Mihrişah Sultan (mother Of Selim III)

ota, مھرشاہ سلطان
, birth_name = Agnes
, birth_date = 1745
, birth_place = Georgia
, death_date =
, death_place = Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (present day Istanbul, Turkey)
, burial_place = Eyüp, Istanbul
, spouse = Mustafa III
, issue = Selim III
Hibetullah Sultan
Fatma Sultan
, issue-link =
, issue-pipe =
, father = Georgian Orthodox priest
, mother =
, religion = Sunni Islam

Mihrişah Sultan ( ota, مهرشاہ سلطان; "''sun/light of the Şah''"; 1745 – 16 October 1805), was a consort of Sultan Mustafa III, and the mother of Selim III of the Ottoman Empire, and his Valide Sultan for 16 years from 1789 until 1805.

Early life

Of ethnic Georgian origin, she was born in 1745 in Georgia. Her original name was Agnes. She was beautiful, and was called "the Georgian Beauty" ( tr, Gürcü güzeli). An other theory says that she was Genoese.

As imperial consort

Mihrişah entered in Mustafa III's harem on 1757 circa and became one of his consorts and then the BaşKadin (first consort). On 17 March 1759, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Hibetullah Sultan. For the past thirty years no child had been born in the imperial family, hence, Hibetullah's birth was celebrated in the whole of Istanbul.

On 24 December 1761, she gave birth to her second child, a son, Şehzade Selim (future Selim III). His birth was accompanied by celebrations that lasted a week. On 9 January 1770, she gave birth to her third child, a daughter, Fatma Sultan, who died at the age of two on 26 May 1772. Among her servants was Dilhayat Kalfa, hostess of Ahmed III's harem and tutoress of Selim III, known to be one of the greatest Turkish composeress of the early modern period.

She was widowed at Mustafa's death in 1774, after which she settled in the Old Palace. An archival document from the Topkapi Palace shows that Mustafa III borrowed money from her and that, due to his death, the debt was not repaid.

As Valide Sultan

Selim's accession and political influence

During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid I, which lasted for fifteen years, Şehzade Selim remained closed in the Topkapı Palace, and the Mihrişah was sent to live in the Old Palace. Upon Abdul Hamid's death in 1789, Selim ascended the throne after which Mihrişah became the Valide Sultan.

Selim had a thorough renovation of the part of the Harem circle of the Topkapı Palace for the sultans for his mother. It is rumoured that Sultan Selim went to her apartment every day, chatted and discussed the city issues. Although Selim was extremely fond of his mother, and Mihrişah was very influential during her mandate as Valide Sultan. She sided with the British and was hostile to the French and the Russians, and she was particularly concerned about avoiding her son's sorrow, of a nervous and anxious nature, so much so that when the French invaded Egypt she tried to hide the news from him.

Being an emotional, calm and gentle lady, Mihrişah has made history with her religiousness and philanthropy. She supported and inspired her son's reforms and refurbished her apartments in the Baroque style, being an admirer of the European style and architecture.

She occasionally approached her son to beg a favour or an act of mercy. When he launched his Nizam-I Cedid (New Order), both Mihrişah and her Kethüda, by then Yusuf Agha, were his strong supporters. To encourage the reforms so dear to her son's heart, Mihrişah built a mosque a mosque for the Humbaracıhane (barracks of the bombardiers) at Hasköy on the Asiatic sore, and founded a school of medicine at Üsküdar.

Yusuf Agha was her second kethüda, who had replaced her first kethüda Mahmud Agha, when he died during tenure of his office. He was capable, and an intimate of Selim. He was persuaded and finally killed by the machinations of Kabakçı Mustafa in the uprising against Selim in 1808, after which his tax farm was given to Sultan Mustafa IV's mother, Sineperver Sultan.

Patroness of architecture

She founded many schools and mosques in the 1790s. In 1793, she founded Halıcıoğlu Mosque repaired and she repaired the Silahtar Yusuf Pasha Fountain in Kağıthane in 1794.

The Humbarahane Barracks which were built in 1792 by Mihrişah, consisting of ball casting facilities, training sites, a chlorine house with leather for use for various military purposes, kitchen, stables, baths, legitimate rooms and shops with masjids, is considered the first modern example of large-scale military buildings. When it started to operate, the Hasköy side in the south was reserved for the riders and the Sütlüce side in the north was for the sewers. After the opening of the Engineer-i Berrî-i Hümâyun in 1795.

