#fatma sultan daughter of ahmed iii

[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.

[ottomanladies]

kehribar-sultan: Well thakns four your appreciation, yeah, I really tried hard......But, first I would like to say some words about your comment: 1) I would like to get your acceptance and recognition of possibility that Safiye had all of these four daughters. I would stress out that ambassadors only talked about children of the Topkapi Palace who were notable in political life (case with Murad IV’s four full sisters). I do not agree with you, Ahmed Pasha (Mirahur in 1604) was named governor of Rumelia two times; firstly in 1614 and secondly in 1614. And he wasn’t Aga of the jannisaries. The Pasha you’ve mentioned is someone else. Beside, I found in Dumas’s 2013 book that Mihrimah was same as Mihriban (page 82, note 171). Anyway, she died in early 1610s I quess, and her husband remarried to her half-sister Fahri Sultan in September 1613. Anyway, I suggest that Mihrimah was the eldest, as I proved in citations that Mehmed had a two years older sister than him. Also, I (most strongly) suggest that Hümaşah was Safiye’s daughter, even the youngest, as her husband Hasan Pasha was placed in Divan of Ahmed I, and he referred to her as halem. 2) I didn’t get your comment about suggested (officially unknown) sons-in-law of Murad III, such as Boyali Mehmed Pasha, Siyavush Pasha (failed) and Serdar Ferhad Pasha. I mean, all that marriage negotiations in early 1590s prove that Safiye had more than two daughters. 3) I would suggest that Murad III’s daughters Saime and Fahri were his longest-living daughters, who died in late reign of Mehmed IV (Hümaşah, Beyhan and Hatice died in early reign of Mehmed IV). Anyway, I need to stress out that Fahri’s full name was Fahrihan (source: https://www.isam.org.tr/uploads/6595588ee2276.pdf - page 494 ; also there is Saime too – page 138) 4) I have suspitions that Murad III had one more daughter named Asüde Sultan, but I won’t claim it until I am sure it was his daughter.

I’m sorry if my answers are lacking but it’s just a lot of information to process fast and sometimes I get lost in the labyrinth of Ottoman princesses.

I never said Safiye couldn’t have been their mother. I said that since both Mihrimah and Hümaşah were important people in Murad III’s life, if he ever wanted to honour them he would have done it with his eldest daughters, hence Safiye’s.

I do not agree with you, Ahmed Pasha (Mirahur in 1604) was named governor of Rumelia two times; firstly in 1614 and secondly in 1614. And he wasn’t Aga of the jannisaries. The Pasha you’ve mentioned is someone else

Oh sorry, I copied my notes into the ask. I couldn’t understand what you were talking about until i saw my note in brackets lol. I thought it was him because Öztuna says that Mirahur Ahmed Pasha was, among other things, Janissaries commander and then governor of Rumelia:

=Dâmâd Mîrâhûr Ahmed Paşa (ölm.Ist.1618), izd.21.2.1613, izd.müd.5 yıl. Enderun, çukadâr 1612, hâsodabaşı, mîrâhûr 1613, yeniçeri ağacı 10.1613, vezâret'le Rumeli beyl.2.1614, Şâm 1617-8, mâzûl

I think I’m starting to see why you say that Mihrimah was Safiye’s eldest daughter. It took me a long time (bc i’m stupid) but I’m starting to see the light lol. If Matteo Zane is correct, and this princess was 26 years old in 1592 then there was definitely another daughter of Safiye who, for some reason, was unmarried at the time. If Mihrimah is Murad III’s eldest child then he definitely wanted to honour his beloved aunt (whom he honoured again when she died, burying her next to Süleyman).

I do agree that Hümaşah seems to be the youngest daughter of Safiye.

