#gevherhan sultan daughter of murad iv

[ottomanladies]

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 Doğanc�� 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:

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…

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.

[haticesultanas]

Sorry to bother you in this account, I would have a question about Ümmügülsüm Sultan, the possible daughter of Ahmed I. The relazione of Angelo Alessandri from 1637, Page 649 says: "Ha il Gran Signore di congionti per sangue quatro sorelle ancora, ma fuori di seraglio, essendo tutte maritate in visiri." And since I am not really speaking italian, I am not sure if "per sangue quatro sorelle" means full-sister or just a way to say sister (and so can mean half sister too). One of my followers - who says he speaks italian - says it means full-sister and confirms that beside Ayse, Fatma and Hanzade there was another full-sister of Murad IV. I mean while I have my doubts, Alderson also lists one Ümmügülsüm (wife of Halil Pasha) based on harem registers, who had the same amount of salary in 1639 as Ayse, Fatma and Hanzade, the daughters of Kösem (and some other women - possible daughters of Murad III had the same amount, while Atike and one Hatice possibly daughters of Ahmed I had less salary). Also, there is the known other register that you also mentioned on ottomanladies page, based on Tezcan: “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: Umm-i Külsum, Hanzade, Halime, Fatma, and Akile.” The fact that there was one Ümmügülsüm in 1622 who was still unmarried, and then in 1639 she had the same amount of stipend as Ayse, Fatma, Hanzade and the relazione mentioning that 4 (full)sister thing, maybe suggests that Kösem and Ahmed MAY had another daughter together, Ümmügülsüm? What do you think?

Hello! I guess my askbox on ottomanladies is still closed.

So, your follower is right; what Angelo Alessandri says in his relazione is that Murad IV has four full-blooded sisters who all live outside the palace because they are married. When I read this part, I simply assumed that the fourth princess was Gevherhan but we don’t have any information about her after Recep Pasha’s death in 1632. Then, I assumed he was wrong because it wouldn’t be the first time a European ambassador mistook half-siblings for full-blooded siblings.

About Ümmügülsüm, I have always assumed he was a daughter of Mehmed III’s or Murad III’s. I have never paid attention to her, as I’m sure you know from my posts on ottomanladies.

But you made me curious so I spent some time looking into this.

First, I think you meant Dumas when you mentioned that list based on harem registers because I have found it in Les Perles de Nacre du Sultanate. Alderson doesn’t list an Ümmügülsüm Sultan among Ahmed I’s daughters (unless I somehow missed it).

Secondly, I think there is a problem with this source: on page 62, the register is from February 1649 to February 1650. In Annex A, though, (page 461), she says that the same register is dated February 1639. So what is the truth? February 1639, because the register keeps saying “Şevval 1048”, and that’s February-March 1639 (you can google it). The mistake on page 62 is… weird, though.

Moreover, the list above is somewhat different from the transliteration she put in Annexe A. For example, on page 463 she says that the register says “Hümaşah Sultan merhum Nakkaş Hasan Pasha”, but on the list she put on page 62, the same Hümaşah Sultan is married to one Hüseyin Pasha. I don’t understand why she changed the source without addressing it— or is it just a typing mistake? I hope it is because I think Hümaşah Sultan was truly married to Nakkaş Hasan Pasha: Nakkaş Hasan Pasha was identified as married to one of Ahmed I’s aunts by the Baron de Selignac, and a letter dated 6 October 1642 by a Ragusian diplomat lists among Ibrahim’s aunts one “Humascie sultana moglie di Hasan Pascia [Hümaşah sultan wife of Hasan Pasha]”. In another letter, this one dated 7 July 1648, Hümaşah is identified as “moglie di Nachasc Hasanpascia Humasce sultan vedova [Hümaşah sultan, widow of Nakkaş Hasan Pasha]”.

If Dumas voluntarily changed Hasan Pasha into Hüseyin Pasha then I don’t know why she did it because contemporary evidence suggests that this princess called Hümaşah was Ahmed I’s aunt and therefore Ibrahim’s great-aunt (I won’t fault the Ragusian diplomat for not stating the difference because it wasn’t done often at the time), and was married to Nakkaş Hasan Pasha, who is called “merhum” in the harem register because he was deceased at the time.

Similarly, on page 462, it is listed one “Kameri Sultan merhum Sofi Bayram Pasha”, but on the list on page 62, she is called Fahri. Again, what prompted Dumas to change the wife’s name? Is it because Öztuna says that Fahri/Fahriye Sultan (daughter of Murad III) was married to Sofu Bayram Pasha? Then again, why was she called Kameri in the register? Is it a mistake from the clerk or did she have multiple names? Or did Dumas transliterate her name wrong? Or did she change the princess’ name into Fahri because that’s what Öztuna says? Interestingly, in the family trees in Annex B, she’s called Fahri again. The same Ragusian diplomat above also lists the wife of Bayram Pasha: “Vanni sultana moglie di Soffi Bariam Pascia”; unfortunately I cannot say what Vanni should be because it doesn’t sound like Kameri at all. It could sound like Fahri but… it’s a stretch.

Beyhan Sultan, Safiye Sultan, and Mihrimah Sultan are widows too but it’s difficult to identify them because their husbands are one “Mustafa Pasha”, one “Mehmed Pasha”, and a “Mehmed Pasha from Kefe”. I tried to google this Mehmed Pasha from Kefe and everyone says he was married to Mihrimah Sultan, daughter of Murad III. The problem is the sources of this claim (on those websites) do not say this. The Ragusian letter talks about a Beyhan Sultan married to a “Mustai Pascia” which could be Mustafa Pasha, but this is all I have to say.

I also would like to highlight that the princesses listed in the Ragusian letter are those who received gifts from the Ragusian diplomat so there could have been more, especially aunts.

As for “Atike Sultan Kenan Pasha” (who receives 9,900 aspers per month): she seems to be Ahmed I’s daughter Atike (also confirmed by the Ragusian letter, who lists her among Ibrahim's sister).

Now, about “Ümmügülsüm Sultan Halil Pasha” (who receives 12,900 aspers per month): I still personally maintain that she was an aunt and not a sister. I could not identify her, nor her husband Halil Pasha, but we have to keep in mind that we don’t have all the names of Mehmed III’s daughters. In the Ragusian letter dated 1648, there’s one “moglie di Hersechli Ahmet Pascia Iumi sultan [wife of Hersekli (? it could mean that he comes from Herzegovina) Ahmed Pasha, Iumi Sultan” (Iumi kind of sounds like Ümmi). It’s basically ten years later Dumas' list so she could have changed husband in the meantime but unfortunately, I couldn’t identify “Hersechli Ahmet Pascia”— if someone else has information about him, please do not hesitate to share (with sources, please).

I’m sorry this was so long and unhelpful, I was carried away :(((

EDIT: I have found the Ragusian letters in V. Miović - Per favore della Soltana: Powerful Ottoman Women and Ragusan Diplomats

[reallifesultanas]

Lets talk about Ümmügülsüm Sultan

There is a chance, that Kösem and Ahmed had another daughter together: Ümmügülsüm.

I am so glad, that with Anonymous sender and Ottomanladies, the truth came to light. Ottomanladies answered very long and very detailed about Ümmügülsüm, she shared her thoughts about the topic, now, here, you can find a conclusion from me:

What we know:

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: Umm-i Külsum(=Ümmügülsüm), Hanzade, Halime, Fatma, and Akile. Hanzade and Fatma were Kösem's daughters; Akile is possibly mistaken for Atike or Abide; Halime might be Mehmed III's daughter, named after her mother, Halime. But Ümmügülsüm was less clear.

