid life, in spite of his enemies who continually watch to ruin it, and in spite of the means that his grief employs to seek to die. (Les Voyage du Sieur du Loir, 124-26)

(Translation is a bit wonky I’ll admit it but I used Google Translate because old French is hard)

I do agree, though, that Kaya Ismihan was Murad IV’s eldest daughter (who survived infanthood). Foscarini in 1637 states:

Per quanto ho inteso di figliuole femmine il Re ne ha tre, la maggiore che è di nove anni, pare destinata per moglie al Bei Siclictar amata assai da Sua Maestà (Firpo, Relazioni, p. 766)

In 1640, Contarini says that Kaya is twelve years old. Considering that she was the only one with a betrothed, I’d say she was the eldest.

I don’t think that Naima quote proves that Kaya, in the end, married Silahdar Mustafa Pasha. I don’t think it happened at all. Also because Melek Ahmed Pasha too was a Silahdar so I think the two things were conflated into one and the author got confused. On the other hand, I think Evliya Celebi would have mentioned if Kaya had had a marriage before the one with Melek Ahmed Pasha.

I think it was Kaya’s betrothal with Tüccarzade Silahdar Mustafa Pasha which Alderson confused with a marriage.

Funnily, Öztuna says that Kaya had been betrothed as a baby to Abaza Mehmed Pasha (from the family of Melek Ahmed Pasha) but the pasha had been executed. She had then been betrothed to Hayder Ağazade Mehmed Pasha in 1643 but this betrothal too didn’t lead to marriage (He later married her sister Safiye). I don’t know how much of this is true.

About Hanzade binti Murad IV and Gevherhan binti Murad IV, @rhaenahanzades and I had reached the conclusion that Hanzade was Hanzade binti Ahmed I and Gevherhan was Gevherhan binti Ibrahim.

I personally think that Murad IV’s daughters who reached adulthood were Kaya Ismihan, Rukiye and Safiye.

Rukiye Sultan binti Murad IV

I agree that Abide binti Ahmed I didn’t exist, it seems to have been an oversight by some historians because some of Murad III’s daughters were very young (even infants) when he died, so it makes sense that they had long lives.

According to Ragusian diplomats, Rukiye had the following husbands:

Küçük Musa Pasha

Zelak Mustafa Pasha

Şeytân Divrikli Ibrahim Pasha, with whom she had two daughters

I’m going to be honest, I couldn’t find this Dellak Mustafa Pasha anywhere. I did look up what Dellak means and it seems quite the strange nickname to give a pasha because it means devil.

Anyway, I don’t think Mehmed IV had a specific problem with Rukiye but Ibrahim Pasha was executed in Belgrade in 1685 (according to Öztuna) so he was probably part of those executions Mehmed IV had ordered because of the failed Vienna siege. I know Wikipedia is not the best source but “Ibrahim of Buda” is listed among the Ottoman commanders under Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Mustafa Pasha.

Safiye Sultan binti Murad IV

Mmh, I think Safiye and Hafsa are the same person (Ragusian diplomats call her “Saffie” which could sound like Hafsa if you pronounce it Sàffie instead of Saffìe). While it’s true that Uluçay says she married Sari Hasan Pasha (possibly after Haydarağazade Mehmed Pasha), Öztuna says she married Abaza Hüseyin Pasha, and this seems to be confirmed by Ragusian diplomats who, in 1670, said she was married to Hussain Pascia

There is a Hafsa Sultan among Murad IV’s children in Devletler ve Hanedanlar but she seems to have died in infanthood.

#kehribar-sultan #ask: ottoman history #gevherhan sultan daughter of ahmed i #ayse sultan daughter of ahmed i #fatma sultan daughter of ahmed i #atike sultan daughter of ahmed i #ummugulsum sultan daughter of ahmed i #hanzade sultan daughter of ahmed i #kaya ismihan sultan daughter of murad iv #safiye sultan daughter of murad iv #rukiye sultan daughter of murad iv #ohh it was hard you guys

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