So, basically, Safiye’s children could be:

A princess (Mihrimah) born in 1564 circa

Mehmed III, born in May 1566

Süleyman, born in 1568-69 (the Venetians say he was two years younger than Mehmed) (he must have died before 1576, when another Süleyman was born)

Ayşe, born in 1569-70

Mahmud, born in July 1572

Fatma, born in 1574

Süleyman, born in December 1576 (and died in 1577)

Selim, born in December 1578

Hümaşah, born in 1580 (?) (though Sakaoğlu says she was born in Manisa)

Öztuna says that a Şehzade Mustafa was born in “1578?” and a Şehzade Osman was born in “1573” in Manisa. Osman was the eldest after Mehmed and died in 1587. Mustafa was executed by Mehmed III in 1595 and was the prince Canfeda had tried to save before being dismissed. Unfortunately Pedani didn’t source this claim, I would have loved to know more about this. These two princes though do not figure in “A COMPARISON OF SEYYID LOKMAN’S RECORDS OF THE BIRTH, DEATH AND WEDDING DATES OF MEMBERS OF OTTOMAN DYNASTY (1566-1595) WITH THE RECORDS IN OTTOMAN CHRONICLES”, so I don’t know. On the other hand, Karaçelebizâde says that the eldest prince executed by Mehmed III was born in 1585… which would make more sense.

Considering that Safiye was sent away to the Old Palace in 1583 and that the Venetian ambassador already reported that she could not have any more children (”seeing that she got ugly and could no longer have children”, dispatch dated 18 September 1583), I’d say that Hümaşah was the latest child she had (or maybe she had a miscarriage/difficult birth afterwards which sealed her condition). Selaniki, on the other hand, says that a 2yo princess died on 29 July 1585… maybe she was Safiye’s last child?

I didn’t get your comment about suggested (officially unknown) sons-in-law of Murad III, such as Boyali Mehmed Pasha, Siyavush Pasha (failed) and Serdar Ferhad Pasha. I mean, all that marriage negotiations in early 1590s prove that Safiye had more than two daughters.

Sorry about that!! So, I didn’t say anything because I thought that what you said made perfectly sense; I had nothing to add. I googled Ferhad Pasha and Wikipedia said that he tried to escape execution by appealing to Safiye. Unfortunately there is no source but it would make sense if he was her son-in-law. Where did you find that Nişancı Mehmed Pasha was governor of Rumelia in 1591? I swear I can’t find it anywhere.

I would suggest that Murad III’s daughters Saime and Fahri were his longest-living daughters, who died in late reign of Mehmed IV (Hümaşah, Beyhan and Hatice died in early reign of Mehmed IV). Anyway, I need to stress out that Fahri’s full name was Fahrihan

Saime stops being mentioned by Ragusian diplomats after 9 August 1670, while Farhi or Fahrihan (which I really like) is mentioned until 9 May 1679 as “Pahari” (unless it’s someone else but that’s the last time someone with a similar name was mentioned).

I’m going to read about Asüde Sultan soon, I’ve seen your message in my inbox :D

[sevgilisultana]

Sultanate of Women (3/7)

Nurbanu Sultan (c.1525/ 7 December 1583)

Daughter of Nicolo Venier and Violanta Baffo

Haseki Sultan (Legal Wife) of Sultan Selim II and Valide Sultan of Sultan Murad III

Mother of Sultan Murad III, Sah Sultan, Ismihan Sultan, Gevherhan Sultan, and Fatma Sultan

Grandmother of Sultan Mehmed III, Sehzade Mahmud, Sehzade Mustafa, Sehzade Oman, Sehzade Bayezid, Sehzade Selim, Sehzade Cihangir, Sehzade Abdullah, Sehzade Ahmed, Sehzade Yakub, Sehzade Alemsah, Sehzade Yusuf, Sehzade Hüseyin, Sehzade Korkud, Sehzade Ali, Sehzade Ishak, Sehzade Alaeddin, Sehzade Davud, Sehzade Suleiman, Sehzade Yahya, Hümasah Sultan, Ayse Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Mihrimah Sultan, Rukiye Sultan, Mihriban Sultan, and Fahriye Sultan.