The relazione of Angelo Alessandri from 1637 says that Murad IV had four FULL-sisters. We know three of them: Ayse, Fatma, and Hanzade. But who could be the fourth? Gevherhan was already dead, Atike was well-knownly not a full-sister and also not Abide. Maybe Ümmügülsüm?

There are some decisions and letters of Murad IV, where he mentions Ümmügülsüm as a sister of his. He uses the same wording that he used for Ayse, who undoubtedly was his full-sister, suggesting Ümmügülsüm was also a full-sister of his.

The 1638/39 harem registers mention one Ümmügülsüm Sultan who received the highest payments besides the three already known daughters of Kösem (Ayse, Fatma, Hanzade) and two daughters of Murad III. This means she could be either the daughter of Murad III or Ahmed I. But since Ahmed I's other daughter, Atike - who was not Kösem's - got a lesser stipend, if Ümmügülsüm is Ahmed I's daughter, she had to be Kösem's daughter too and so she is the fourth full-sister of Sultan Murad IV.

In 1648 the Raguzan envoy also mentions her (possibly her as they use the name Iumi), as the wife of Ahmed Pasha, governor of Herzegovina. They probably married ~1642 until the pasha's death in 1648. This was her second marriage, her first husband was one Halil Pasha, with whom she married before 1638.

In book ''Whisper of the cities'' one Ümmühan Sultan is mentioned as she met with the English ambassador's wife. Based on her, Ümmühan was said to be the aunt of deposed Mehmed IV and sister of Ibrahim I. This happened in 1690, so she still was alive then.

There are still questions:

Why no historian ever discovered this information as none of the evidence is new?

Why Ümmi is not mentioned among Ahmed I's children?

Where is she buried? *

When was she born? *

Why Ibrahim did not force her to serve Telli Hümasah (his wife) when he did it to all of the other daughters of Kösem?

To be honest the burial place of Ahmed I is quite a mess. For example there are two sarcofagies for 'Zeynep' daughters of Ahmed I. One of the sarcofagies stands for an adult woman. There was no daughter of Ahmed, called Zeynep who reached adulthood. So maybe the name is mistaken and that Ümmügülsüm. Maybe she was buried somewhere else as she lived a quite long life, survivin everyone around her and her grave is not idetified yet.

Considering the known children of Kösem and their birth date, the most possible for Ümmügülsüm is that she was born during the late reign of Ahmed I. In 1605 Kösem gave birth to Mehmed; in 1606 or 1607 to Ayse; then in 1607 or 1608 to Fatma; in 1609 to Hanzade. While I see that there is a gap here for one more child (if Kösem got pregnant extremely rapidly), she cannot be older than Fatma, as she was also not married off in 1622 yet, and also since we know quite precisely the sequence of these daughters, I do not think another one was born here but no one knows about her. It would be strange. Then in 1612, she gave birth to Murad, but between him and Hanzade there was time for another child - let it be Selim who was born in 1611 or Ümmügülsüm. Then Kasim followed Murad quite quickly, he was born in 1614, and then Ibrahim came in 1615, so there was no time for anyone else between Murad and Ibrahim. After 1615 there is another chance for the birth of Ümmügülsüm. So she either was born after Hanzade (~1611), or after Ibrahim (~1616). Either way - considering she was not just still alive in 1690, but was surely not suffering, dying since she was involved in the diplomacy meeting - she possibly died in the 1690s, she very probably reached 80 maybe even more in the end.

[kosemsultanim]

History Week Meme | Day 3: one woman → Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan

“While Hurrem was the woman of the Ottoman dynasty best know in Europe, it is Kösem who is remembered by Turks as the most powerful. Kösem’s career was similar to that of Hurrem in important respects. She had a large number of children and may have ultimately become the sultan’s only sexual partner. She was the mother of sultans Murad IV and İbrahim, of the prince Kasım, and perhaps of the prince Süleyman; her daughters include Ayşe, Fatma, Hanzade, and perhaps Gevherhan, whose husbands she relied on in her political dealings. In 1612 the Venetian ambassador Simon Contarini described Kösem as a woman of “beauty and shrewdness, and furthermore ... of many talents, she sings excellently, whence she continues to be extremely well loved by the king ... Not that she is respected by all, but she is listened to in some matter and is the favorite of the king, who wants her beside him continually....” According to Cristoforo Valier in 1616, Kösem was the most powerful of the sultan’s intimate associates: “she can do what she wishes with the King and possesses his heart absolutely, nor is anything ever denied to her.” Contarini noted, however, that Kösem “restrains herself with great wisdom from speaking [to the sultan] too frequently of serious matters and affairs of state.” Her circumspection was probably aimed at avoiding the displeasure of the sultan, who was determined to avoid giving the appearance of being dominated by a woman, as his father had been.

Unlike Hurrem, Kösem’s greatest influence occurred not as haseki but as valide sultan. She held this position for twenty-eight years during the reigns of her sons Murad IV and İbrahim and the early years of the reign of her grandson Mehmed IV. It is even possible that Kösem played a role in the transformation of the succession system: the Venetian ambassador stated that she lobbied to spare Mustafa the fate of fratricide with the ulterior goal of saving her own sons from the same fate. Like Hurrem, Kösem is blamed for acting to preserve her own power rather than that of the sultan or of the dynasty. It is certainly worth noting that the two women of the dynasty to suffer the harshest judgment by history had two things in common: the absence of a valide sultan during most of their career as haseki and an unusually large number of sons. What appears to have earned them their unsavory reputation was their power to influence that fate of the empire by favoring one of their sons over another. As we have seen, the political heritage of the Ottomans viewed the succession as a domain governed by divine will.” - Leslie P. Peirce; The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire

[everythingieverloved]

Ayşe Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I and Kösem) + history

Ayşe Sultan was born in 1605/8. Due to the long standing practice of marrying off princesses for political ends, many princesses were married or engaged as small children, meaning that by the time they came of age, they might have been married multiple times due to high risk lives that the chosen men would have been leading. Ayşe was married at least six times, and by the time of her final bethrothal, she was about fifty years old. At seven years old, Ahmed married Ayşe to Grand Vizir Nasuh Paşa. The engagement and wedding ceremonies took place over a number of months along with those of her sister, Gevherhan Sultan, to Mehmed Paşa. The celebrations by their father, Ahmed, were so extravagant that they seemed to the public as if they marked the end of the wars and the start of prosperity, which is what Ahmed had promised them when his reign began. Gevherhan’s rich dowry included a bridal crown made of solid gold, a large chest of jewels and precious stones, and numerous silk roles carried by 240 mules from Topkapi Palace to her new palace on the Hippodrome, which was also a present from Ahmed. As their weddings took place at the same time with similar celebrations, I imagine Ayşe would also have had a similarly rich dowry. She was also given a palace, called Salacak, which she owned in her own right. In 1614 Nasuh was executed by Ahmed, leaving Ayşe a widow at the tender age of nine.Ayşe married five more paşa’s after this. Two were killed in battle, one was assassinated, and two died of natural causes. In 1636, Kösem arranged Ayşe’s third marriage to Grand Vizir Hafiz Ahmet Paşa, and wrote the following to him just months before the marriage took place, “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.” This third marriage lasted until 1631, when a Janissary revolt forced Murad IV to hand over Hafiz Ahmet for them to take their vengeance out on, or else they were ready to depose Murad in favor of his brother. Hafiz Ahmet, and the fifteen other members of the court given to the Jannisaries, were then slaughtered, leaving Ayşe a widow yet again. Three years later, she was married yet again to another paşa, who would die in just four years, leading to her next marriage in 1645 to Voynuk Ahmet Paşa, who would die in battle in 1649. This led to her final marriage in 1655 to Ibşir Mustafa Paşa, but this one would end in May of the same year when he was executed after his cavalry united with the janissaries in rebellion against him. After this,Ayşe would live out her remaining few years as a widow, dying in 1656/7. She is buried in her father’s tomb at the mosque he built, appropriately named the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. However, different sources give different final husbands for her. One says Voynuk AhmetPaşa was her final husband, widowing her at 39. And yet another says it was a man named Haleb Ahmet Paşa who widowed her for a final time at 39. But the majority of sources that I’ve read seem to agree onIbşir Mustafa Paşa being her final husband and widowing her in 1655. There is no evidence that she loved any of these men, as is the case with most princesses in the Ottoman Empire married off in this way. She did have one child though, but that child died in infancy. Aside from her marriages, she also suffered under the reign of her brother, İbrahim I, in the same way Hanzade, Fatma, and Kaya Sultan did. And as I already went into this today in an earlier ask, I’m going to copy that information here. ‘Under İbrahim I, she, along with her sisters, were now ranked under İbrahim’s concubines and were forced to attend his haseki, Humaşah, as servants. He also took away their lands and jewels, likely for the purpose of redistributing them to his hasekis. In addition to these humiliations, her stipend, and that of all princesses, was set to a maximum of 400 aspers a day, which was significantly lower than that of their brother’s concubines, who were awarded between 1,000 and 1,300 aspers a day.’Sources:Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) and His Immediate Predecessors, Günhan Börekçi.Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul, John Freely. The Imperial Harem, Leslie Peirce. Private World of Ottoman Women, Godfrey Goodwin.  Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire, Caroline Finkel.Istanbul City Guide (English)

