Hüma Hatun

Hüma Hatun ( ota, هما خاتون, 1410 ‒ September 1449) was the fourth wife of Ottoman Sultan Murad II and mother of Mehmed II.

Life

Although, some Turkish sources claim that she was of Turkish origin, Hüma Hatun was a slave girl, which ensures that she was not of Turkish origin. Nothing is known of her family background, apart from the fact that an Ottoman inscription (vakfiye) describes her as ''Hātun binti Abdullah'' (daughter of Abdullah); at that time, people who converted to Islam were given the name ''Abdullah'' meaning ''Servant of God'', which is evidence of her non-Muslim origin. Her name, ''hüma'', means "bird of paradise", after the Persian legend. There are two traditions or theories on her origin; some sources argue that she was of Greek origin, while others suggest that she was of Serbian origin. Heath W. Lowry also supports that she was of either Greek or Serbian descent. Her original name was claimed to be Mara Despina.

Hüma Hatun married Murad II. On 30 March 1432, she gave birth to her only son Mehmed the Conqueror. In 1438, Mehmed was circumcised along with his elder half-brother Şehzade Alaeddin. When Mehmed was 11 years old, he was sent to Manisa as a prince governor. Hüma followed her son to Manisa.

In 1444, after the death of Mehmed's elder half-brother, Şehzade Alaeddin, who died in 1443, Mehmed was the only heir left to the throne. In that same year, Murad II abdicated the throne due to depression over the death of his son, Şehzade Alaeddin Ali Çelebi, and retreated to Manisa.

Her son Şehzade Mehmed succeeded the throne as Mehmed II. She held the Vâlide Hatun position for two years. In 1446, Murad took over the throne again, and Hüma and her son returned to Bursa. However, Mehmed succeeded the throne in 1451, after the death of his father, but she never became a Valide Hatun as she died before the accession. She was not alive to see the conquest of Constantinople, which became the capital of Ottoman Empire for nearly five centuries, before the Empire was abolished in 1922 and Turkey was officially declared as a republic.

Death

She died in September 1449 in Bursa, two years before her son's second accession to the throne. Her tomb is located at the site known as "Hatuniye Kümbedi" (Hatuniye Tomb) to the east of Muradiye Complex, which was built by her son Mehmed. The quarter where her tomb lies has been known thus far as Hüma Hatun Quarter.

See also

* List of consorts of the Ottoman sultans
*List of mothers of the Ottoman sultans

References

Further reading

*Leslie Peirce. (1993). ''The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire'', Oxford University Press, (paperback).
*Yavuz Bahadıroğlu. (2009). ''Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi'', Nesil Yayınları ''(''Illustrated Ottoman History'', Nesil Publications)'', 15th ed., (Hardcover).
* Osmanlı Padişahlarının yabancı anneleri ve padişahların yabancılarla evlenme gerekçeleri. Cafrande Kültür Sanat ve Hayat. 13 March 2008
General Culture

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huma Hatun
15th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans
1410 births
1449 deaths
People from the Ottoman Empire of Italian descent
People from the Ottoman Empire of Serbian descent
Valide sultan