Mother-in-law of Çakırcıbaşı Hasan Pasha, Zal Mahmud Pasha, Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, Kalaylıkoz Ali Pasha, Safiye Sultan, Piyale Pasha, Cerrah Mehmed Pasha, and Kanijeli Siyavuş Pasha

Fun Fact For Newbies: Nurbanu Sultan was born Cecilia Venier-Baffo

[karieamel]

🦚👑 Current Ottoman Family👑🦚

His Highness Sultan Ahmed III (Center)

Rabia-Sermi Haseki Sultan and her son Abdul-Hamid I (Right-Standing)

Mihrisah Sultan, her son prince Mustafa III an her daughter Samiye Sultan (Left)

Fatma Hatun pregnant to her first child (right-sitting)

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Jean Baptiste Vanmour - Ambassador Cornelis Calkoen on audition with Sultan Ahmed III - 1727

In 1727 the Dutch ambassador Cornelis Calkoen asked Van Mour to record his audience with Sultan Ahmed III on canvas. Van Mour was allowed to enter the palace during these ceremonies accompanying the ambassador and his retinue; therefore, he was familiar with the special protocol that prevailed in the Ottoman court for ambassador's receptions. Calkoen took many paintings of Jean Baptiste Van Mour with him, when he was appointed as ambassador in Dresden for the Dutch Republic. In his will of 1762 the bachelor Calkoen directed his nephew and heir Nicolaas to keep the collection together, and it was his express wish that they were to hang in the room of Amsterdam City Hall reserved for directors of Eastern trade. Unbeknownst to him or his heir, soon the city hall itself was ceded to the Franch authorities and became the residence of King Louis Napoleon. Nicolaas, who went on to play a central role in various negotiations on behalf of the Batavian Republic, died himself in 1817 and bequeathed this collection to the closest substitute institution he could think of, namely the Directie van den Levantschen handel te Amsterdam, or 'directors of the trade with the Levant in Amsterdam'. That institute was dissolved in 1826 whereupon the collection was absorbed into the national collection and spread over multiple locations. In 1903 the paintings were reunited and have since been on show together in the Rijksmuseum collection.

Ahmed III (Ottoman Turkish: احمد ثالث‎, Aḥmed-i sālis) (30 December 1673 – 1 July 1736) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–87). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmenia Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hacıoğlu Pazarcık, in Dobruja. He succeeded to the throne in 1703 on the abdication of his brother Mustafa II (1695–1703). Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha and the Sultan's daughter, Fatma Sultan (wife of the former) directed the government from 1718 to 1730, a period referred to as the Tulip Era.

The first days of Ahmed III's reign passed with efforts to appease the janissaries who were completely disciplined. However, he was not effective against the janissaries who made him sultan. Çorlulu Ali Pasha, who Ahmed brought to the Grand Vizier, tried to help him in administrative matters, made new arrangements for the treasury and Sultan. He supported Ahmed in his fight with his rivals.

Jean Baptiste Vanmour or Van Mour (9 January 1671 – 22 January 1737)[1] was a Flemish-French painter, remembered for his detailed portrayal of life in the Ottoman Empire during the Tulip Era and the rule of Sultan Ahmed III.

[whiteroseofthemoon]

Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century) fancast: Daughters of Hürrem Haseki Sultan. Second generation.

1. Hümaşah Sultan (1540-1593) - daughter of Şehzade Mehmed of the Ottoman Empire.Like her cousin Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan, she was reportedly beloved by their grandfather, to whom she wrote letters.She is regarded amongst the most influential women of Suleiman's reign.This affection can be explained, in large measure, by the fact that her late father, Mehmed, was Suleiman's favorite son. It was she who, in 1563, gifted her cousin Şehzade Murad (future Sultan Murad III) with a concubine that would go on to be Safiye Sultan.

2. Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan (1541–1594) -  daughter of Mihrimah Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Rüstem Pasha. She was her parents' first child and only daughter, and possibly her grandparents' first grandchild as well. She had several brothers, whose number and names are though contested.

3. Ismihan Sultan (1544 – 1585) -  daughter of Selim II and Nurbanu Sultan. She was the most powerful daughter of Selim II because she was married to the Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. She is famous for having built the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque and Esmahan Sultan Mosque.

4. Gevherhan Sultan (1544 - after 1604) -  daughter of Sultan Selim II and Nurbanu Sultan. Soon after his succession, Mehmed's son by Handan Sultan, Ahmed I wanted to express his gratitude to Mehmed Pasha and Gevherhan Sultan for the role they had played in bringing his parents together. He also named one of his daughters after her.

5. Şah Sultan (1545 – 1580) -  daughter of Selim II and Nurbanu Sultan. The union of Şah Sultan to Zal Mahmud is said to be a very happy one. They were suited to each another. It was said that, that they fell ill at the same time, lay in their deathbeds together, and expired at the same very moment. 

6. Fatma Sultan (1559–1580) -  daughter of Sultan Selim II. Fatma was born in 1559,during Selim's princedom, at Konya or Karaman where he served as sanjakbey, or provincial governor, at the time.

7. Mihrimah Sultan (1547 – 1594) - daughter of Şehzade Bayezid. Married in 1562 to Damat Müzaffer Pasha.

8. Hatice Sultan and Hanzade Sultan (1550/1556-?) -  daughters of Şehzade Bayezid.

9. Ayşe Sultan (1553- 1572) -  daughter of Şehzade Bayezid. Married in 1562 to Damat Hoca Ali Pasha Eretnaoğlu.

[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

[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) WOMEN’S HISTORY MEME | 5 princesses: Fatma Sultan, daughter of Ahmed III

Soon afterwards [the Patrona Halil revolt] the Princess Fatma, daughter of Ahmet III and widow of Ibrahim Pasha, was implicated in a plot to restore her father to the throne. The plot was aborted and Fatma was confined to the Eski Saray — John Freely, Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul

[ottomanladies]

(my favourite) Ottoman Princesses named: Fatma

Fatma is the Turkish equivalent of the Arabic name Fatima or Fatimah. As it was the name of the Prophet Muhammad's favourite daughter - among other members of his family - it was widely popular among Ottoman princesses, and some consorts as well.

[ottomanladies]

The bailo Emo, writing in February 1723, noted that Sultan Ahmet was celebrating the birth of his fifth son. This would have been Prince Numan, who was actually Ahmet's seventeenth son, twelve other boys having died in infancy before his birth. Ibrahim's wife, the Princess Fatma, was about to become a mother too, and so Ahmet prolonged the festival until she gave birth, bearing a boy, who was called Mehmet.

John Freely, Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul

[ottomanladies]

On this day in Ottoman history - 22 September - Fatma Sultan was born to Ahmed III and Emetullâh Baş-Kadın:

“Fatma Sultan became jealous of İbrahim Pasha's flirtatiousness over time, but she was also interested in Europe, especially France; by establishing a relationship with the embassy in Istanbul, she tried to impose France's wishes on her father and husband; it is also said that she introduced French clothes and some European traditions into the palace harem." — Necdet Sakaoğlu, Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları

[ottomanladies]

Princesses who were politically active?

Nefise Melek Hatun: daughter of Murad I, she married Karamânoğlu Alâeddîn Alî Bey and acted as mediator between her father and her husband during the Ottoman-Karaman conflict.

Selçuk Hatun: daughter of Mehmed I, she had a long life in which she acted as ambassador in the conflict between the future Bayezid II and his half-brother Cem

Mihrimah Sultan: daughter of Suleyman I and Hurrem Sultan, she was married to the Grand Vizier but exerted political influence in her own right as well. As a widow, she helped her brother Selim II both politically and economically (lending him money to pay the troops). She also managed the harem for him. Her daughter Ayşe Hümâ-Şâh was influential as well, being married to her father's successor.