[fauzhee10069]

Hϋrrem and Kösem as mothers (based on Turkish drama Muhteşem Yüzyıl and Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem)

Since Hϋrrem’s portrayal as main character in Muhteşem Yüzyıl and Kösem got her own drama in Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, many people love to compare them. Numerous posts and thread about Hϋrrem vs Kösem, from which better sultana, which better woman, which better wife including which better mother between them, be it based on drama or historically.

Some people said that Kösem is bad mother, some people said that Hürrem was better mother than her. I think this could be right based on these shows (I will leave the history matter since it’s hard to judge based on historical account and most importantly is we don’t live their life nor witness it with our own eyes about how their life exactly went). I think Kösem was somewhat colder than Hürrem when she interacts with her children, in MY Hürrem was warmer to her children, I love how she praised and comforted Mihrimah, whenever her bonding with Mihrimah, there was the scene when she was combing her hair, or when Mihrimah was sleeping on Hürrem's lap etc. I also love how Hürrem gave her last advice to Selim and Beyazid, Hürrem was full of warmth compared to Kösem's coldness. I saw how the way Kösem comforted Gevherhan in MYK season 2, she said to Gevherhan that as her daughter she should be strong like her, she likely forgot that her daughter is a different individually (Gevherhan is not Kösem), it is as if she didn't really know who and how her own daughter actually is, also I think that she did it just for the sake of did it, like: "Oh, my daughter is sad I have to consolate her like how a good mother should" and after she was done with it, "I'm done, at least I did it" whether she was sure that Gevherhan felt fine or not. Seems like Kösem didn't really understand her children.

Kösem may lost from Hürrem as which better mother competition, but before we think that Kösem was terrible mother, we should consider this: remember that Kösem cannot be compared with normal mother from normal modern family (like how we live now). She even couldn't be compared to Hürrem because their situation was different, Hürrem could had more time and focus to take care her children because Suleyman was the one who ruled the state as Padishah, Suleyman even outlived her. Kösem outlived Ahmed, Ahmed died prematurely when he was still young, leaving Kösem with her little children, Mustafa deemed incapable, Halime who was in charge as de facto ruler died (drama!Kösem killed her because they had conflict), Osman died and Mustafa got dethroned, leaving little Murad to take the throne and as we all know Kösem became regent for him. With Kösem getting occupied with state matters, perhaps she had lesser time to take care her children because she had bigger burden now, governing the state besides taking care her family, Kösem herself realized this:

“I carried the burden of the state all these years so much that I couldn’t make time for my children. I have neglected them.”

(Kösem sultan, episode 55/S2E25)

Kösem lesser time to take care and educate her children resulted that her children hardly capable to solve their problems, example is: how Gevherhan and Atike had conflict about their romantic problem, even Kösem failed to solve it because like I said previously that she didn't really understand her children, her daughters were useless in political matters (at least based on the show), they also didn't understand nor feel Kösem's struggle to survive. In contrast with Hürrem and her enough time to care and educate her children, one of the result as example was how capable and brilliant Mihrimah was, she helped her mother a lot during her hard times, she survived alone after Hürrem's death when she had to fight the remaining nemesis, Nurbanu (and in history she could rule harem as Valide Sultan in Hürrem's stead).

We could compared Hürrem and Kösem's situation in modern days with how a mother with complete family (with her husband around her) and a single widowed mother take care their children, widowed mother have to work to fulfill the household expenses but at the same time she is responsible to care her children too. When Kösem had lesser opportunity to spend her time with her children than Hürrem, Kösem also had more children than Hürrem (Kösem had eight children, seven during her regency whereas Hürrem had five children).

Not only their situations are different, Hürrem and Kösem are different persons as individual, their personality etc are different like how we're all different. Based on the show, Kösem might be the more of leader type person who loved to be in charge of everything, whereas Hürrem was contented with how she was. I saw that Kösem loved to play a mother figure here, from how she wanted to take care Meleki and Osman (when their mother died) and later Beyazid (this I don't completely agree with her since Beyazid's mother Gulbahar was still alive) like her own children. Kösem's playing mother figure didn't go very well as Mehmed thought that she loved Osman more than him, her own son. Hürrem was focused taking care and protecting her own children, Mustafa still had his mother Mahidevran. I think in MYK, Kösem was established as a woman destined to rule the state and they gave Kösem a leadership nature (though it's a shame that her regency got skipped), she often shows in public taking care people even when Ahmed was still around whereas Hürrem was simply a woman in love and loved by sultan and fought her way to survive in the harsh life in harem while also supporting her dearest Suleyman. Hürrem lived in steady government when the situation was stable, she only lived during Suleyman's rule. Kösem lived when the state was unstable, the sultans got constantly changed (and so did their regulations), there were five sultans (perhaps six if Turhan's Mehmed IV is counted too) during her life including her regencies. Sometimes I think that Kösem with her mind & wits loved to get involved in everything whereas Hürrem knew when she had to step back, I guess it's just their nature.

Also remember that Kösem became regent initially not because she chose to be, but her situation was what pushed her to take that role in contrast with Wu Zetian who wanted to rule and became the "Female Emperor" even when her sons were available to rule.

TL;DR I don't think we could compare Kösem with Hürrem and I wish I could stop every "Kösem vs Hürrem" state of mind but highly unlikely.

[nellygwyn]

The career of Mehmed III's son and successor, Ahmed I (r. 1603-1617), was very much like that of Süleyman: he chose as his haseki his second or third concubine, Mahpeyker Sultan, known popularly as Kösem. While Hürrem was the woman of the Ottoman dynasty best known in Europe, it is Kösem who is remembered by Turks as the most powerful. Kösem's career was similar to that of Hürrem's in important respects. She had a large number of children and may have ultimately been the sultan's only sexual partner. She was the mother of the sultans Murad IV and Ibrahim, of the prince Kasim, and perhaps of the prince Süleyman: her daughters included Ayşe, Fatma, Hanzade, and perhaps Gevherhan, whose husbands she relied on in political dealings. In 1612, the Venetian ambassador, Simon Contarini, described Kösem as a woman of 'beauty and shrewdness and furthermore....of many talents, she sings excellently, whence she continues to be well loved by the king. Not that she is respected by all, but she is listened to in some matters and is the favourite of the king, who wants her by his side continually.' According to Cristoforo Valier in 1616, Kösem was the most powerful of the sultan's intimate associates: 'she can do what she wishes with the King and possesses his heart absolutely, nor is anything ever denied to her'

the relationship between Sultan Ahmed I and his haseki (favourite), Kösem Sultan.