In 1792 she founded the Mihrişah Sultan Complex (or Mihrişah Sultan ''külliye'') in the neighbourhood of Eyüp in Istanbul. Its construction was completed in 1796 and it includes her mausoleum and an ''imaret'' (soup kitchen). The imaret is the last Ottoman imaret still functioning today. In 1805, she ordered the construction of the Mihrişah Valide Sultan Fountain in Yeniköy in İstanbul. She was the subject of a poem. Mihrişah and her son Selim were both members of the Mevlevi Order, which practiced Sufi whirling. In 1792, she built a fountain in the memory of her daughter Fatma Sultan.

Mihrişah also built a dam. Ahmed Efendi, contains important information about the period from the beginning to the end of the construction of "Mihrişah Valide Sultan Dam". According to the information provided by Ahmed Efendi, the purpose of building the dam is to provide additional water supply to the Büyük Bent, which is within the scope of Kırkçeşme Waters and known as Tophâne Water.

Vâlide Dam was built on the eastern branch of Arabacı Mandrai, which is one of the important streams of Istanbul in Bahçeköy, which is located within the borders of Sarıyer (Istanbul), and the Acıelma Stream, which is one of the most important rivers of Istanbul. After the construction of Valide Dam was completed, the water accumulated in the dam was included in the water of Topuzlu Dam with a medium made by Valide Sultan. The amount of water added to Topuzlu Dam was accurately measured and determined to be 23 nozzles. These 23 nozzles have 16 nozzles of water from the Old Bent; however, it was decided to allocate it to places that could not receive their ration because of the insufficient water. The remaining 7 nozzles were left with 2 nozzles as the "right to media", while the other 5 nozzles were left to the saving Sultan of Valide Sultan to be distributed from the Beyoğlu Maksemi (Taksim Maksemi).

Between the years of 1792–1803, one of them was in Boyacıköy and the other was in Küçüksu; In 1796, she built a fountain between Eminönü and Balıkpazarı to witness the spirit of Çaşnigir Zeynep, However, this fountain was later called Mihrişah Vâlide Fountain. A fountain in Kılıçali District in Beşiktaş in 1797; Two fountains on either side of the sebil built for her complex Eyüp in 1796; A fountain in Üsküdar İhsaniye in 1791 in the memory of her daughter Hibetullah Sultan, and a fountain in Fındıklı Mollabayırı in 1797 and a fountain in Yeniköy in 1805 for her other daughter Fatma Sultan. With the addition of Valide Bendi water to Taksim Waters Facilities, the amount of water has doubled, and as a result, the water needs of the people have been met to a large extent by making fountains in Beyoğlu, Galata and Boğaziçi neighbourhoods.

Death

Mihrişah Sultan died on 16 October 1805 from an unknown disease and was buried in her mosque located at Eyüp, Istanbul. Her death deeply grieved her son Selim, who wept for her for a long time.

Issue

Together with Mustafa, Mihrişah had three children:
*Hibetullah Sultan (17 March 1759 – 7 June 1762, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul),  called also Heybetullah or Hayyibetullah, betrothed on 2 June 1759 to Mahir Hamza Pasha but died before the marriage;
*Sultan Selim III (Topkapı Palace, 24 December 1761 – 28 July 1808, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum), 28th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
*Fatma Sultan (9 January 1770 – 26 May 1772, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul).

In popular culture

*In 1989 Swiss-American drama film '' The Favorite'', Mihrişah is portrayed by French actress Andréa Parisy.
*In 2012 Turkish miniseries ''Esir Sultan'', Mihrişah is portrayed by Turkish actress Ipek Tenolcay.

Gallery

Mihriah valide sultan.jpg, Dome of the mausoleum of Mihrişah Valide Sultan
File:Mihrişah Valide Sultan Türbesi.jpg, Mausoleum of Mihrişah Valide Sultan
File:Mihrişah Valide Sultan Sebili.jpg, Mausoleum of Mihrişah Valide Sultan Sebili

See also

* Ottoman dynasty
*Ottoman Imperial Harem
*List of Valide Sultans

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