Ismihan Sultan: daughter of Selim II, she was married to the Grand Vizier and as such was the most influential among her sisters. She also wrote to Catherine de Medici about some Turkish ladies who had been captured by Frenchmen at sea.

Hatice Sultan: daughter of Mehmed IV, she became her brother Ahmed III's advisor during his reign and she was one of the people who stayed with him until the end.

Fatma Sultan: daughter of Ahmed III, she was regarded as the true power in the Tulip Era. She was married to the Grand Vizier and even entertained foreign ambassadors who wanted to speak with him or with her father.

Esma Sultan the elder: daughter of Ahmed III, she became influential during the reigns of her brothers Mustafa III and Abdülhamid I to the point she was called a new Ismihan Sultan. She also was married to the Grand Vizier. Esma Sultan prevented a coup d’état against Abdülhamid I by warning him that Halil Hamid Paşa planned to depose him in favour of Şehzade Selim

Beyhan and Hatice Sultan: daughters of Mustafa III, they were behind the process of modernization in palace life and were very influential during their half-brother Selim III's reign.

Esma Sultan the younger: daughter of Abdülhamid I, she was Mahmud II's favourite sister even though they had different mothers. She was selected by dissidents as a possible replacement for  Mahmud II on the throne.

Seniha Sultan and Fatma Sultan: daughters of Abdülmecid I, they were against Abdülhamid II's rule and tried to free Murad V from Çırağan Palace to put him back on the throne. In this they were helped by their brothers Ahmed Kemaleddin and Selim Süleyman.

Fehime Sultan: daughter of Murad V, she was a supporter of the constitution and composed a piano sonata titled "Pour La Constitution"

 I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. If I did, I’m sorry.

[ottomanladies]

The youngest Ottoman princess to become a mother?

The problem is sometimes we don't have exact dates of births so it is quite difficult to say. Nevertheless, this is what I have found:

Selçuk Sultan, daughter of Bayezid II: her first child, Sultân-zâde Gaazî Husrev Bey/Paşa, seems to have been born when she was fifteen 

Fatma Sultan, daughter of Selim II: her first (?) child, Sultân-zâde Ahmed Bey, seems to have been born when she was fifteen 

Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Ahmed I: if we believe 1608 to have been her date of birth, it seems that she had a child at the age of 12. Taking into consideration the whole trend, twelve seems to be a little too early even for a princess. 

Hatice Sultan, daughter of Mehmed IV: her first child, Sultân-zâde Mehmed Bey, seems to have been born when she was sixteen. 

Fatma Sultan, daughter of Ahmed III: her only (?) child, Sultân-zâde Mehmed Bey, seems to have been born when she was fourteen 

Saliha Sultan, daughter of Ahmed III: her first child, Sultân-zâde Ahmed Bey, seems to have been born when she was fourteen 

Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Hanım, daughter of Abdülhamid I: her first daughter, Atıyyetullâh Hanım, seems to have been born when she was around fifteen 

Fatma Sultan, daughter of Abdülmecid I: her first child, Cemile Hanım-Sultân, was born when she was fifteen.

Mediha Sultan, daughter of Abdülmecid I: her only child, Sultân-zâde 'Abdurrahmân Sâmî Beyefendi, was born when she was fifteen

Without considering Gevherhan Sultan, which seems an anomaly but also could be the result of wrong information, it seems that the earliest that princesses gave birth was at the age of fourteen. Of course, we don’t have all the dates so there could have been earlier births. 

[ottomanladies]

Hi! First I want to say that I love your page, and as someone who loves ottoman history, I have to say that I enjoy reading your blog. Second, I want to ask you if any of the Sultans (ottoman princesses) abuse their husbands? Like physical or mental. I mean, I've read the story how Fatma Sultan (Ahmed I. daughter) demanded money from her husband and that if he didn't gave her the money, she would divorce him. We all know that she had a quite of reputetion when it came to her husbands. xd

Thank you!