Leslie Peirce, The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire

[onlinebookshoppak]

Kosem Sultan By Solmaz Kamuran

Book Name

Kosem Sultan (کوسم سلطان)

Author Solmaz Kamuran

Book Publishers ?

Language. Urdu

Category Novel History 

Book Code 119

Paper Black 

Pages ?

Rs 800

Rs 700

Book Quality Paper Black 

 Whatsapp +92312-9775152

E-mail onlinebookshop.pk@gmail.com

ABOUT 

معروف ترک ادیبہ، مترجم اور کالم نگار سولمازکاموران (Kosem Sultan) استنبول میں 1954ءمیں پیدا ہوئیں۔ زیرنظر کتاب ”کوسم سلطان“ اُن کے ناول (Kosem Sultan) کا اردو ترجمہ ہے۔ اس ناول کی کہانی، تاریخ اور تخیل کے امتزاج پر مبنی ہے۔ 

عثمانی سلطان احمت 1603ءمیں اپنے والد محمت سوم کی بے وقت موت کے بعد تخت نشیں ہوا اور یہیں سے اس کہانی کا آغاز ہوتا ہے۔ ناول کا مرکزی کردار ”کوسم“ ہے جس کا تعلق یونانی جزیرے تینوس سے تھا۔ پندرہ برس کی عمر میں اغواکاروں نے اسے بوسنیا کے گورنر کے ہاتھ فروخت کیا جہاں سے وہ عثمانی شاہی حرم میں بھیج دی گئی۔ وہ عثمانی سلطان احمت کی منظورِنظر کنیز اور بعدازاں قانونی بیوی بنی۔ وہ دو عثمانی سلاطین سلطان مراد چہارم اور سلطان ابراہیم کی ماں، اور سلطان محمت چہارم کی دادی تھی۔ 

سلطان سلیمان عالیشان کے بعد ��ولہویں اور سترہویں صدی عیسوی میں 130سال سے زائد عرصہ عثمانی سلطنت پر شاہی حرم کی خواتین کی درپردہ حکومت رہی جو سلاطین کی منظورِنظر خواتین یا نوعمر سلاطین کی ماﺅں کی حیثیت سے ریاستی معاملات میں بے پناہ سیاسی اثرورسوخ رکھتی تھیں۔ اس کا ایک سبب برادرکشی کی روایت بھی تھی۔ سلطان محمت نے تخت نشینی کے بعد اپنے 19 بھائیوں کا سر قلم کیا تھا۔ 

کوسم سلطان، سلطنت عثمانیہ کی طاقتور ترین خاتون تھی۔ وہ دو مرتبہ نائب سلطنت رہی۔ ”خواتین کی سلطنت“ کی یہ ممتازترین شخصیت اپنے قتل کے بعد لوگوں میں ”والدہ مقتول“ اور ”شہید والدہ“ کے نام سے جانی گئی۔ سلطنت عثمانیہ کے پایہ¿ تخت استنبول کی گلیوں میں کئی روز تک اس کے بے رحمانہ قتل کا ماتم کیا جاتا رہا۔ 

Famous Turks, translators and columnists, Kosem Sultan, were born in Istanbul in 1954. The book "Undermine Sultan" is a translation of Urdu's translation of Kosem Sultan. The story of this novel is based on the combination of history and imagination. Ottoman Sultan Ahmat was throne after the death of his father Mohmat Som in 1603, and this story starts from here. The novel's role is "Kosmos", which belonged to the Greek island of Tunisia. At the age of fifteen, the abductors sold him to the governor of Bosnia, where he was sent to the Ottoman royal palace. They were Kansen and later legal lawmakers in view of Ottoman Sultan Ahmet. He was the grandmother of two Ottoman slants Sultan Murad IV and the mother of Sultan Ibrahim, and Sultan Mohmat IV. After Sultan Sulman Islashan, in the sixteenth and seventh centuries CE, more than 130 years of Ottoman Empire embedded in the dominant government of the royal hammers, who had a political influence in the state affairs as a mothers of women or teenagers, in view of the slavery. One reason for this was also the tradition of a brotherhood. Sultan Talmat had headed his 19 brothers after the throne. Kausar Sultan was the powerful woman of Ottoman Empire. He was twice the Vice Empire. This prominent personality of "Women's Empire" was named after the "mother of death" and "martyrdom" in his people after his death. During the streets of Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire of Ottoman, many unhealthy murders were mourned for many days.

  Nothing bad, but there is a Kosen Sultan who appears to hold the Guinness record for being the world’s tallest man, so not to be confused.)

In reality, the harem was an enclosed space for the women of the royal household, etymologically derived from the Arabic haram—forbidden—which allowed elite women to live in seclusion and yet still have access to and even exert control over the seat of power. In the Ottoman Empire, the women of the harem could be very influential, even enjoying a period in the 16th and 17th centuries known as the “Sultanate of Women” when, through regencies and political strategizing, they were practically in charge. It’s worth noting that this partly coincided with the height of the Empire’s power.

Kösem Sultan is one of the most extraordinary of these women. Born on a small Greek island around 1585, she eventually made her way to Constantinople at age fifteen, sold into the harem of the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, where she became a favorite of his and then became one of his wives.

Ahmed died in 1617, and in 1623 Kösem’s son Murad IV became Sultan and Kösem became Valide Sultan, or Mother of the Sultan. Because Murad was a minor, Kösem was his official regent—the first woman to ever rule the Ottoman Empire and one of only two who ever would. She was regent for nine years.

Now, as I hinted at earlier, the Ottoman Empire in this period was nothing to sneeze at. Its subjects numbered around thirty million, and its reach extended across North Africa, Eastern Europe, and most of what we now know as the Middle East. Like many empires, it could have probably quit while it was ahead circa 1550, but continued to expand and was mostly still doing A-OK until 1683, when the Ottomans whiffed at the disastrous siege of Vienna, undertaken by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha.

                     Kosem Sultan (کوسم سلطان)              Born: Tinos, Greece                                                    Died: 2 September 1651, Constantinople   Buried: Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey           Spouse: Life Patterns                ↓

Ahmed I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the end of the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth Ottoman

Son Of  Kosem Sultan (کوسم سلطان)

1. Murad IV

Murad IV was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Istanbul, the son of Sultan Ahmed I and the ethnic Greek Kösem Sultan

مراد IV سلطنت سلطنت عثمان سلطنت 1623 سے 1640 تک تھا، دونوں ریاستوں کو ریاستی اور ان کے طریقوں کے ظلم و امان کے بحال کرنے کے لئے جانا جاتا تھا. مراد IV میں استنبول، سلطان احمد I اور نسلی یونانی کوسم سلطان کے بیٹے پیدا ہوئے

2. Ibrahim

Ibrahim was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Constantinople the son of Ahmed I by Valide Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia

ابراہیم عثمان سلطنت کی سلطان 1640 سے 1648 تک تھی. وہ پیدا ہوئے تھے، احمد احمد کا بیٹا کنڈننولوال میں ویلڈ کوسم سلطان، ایک اصل یونانی اصل میں اناساساسیا کے نام سے

3. Şehzade Kasım

Born: 1614, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 17 February 1638, Istanbul, Turkey

4.Şehzade Suleiman

Born: 1613, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 27 July 1635, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey

5. Şehzade Mehmed

Born: 8 March 1605, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 12 January 1621, Istanbul, Turkey

6. Şehzade Orhan

Born: 1609, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 1612, Istanbul, Turkey

7. Şehzade Sultan Selim

Murad IV's brother

Born: 27 June 1611, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 27 July 1611, Istanbul, Turkey

8. Gevherhan Sultan

Gevherhan Sultan was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan, half-sister of Sultan Osman II, and sister of Sultans Murad IV and Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia

Born: 1608, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 1660, Istanbul, Turkey

9. Burnaz Atike Sultan

Burnaz Atike Sultan was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan Ahmed I, half-sister of Sultan Osman II, and sister of Sultans Murad IV and Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire.was an Ottoman princess. Wikipedia

Born: 1614, Istanbul Province, Turkey

Died: 1674, Istanbul Province, Turkey

10.Hanzade Sultan

Kösem Sultan's daughter

Hanzade Sultan was an Ottoman princess. She was the daughter of Sultan Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan. She was a sister of Osman II, Murad IV and Ibrahim, and the paternal aunt of Mehmed IV. Wikipedia

Born: September 1607, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 21 September 1650, Istanbul, Turk

11. Ayşe Sultan

Daughter of Ahmed I

Image result for Ayşe Sultan

Ayşe Sultan was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan, half-sister of Sultan Osman II and sister of Sultan Murad IV and Sultan Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire. Ayşe is known for her many politically motivated marriages. Wikipedia

Born: 1605, Constantinople

Died: May 1657, Istanbul, Turkey

12.  Fatma Sultan 

was an Ottoman princess. She was the daughter of Sultan Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan, sister of Murad IV and Ibrahim, and the paternal aunt of Mehmed IV. She is known for her many political marriages. Wikipedia

Born: 1606, Istanbul, Turkey

Died: 1670, Istanbul, Turkey

13. Cemre Sultan

Kösem Sultan's daughter

Born: 1616, Istanbul, Turkey

Parents: Kösem Sultan

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2BPACoe

[haticesultanas]

Hi! Previously in Ottomanladies you answered an ask about marriages of Burnaz Atike, Gevherhan and little Atike. So, some historians confused Burnaz Atike with one of Ibrahim's daughters when they claim she married Musahib Cafer Pasha (d.1647) in 1630, as according to Giorgio Giustinian in 1627, Koca Kenan (d. 1652) was already married to Murad IV's sister (Pedani, p.596). And some historians say Gevherhan was the one who married Cafer in November 1646, like Sakaoglu.

And according to Joseph von Hammer, the youngest daughter of Ibrahim betrothed to Cafer was married to the other Kenan, Sari Kenan (d. 1659). But some historians separate the wives of these pashas as Gevherhan marrying Cafer and her sister Atike marrying Sari Kenan, with Atike going on to marry Ismail Pasha.

However, in "Dubrovacka akta i povelje", a report of 1650s refers to "Ghiusciahato sultana moglie di Chieman passa", so it seems to me she married Sari Kenan after Cafer died. And the "Mémoires du Sieur de la Croix" in 1670s, pages 368, 369, 370 and 371 says: "Les soeurs du Grand Seigneur (...) la premiere fut mariée à trois ans, & eftoit à dix avec fon second mary Affaki Mehemet Pasha, Gouverneur dAlep, il fuit étranglé fous pretexte de fauffe monnoye, & elle fe maria pour la troisiéme fois avec Ibrahim Pacha Tefterdar, du depuis Pacha du Kaire, dAlep, & enfin Capitan Pacha, aprés la mort duquel Jemblat Oglou Gouverneur du Kaire la épousée en quatriéme nopces. La seconde mariée auffi jeune que sa soeur, a eu cinq maris, dont le dernier la prit vierge, à cause dun défaut de nature (...) Je ne fcay pas le nom des deux premiers, le troisiéme fut Sinan Pacha, lequel estant Capitan Pacha, perdit la Bataille des Dardanelles (...) Le quetriéme eftoit Ismael Pacha, ce grand Seigneur l ayant choifi pour und es Lieutenans generaux de l armée dHongrie (...) Le cinquiéme sappelle Kassum Pacha, il est Chirurgien de profession"

The quote says Mehmed IV had 2 sisters in 1670s. The 1st married Haseki Cavuszade Mehmed Pasha, then Defterdar Ibrahim Pasha and then a Canpulatoglu (son of Kosems Fatma?). The other, younger than the first, was married to "Sinan" who was Kaptaniderya, so it should be Sari Kenan. After him she married Ismail Pasha and then Cerrah Kasim Pasha, and also had 2 husbands before the first.

(All in all, I believe the first sister who married Haseki Cavuszade could be Beyhan instead, as in 1653, according to "Dubrovacka akta i povelje" she is called "Behar sultana, moglie di passa di Cairo", and in 1563 this was Haseki Cavuszade Mehmed; but interestingly historians believe he was Gevherhans second husband instead...)

In "Per favore della Soltana", several lists give us marriages of Gevherhan. In 1648, she is called widow of Cafer, in 1662 she is wife of Ismail Pasha, and in 1670 she is called wife of Casciu Pascia who is probably Cerrah Kasim Pasha. And in 1676 and 1680, she is called wife of a Canpolatoglu and not another Sultana as Croix claimed.

Paul Rycaut in "The Present State of the Ottoman Empire" also says Gevherhan married Ismail Pasha (and then remarried to Gurcu Mehmed Pasha): "At this tenderness of age, Sultan Ibrahim, father of the present Grand Signior, married three of his daughters, one of which was called Gheaher Han Sultan, hath had already five husbands, and yet as is reported by the world, remains a virgin; the last husband deceased was Ishmael Pasha, who was slain in the passage of the River Raab; and is now again married to Guirgi Mehemet Pasha of Buda".

So it seems to me that Gevherhan married the following: Musahib Cafer in 1646, Sari Kenan in 1647, Ismail Pasha after him, then Gurcu Mehmed, then Cerrah Kasim Pasha, and then maybe a Canpulatoglu (unless that was the other sister like Croix claimed, maybe Beyhan?), before finally marrying Palabiyik Yusuf later in life.

But after all this, I want to ask whether its possible that this sister of Mehmed IV called Atike existed at all? Because it seems quite certain that Gevherhan married Kenan Pasha and Ismail Pasha, not one named Atike, and historians did make a confusion with Burnaz Atikes marriages. And if little Atike didnt exist, was Gevherhan the full-sister of Mehmed IV instead? I know Gevherhan is believed to be born in 1642, and with Mehmed and Fatma it gets too much for Turhan, but Hammer describes her as the youngest daughter in 1647, and if the sister who married Haseki Mehmed was Beyhan, and she was reportedly married for the first time to another at the age of 3 as Croix claims, and the sister who married Sari Kenan and the others was younger than her, then Beyhan could still be born in 1645 as she married Hezarpare in 1648, and Gevherhan was born after her...

Hi! Please be patient with me because these asks take time to unwrap and I’m only doing this in my free time.

I think you’re talking about this ask. About the confusion, it’s something that Uluçay too believes:

Alderson confused the daughters of Ahmed I, Murad IV and Sultan Ibrahim, so he made mistakes.

Alderson confused the daughters of Ibrahim with the daughters of Ahmed I and Mehmed IV, and therefore made some mistakes.

and he’s right because the rapid successions plus the practice of marrying princesses as children created so much confusion.

(it’s so funny that he says that twice lmao)

Okay, so your theory is that Atike Sultan binti Ibrahim doesn’t exist and that some historians seem to have mistaken Burnaz Atike with a daughter of Ibrahim? I hope I understood well.