Europeans commented that damads were like slaves to the princesses because they were summoned by their wives like servants and were ordered around.

"These sultanas, wives of pashas, are for the most part their husbands' mistresses, free to insult and order them as they please. They always wear on their belt a Hanjar [a dagger], enriched with precious stones, as a sign of privilege and domination, and they regard their husbands as slaves, treating them well or in a diabolical way, or according to the favour and power that the Sovereign shows them. " — Ottaviano Bon

I don't know if they were truly ordered around by child-princesses but it is true that they had a difference in social standing and that the princess ranked higher than her husband.

“The Beys who marry the sultanas are condemned to be the slaves of their wives, who do not hesitate to say to them: 'You are my father's slave!', So that they are forced to meet all the desires of their wife. " — Stéphan Garlach

“When a Pasha visits his Sultana wife, it is frowned upon to look around. He is only allowed to look ahead. If his gaze shows an interest in one of the cariye, the cariye in question does not survive the night. Turkish women are so jealous that when they see their husbands showing interest in one of their cariye, she is strangled in the night. The wife of the defterdar of Rumelia would even burn those of her cariyes who are lucky enough to please her husband, throwing them into the fireplace." — Stéphan Garlach

“The widow of Pialé [Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Selim II] once stabbed one of her slaves with her own hand because she had seen her husband brush her neck as she passed." — Joseph von Hammer

About Fatma Sultan, whom you cited, this is what Evliya Celebi said about the episode in question:

“My Evliya, let this remain a secret. The tortures that I endured from this wife of mine on the wedding night until the morning are not even among the captives of Malta. May God forgive me, but what an immodest, brazen and extravagant woman! As soon as I entered the harem reciting a bismillah, I saw her installed in her place. Now that I am her husband and this is our very first night, she must behave towards the unfortunate man that I am with a minimum of respect and honour. At no time did she move an inch; she remained sitting upright [in her place]. The poor man that I am I approached her and, after I kissed her hand, she said, "Welcome pasha." "With pleasure. Thank God for allowing me to see the beauty of my sultana's smile" and, in this way, I said many gracious prayers of all kinds, according to the customary manner of the words of the dervishes. Not once did she ask me to sit down. Despite the fact that she is a totally decrepit widow who has known twelve husbands, she acted like an undeflowered chaste girl. The first pearl that came out of her mouth was the following: “My dear Pasha, if you want to get along with me, whether you are present or absent, on the way to your offices, my expenses are 15 purses per month every month. […] “These expenses are too [high]. Please reduce them a bit. I can cover expenses equivalent to those of the late Kaya Sultan, but I do not have the resources to cover five times higher expenses!" [...] "My pasha, if you cannot get along with me, I will divorce you, alive or dead! Get ready right away to pay me my dowry of a year's tax revenues from Egypt!"

I don't know if any of these anecdotes could be seen as abuse but these are some other singular episodes that happened between damads and princesses:

Kaya Ismihan Sultan, daughter of Murad IV, was very young when she got married: roughly twelve years old. On her wedding night she struck her husband with a knife and refused to let him touch her.

Emine Sultan, daughter of Mustafa II, divorced her husband without even seeing him first because he had ashamed himself (and the Imperial family) in the "detestable" organisation that he had set up for the Holy pilgrimage route.

Fatma Sultan, daughter of Ahmed III, was unbelievably jealous of her husband even though she was in her twenties and he was a middle-aged man. She would continuously pester her father to find out if her husband had mistresses or not

Hatice Sultan, daughter of Murad V, locked her bedroom doors on her wedding night. The marriage was in the end consummated - and it resulted in a daughter - but she kept locking her  bedroom doors whenever her husband was at home until the marriage was dissolved.