Everything under the read more (it's very... heavy, sorry lol)

I read Giustiniani’s relazione and the math is not really mathing because he says Murad IV put his four brothers-in-law at the highest posts of government but then mentions five brothers-in-law:

Çatalcalı Haşan Pasha: he’s Fatma’s husband

Hafiz Ahmed Pasha: he’s Ayşe’s husband

Bayram Pasha: he’s Hanzade’s husband

(Recep Pasha: he’s Gevherhan’s husband) > Giustiniani only mentions her as Osman II's elder sister

“Chinan” who, you believe, was Koca Sofu Kenan Pasha

“Mustaffà” ?? who is he??

Sicill-i Osmani says that Kenan Pasha married Burnaz Atike in 1633-34, but Giustinian’s last dispatch from Istanbul was dated 4 July 1627 so… did he foresee the future? Were there more Kenan Pashas?

(Also, who is that Mustafa??)

Now, onto Ibrahim's daughters.

So, I made this table to semplify things because I was going insane with all the information.

I think there is some confusion between Haseki Mehmed Pasha, who was strangled in Aleppo in June 1661 (like de la Croix says), and Çavuşzade/Çavuşoğlu Mehmed Paşa, who lived until 1681. Sicill-i Osmani doesn’t call the latter “Haseki” but he’s identified as Gevherhan Sultan’s husband. Now, the princess who married Haseki Mehmed Pasha could have remarried after 1661, but the one who married Çavuşzade/Çavuşoğlu Mehmed had to wait until 1681.

Beyhan is admittedly a mistery because she was married for less then a year to Hezâr-pâre Ahmed Pasha when she was little but afterwards didn’t have a husband for 11 years? It seems strange. If the Ragusian diplomats called her “wife of the pasha of Cairo” and if Haseki Mehmed Pasha was beylerbey of Egypt in 1653 (as Oztuna confirms in Devletler ve Hanedanlar), then Haseki Mehmed Pasha was married to Beyhan binti Ibrahim. Unfortunately my only Ragusian sources come from the essay Per Favore Della Soltana, and in it there’s a gap between a letter dated 1648 and one dated 1662.

About the Canpulatoğlu Pasha, I would like to add that Canbulad-zâde Mustafa Paşa had two sons with Fatma: Sultânzâde Hüseyn Paşa, who was governor of Budin and of Egypt, and Sultânzâde Süleymân Bey. Both lived to adulthood. Moreover, he had a daughter from his previous marriage: Ayşe Hâtûn. Maybe he had other sons too. It is interesting, though, that de la Croix says Canpulatoğlu is Governor of Egypt, because Sultânzâde Hüseyn Paşa was indeed governor of Egypt at some point.

About Atike binti Ibrahim:

(Uluçay doesn't believe she existed)

As we can see, Oztuna and Sakaoğlu use the same source. Oztuna, though, says that Atike binti Ibrahim was buried in Ibrahim’s mausoleum, while Sakaoğlu says that her burial place is unknown. Curiously, Atike binti Ahmed I is buried in Ibrahim’s mausoleum too.

Since Alderson gave his sources, I went to check. This is a passage from Histoire de l’Empire Ottoman, volume 12, pp. 49-50:

L'ainée, Aïsché, fiancée dès l'age de trois ans à Ipschir-Pascha, épousa à dix Mohammed-Pascha, gouverneur de Haleb; ce dernier ayant été décapité comme faux monnoyeur, elle devint la femme du defterdar Ibrahim, gouverneur du Kaire, puis de Haleb, et alors kapitan-pascha; à sa mort, elle fut mariée à Djanbouladzadé, ancien gouverneur d’Ofen, qui depuis remplit les mêmes fonctions au Kaire. La seconde, nommée Aatika, épousa d'abord le vizir Kenaan-Pascha, puis le vizir Yousouf-Pascha, et en troisième lieu le kapitan Sinan-Pascha, qui avait perdu la bataille des Dardanelles contre les Vénitiens; elle eut pour quatrième époux Ismail-Pascha, grand-inquisiteur en Asie, qui fut tué à la bataille de Saint-Gotthardt; enfin elle contracta une cinquième union avec KasimPascha, l'un des pages de la chambre intérieure, et chirurgien de profession, qui, lors de la circoncision du sultan Mohammed , sut arrêter, au moyen d'une poudre astringente, une hémorrhagie qui avait fait tomber le prince-en défaillance, service que ce dernier récompensa plus tard en donnant à Kasim le gouvernement de Temeswar. […] le Sultan, en reconnaissance du sang qu'il lui avait conservé, refusa de répandre le sien, et, pour le sauver, lui donna la main de sa sœur, qu’un vice de conformation avait empêchée d'appartenir à ses premiers maris, et qui, après dix-neuf ans de mariage, entra vierge dans le harem de Kasim. Celui-ci la délivra de son infirmité au moyen d'ine opération qu’il pratiqua pendant le sommeil d'Aatika, assoupie par un narcotique. Ce fut ainsi qu'il acquit des titres puissans aux bonnes grâces de la princesse, comme précédemment il avait mérité la faveur particulière de Mohammed IV.

Doesn’t it kind of sound like de la Croix (below)? I think Hammer’s source is him.

"La premiere fut mariée à trois ans, & estoit à dix avec son second mary Assaki Mehemet Pasha, Gouverneur d’Alep, il fut étranglé sous pretexte de fausse monnoye, & elle se maria pour la troisiéme fois avec Ibrahim Pacha Tefterdar, du depuis Pacha du Kaire, d’Alep, & enfin Capitan Pacha, aprés la mort duquel Jemblat Oglou Gouverneur du Kaire l’a épousée en quatriéme nopces. La seconde mariée aussi jeune que sa soeur, a eu cinq maris, dont le dernier la prit vierge, à cause d’un défaut de nature (...) Je ne sçay pas le nom des deux premiers, le troisiéme fut Sinan Pacha, lequel estant Capitan Pacha, perdit la Bataille des Dardanelles (...) Le quetriéme estoit Ismael Pacha, ce grand Seigneur l’ayant choisi pour un des Lieutenans generaux de l’armée d’Hongrie (...) Le cinquiéme s’appelle Kassum Pacha, il est Chirurgien de profession”

Now, I think Hammer starts with a mistake because Ibsir Mustafa Pasha was one of Ayşe binti Ahmed I’s husbands. Also, it’s impossible to say where he found that Mehmed IV’s eldest sister was named Ayşe. After these mistakes, though, he repeats what de la Croix said: Haseki Mehmed Pasha, Defterdar Ibrahim Pasha, Canbuladzâde Pasha. The second sister is named Atike (so he says) and stayed a virgin until her last husband, Cerrah Kasim Pasha, operated on her to solve some kind of physical problem she had. This story is similar to the one reported by Rycaut, but he named her Gevherhan instead:

At this tenderness of Age, Sultan Ibrahim, Father of the present Grand Signior, married three of his Daughters; one of which called Gheaher Han Sultan, hath had already five Husbands, and yet, as is reported by the World, remains a Virgin; the last Husband deceased was Ishmael Pasha, who was slain in the passage of the River Raab; and is now again married to Gurgi Mahomet Pasha of Buda, a Man of 90 Years of Age, but rich and able to maintain the greatness of her Court, though not to comply with the youthfulness of her Bed, to which he is a stranger like the rest of her preceding Husbands. — p. 40.

It’s possible that Rycaut had already left the Ottoman Empire when this princess married Cerrah Kasim Pasha. He’s the only one talking about Gurci Mehmed Pasha, though… Interestingly, Sakaoğlu corrects Rycaut’s Gürcü into “(Çavuşzade, Haseki)” but, admittedly, his quote is quite different from Rycaut’s original. In Sakaoğlu’s it is said that the pasha is 30, while Rycaut says he’s 90. Moreover, as far as I know, Çavuşzade Mehmed Pasha was never governor of Buda.

In conclusion, I’m more confused than before lol

As for Mehmed IV’s full sister, I really have no opinion on this. Usually, it’s Beyhan who is given as Turhan Hatice’s daughter but with no hard evidence.

You (and other people) can send me asks on ottomanladies now, I have re-opened my ask box. As I have already said, please be patient with me because I don't have much free time and these things need to be analyzed properly :D

[ottomanladies]

Hello,sorry for bothering I saw the topic about the daughters of Sultan Ibrahim,I would like to ask your opinion about who was or were the daughter(s) of Turhan Sultan? Actually did she even have daughters? Hammer mentions that Turhan had tried to save the lives of her sons in laws Sari Kenan Pasa and Haseki Mehmed Pasa from the wrath of Koprulu Mehmed Pasa,but couldn't save their lives due to their participemce in the opposite faction and also because of his corruption deeds which were large too(about Haseki Mehmed Pasa). I read this in the Croatian translation of Hammer's History of Ottoman empire V6(page 458). Whoever were the identitites of(Atike or Gevherhan)of the princess who was wife of Sari Kenan Pasa,and the wife of Haseki Mehmed Pasa(Ayse or Beyhan)seems to be probably daughters of Hatice Turhan Sultan? Also J.Dumas mention in Les perles de nacre sultanate in page 83 Ayse is buried along either to her father Ibrahim or either along Mustafa I. There is also found notebook:Ayşe Sultan’ın Cihaz (Çeyiz) Defteri in name Ayse Sultan about items and jewelry for her dowry in 1682 found in the archives by researchers,who is identified as most likely sister of Mehmed IV. But maybe she was not his sister,but possibly his daughter? Also J.Dumas mention in Les perles de nacre sultanate page 496 mention that Atike(daughter of Ibrahim I) was married 4 times:firstly to Cafer Pasa,secondly to Sari Kenan Pasa,thirdly to Mostarli Ismail Pasa and forthly to Cerah Kasim Pasa. There is also article about Rabia Sultan(Haseki of Ahmed II)-Kuzguncuk Asiye Sultan ve Haseki Rabia Sultan Yalilari,which mentiones that Gevherhan Sultan(daughter of Ibrahim I),had left her lands and mansions to the haseki of Ahmed II-Rabia Sultan and his daughter Asiye Sultan. Ragusian sources also mention Kaya Sultan(daughter of Ibrahim I)as Safiye Sultan dated in 1662 as widow of Haydaragzade Mehmed Pasa in Per favore de la soltana in page 113. Hammer also claims that Kaya Sultan was sister of Suleiman II(according to the Croatian translation that they shared same mother this is it mentioned in page 431 accordring to Croatian translation). In your opinion did Atike(daughter of Ibrahim I) existed after all and if she didn't who was the sister said by contemporary sources to be own sister of Mehmed IV? Also in the Croatian translation(page 494)of Hammer' History of Ottoman empire V6,that Turhan Sultan had took under her care and raised the orphan son of some man named Ali. Do you know who was that man Ali excatly and how was he clouse to Mehmed IV? Once again sorry for bothering and for the many questions.

Hello and no problem, you’re not bothering!!

So, I can’t read your citations because I use the French version of Hammer’s work and I can’t find what you’re talking about because I think the books are divided differently. Volume 6 of the French version goes from 1547 to 1574.

Anyway, the issue here is: was Turhan Hatice protecting those men because they were the husband(s?) of her daughter(s?) or was she doing it as the valide sultan, the custodian of the dynasty, after receiving those princesses’ appeals? It’s the same issue we have with Ayşe Hafsa trying to stop Ferhad Pasha’s execution. Did she do it because Beyhan was one of her daughters or only as the valide sultan?

The thing is foreigners didn’t separate between sisters and half-sisters, so it is almost impossible to understand who the princesses’ mothers were.

I’ve already talked about Gevherhan binti Ibrahim and Atike binti Ibrahim here and as of now I have nothing to add. There is a clear problem with Ahmed I’s, Murad IV’s, and Ibrahim’s daughters because they all seem to have the same names and we don’t have precise dates of their births and deaths. The fact that these sultans lost many children is another issue, as their mausoleums are overcrowded and it is difficult to identify all the caskets.

As for Dumas’ family tree, I think she followed Alderson and therefore accepted his sources (mainly von Hammer). If you read the ask I linked above, you’ll see there is a lot of confusion with Gevherhan’s husbands because they seem to parallel Atike’s, but Atike binti Ibrahim was never mentioned by Ragusian diplomats, who called that princess Gevherhan instead.

Let’s move onto “Bir Sultanın Mücevherleri. Ayşe Sultan’ın Cihaz (Çeyiz) Defteri”, an essay by Gülser Yardım.

So, the author says that the Ayşe Sultan in question is most likely a sister of Mehmed IV because Turkish sources never mentioned a daughter of Mehmed IV called Ayşe. On this blog, though, we know that a Ayşe Sultan binti Mehmed IV really existed because the Venetian ambassador Giacomo Querini reported in 1676 that Mehmed IV’s favourite Gülbeyaz gave birth to a princess in Babadağ two years earlier:

“Ora tiene due figliuoli maschi e due femmine. […] La figliuola Aidè si ritrova in età di sette anni e resta collocata in matrimonio a Culoglù Musaip, favorito […] L'altra piccola figliuola si chiama Attigiè, cioè Sparaviere, nata ultimamente a Babà Daghi [Babadağ, Romanian city] dalla Tulbeias [Gülbeyaz], cioè Rosa Bianca, e tuttochè si trovi in età di due anni, resta promessa in matrimonio a Carà Mustafà Caimacan in età avanzata di 60 anni.”

He confused the two princesses: Hatice is the older one who will marry Musahib Mustafa Pasha, while Ayşe is the younger one, born from Gülbeyaz. Moreover, Hammer clearly states that the daughter of “the little Haseki” (Gülbeyaz) is betrothed to Kara Mustafa Pasha:

la fille de la petite Khasseki destinée en mariage au kaïmakam Kara Moustafa (Histoire, vol. 11, p. 419)

According to Uluçay, “the little princess” was married to Kara Mustafa Pasha during Hatice’s wedding to Musahib Mustafa Pasha. Hammer doesn’t mention this but says that Musahib Mustafa Pasha had gifts for the sultan, the Valide Sultan, the eldest prince, the Haseki, his fiancée (Hatice), and the daughter of the “little Haseki”. During the festivities, though, Kara Mustafa Pasha received sable fur for being the second son-in-law of the sultan. I think this was some kind of betrothal, not a wedding.

Anyway, back to Ayşe. It is interesting that Bir Sultanın Mücevherleri. Ayşe Sultan’ın Cihaz (Çeyiz) Defteri says that most of the jewels Ayşe received were then given to other women:

A diamond crest was given to Ümmi Sultan in 1698-99

A set of diamonds was given to Emetullah Kadın (Ahmed III’s consort) in 1703-04

A garnets bracelet was given to Afife Kadın in 1693-94

A diamonds bracelet was given to Alicenab Kadın in 1697-98

and so on.

Now, I think that Ayşe Sultan died very young if one of the bracelets in her dowry was given to Afife Kadın as early as 1693. Also, Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed in 1683 so the dowry prepared in June 1682 wasn’t needed anymore anyway.

About Kuzguncuk Asiye Sultan ve Haseki Rabia Sultan Yalilari. It was common for sultans to bestow mansions and other properties to their favourites and daughters. If I remember correctly, Murad IV had bestowed a garden to Kaya Ismihan even though she was a child. That Asiye Sultan received a mansion even though she was a baby was quite normal. Gevherhan had died in 1694 so her properties were bestowed to Rabia and her baby daughter Asiye.

Gülnüş had received properties belonging to Fatma Sultan binti Ahmed I after the princess’ death.

Let’s move onto Kaya Sultan binti Ibrahim.

Hammer says that Kaya married Haydarağazade Mehmed Pasha:

Vers cette époque eurent lieu les noces de la fille du dernier Sultan Ibrahim, Kia Sultane, avec Haïdaragazadé Mohammed (Histoire, vol. 10, p. 241)

Sicill-i Osmani, though, doesn’t indicate Haydar Ağazade Mehmed Pasha as a damad, nor is Kaya Sultan listed.

I couldn’t find anything about her mother. Unfortunately I couldn’t find your citation in Hammer.

I honestly have no idea who Mehmed IV’s own sister was… I truly have no opinion about this.

[ottomanladies]

reallifesultanas Thank you very much for your answer! Yes I meant Dumas not Alderson sorry for that! Is there a reason for the illogical amount of salaries? I mean the earlier salary lists of registers clearly help us to indentify the sultanas. The 1555-1556 registers are 100% logical; the 1603-1604 registers are still logical: Safiye, Handan, aunts of Ahmed, great-aunt of Ahmed, great-great aunt's daughter (Ayse Hümasah), cousin of Mehmed III, far relatives. But then there is this one.. highest salary for the full sisters of the sultan is logical, but then what does the daughters of Murad III doing there? Fahri/Kamer and Hümaşah/Rukiye* are surely Murads and so Ümmügülsüm could be also Murad's... For the lesser salaries Beyhan, Safiye, Hatice I could imagine they were Mehmed III's, maybe Beyhan's Mustafa was Mirahur Mustafa? But these stipends are just not logical... (*Murad III's daughte Rukiye was said to be married to Nakkas Hasan not Huma). And for Ümmügülsüm there is that one report from 1688 (Katherine Trumbull) when it is said she developed a relationship with Sultana Ümmühan, the aunt of the deposed Sultan Mehmed IV, through visits to the harem. This Ümmühan could be Halil Pasha's wife and so Murad III's/Mehmed III's daugher, or is it more likely not an aunt but sister/cousin? Or she truly can be Ahmed I's daughter? There is this 85 numaralı Mühimme defteri that provide some informations suggesting suggesting Ümmügülsüm was sister of Murad IV. Sadly I dont have the book so I cannot check how true is this claim...

I hope you don't mind if we continue here on ottomanladies.

I know the harem register doesn’t seem to make sense from the point of view of hierarchy but we must remember that the hierarchy could be broken on the basis of favouritism. Maybe those aunts were more favoured than the others.

In this table we can see Gevherhan Sultan, a great-aunt of Ahmed I’s, the reigning sultan. Dumas mistakenly identifies her as a daughter of Murad III’s and a concubine of non-haseki rank, but the reality is she’s first because she’s the most senior princess alive. If you look closely at the second category — “Frais de bouche” — she receives the same amount as Ayse and Fatma, Safiye’s daughters. Gevherhan was quite favoured by Ahmed I because she had trained Handan in her household. Also, her late husband Cerrah Mehmed Pasha had performed Ahmed I’s circumcision. Borekçi says that she was the only recipient — apart from Handan and Safiye — of sable fur:

“A register preserved in the Topkapı Palace Archives gives further details of the gifts Gevherhan Sultan received from her great grand-cousin. At the beginning of this register, there are records of the furs and robes of honor sent by the new sultan to his larger family right after his enthronement on December 27, 1603. Here, Gevherhan Sultan is listed as a recipient of a sable robe (semmûr kaplu nimtâne) and recorded as the third female member of the dynasty after the retiring queen mother, Safiye Sultan, and the new queen mother, Handan Sultan, and before all other living sisters and daughters of Murad III and Mehmed III -- a clear indication of her privileged position. Later, on February 6, 1604, she again appears in the register, this time as the only female family member apart from Handan Sultan to receive a fur-trimmed silk robe.”

(I believe the 6 şehzâdegân are unmarried princesses that Ahmed still had to matchmake but this is another story)

I know it’s Rukiye that Öztuna says has married Nakkaş Hasan Pasha but he could be wrong tbh, it wouldn’t be the first time. Also, neither Sakaoğlu or Uluçay confirm this; they give no information about Rukiye except for the identity of her mother. Unfortunately Öztuna never gives his sources so we don’t know where he found that Rukiye was married to Nakkaş Hasan Pasha. I would trust the harem register and contemporary sources (the ragusian diplomat, in this case) more tbh… both say that Nakkaş Hasan Pasha was married to a princess called Hümaşah…

About Beyhan… the problem is the wife of Mirahur Mustafa Pasha went on to marry Cigalazade Sinan Pasha’s son Mahmud Bey in 1612, and died before 1620, the date of Mahmud Bey’s second wedding, which means she shouldn’t have been alive in 1638-39. The Ragusian letter date 1648, though, lists a Beyhan Sultan widow of “Nideli Mustafa Pasha”— unfortunately, I can’t say who this man is or what “nideli” means.

I do agree with you, though. I think that Beyhan, Safiye, and Hatice are daughters of Mehmed III. We know that seven princesses were married in the summer of 1613, after all. A letter dated July 1613 by a Ragusian diplomat, furthermore, says that “at the present there are fifteen sultanas”.

About Katherine Trumbull, I guess you mean this:

“While in Istanbul, Katherine had developed a relationship with Sultana Ümmühan, Mehmed IV’s aunt and sister to Ibrahim II. On 14 July 1688, Katherine met with Ümmühan for the first time, and the two women continued to meet in the imperial harem throughout Trumbull’s residence in Istanbul. During these visits, Katherine must have been accompanied by someone with knowledge of spoken Turkish, or else it is unclear how she would have been able to communicate with the women she met in the harem. At any rate, when she returned to the embassy, she brought to Trumbull news of things taking place in the Ottoman court.” — Ghobrial, John-Paul A, 'Overcoming Distance in Everyday Communication', The Whispers of Cities: Information Flows in Istanbul, London, and Paris in the Age of William Trumbull (Oxford, 2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 23 Jan. 2014)

Unfortunately, William Trumbull’s diaries were not published, they’re in the British Library. I always like to cross-check my sources and the fact that I can’t read the original kind of annoys me. Ümmühan is quite an unusual name for an Ottoman princess: Ümmi means mother and Han sovereign, it kind of sounds like “valide sultan”, which is why I thought it was a title for a moment but I couldn’t find anything to confirm this. It is kind of interesting, though, that Öztuna says that Ibrahim’s eldest daughter was called Ümmügülsüm, who could have been named after another Ümmügülsüm (the one that in 1622 was unmarried? Who knows)

The Mühimme defteri is not a book but a collection of copies of all the imperial decrees or decisions taken in the imperial council. They’re numbered and the number 85 refers to the years 1630-31. You can find the PDF for free on the website of the Turkish National Archives but, well, it’s in Ottoman Turkish.

(This is one of them)

So I can’t really read it even though I have it.

[ottomanladies]

Ottoman Princesses named: Gevherhan

Gevherhan is a Turkish name, composed of two parts: gevher- (diamond, gem) and -han (ruler, sovereign). Other variations of this name - with the same meaning - include Gevhermüluk, Gevhermelik and Gevherhşah

[ottomanladies]

Murad IV of the Ottoman Empire + daughters who reached adulthood

[ottomanladies]

Murad IV of the Ottoman Empire + the women in his life

[ottomanladies]

the known grandchildren of Handan Valide Sultan -- requested by anon

[ottomanladies]

𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