Nilüfer Hatun ( ota, نیلوفر خاتون, birth name Holifere ''(Holophira)'' / Olivera,. other names ''Bayalun, Beylun, Beyalun, Bilun, Suyun, Suylun'') was a
Valide Hatun
Khatun ( Mongolian: хатан; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, katun; ota, خاتون, hatun or قادین ''kadın''; fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; ; hi, ख़ातून ') is a female title of nobility and counterpart to "khan" or "Khagan" prominent ...
; the wife of
Orhan
Orhan Ghazi ( ota, اورخان غازی; tr, Orhan Gazi, also spelled Orkhan, 1281 – March 1362) was the second bey of the Ottoman Beylik from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I.
In the early stages of hi ...
, the second Ottoman sultan. She was mother of the next sultan, Murad I.
Biography
The traditional stories about her origin, traced back to the 15th century, are that she was daughter of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Bilecik
Bilecik is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bilecik Province which is located in northwestern Anatolia. As of 2015 urban population of the city is 64,531. The mayor is Semih Şahin ( CHP).
The town is famous for its numerous restored Turk ...
, called Holofira. As some stories go, Orhan's father Osman raided Bilecik at the time of Holofira's
wedding
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
arriving there with rich presents and disguised and hidden soldiers. Holofira was among the loot and given to Orhan.
However modern researchers doubt this story, admitting that it may have been based on real events. Doubts are based on a lack of direct evidence from the time. In addition there is secondary evidence of an alternate origin, in particular her Ottoman name Nilüfer meaning water lily in the
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Princess Helen (Nilüfer), who was of ethnic Greek descent.The Fall of Constantinople, Steven Runciman, Cambridge University Press, p.36The Nature of the Early Ottoman State, Heath W. Lowry, 2003 SUNY Press, p.153History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, Cambridge University Press, p.24
According to a source, in the spring of 1299, the
Bilecik
Bilecik is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bilecik Province which is located in northwestern Anatolia. As of 2015 urban population of the city is 64,531. The mayor is Semih Şahin ( CHP).
The town is famous for its numerous restored Turk ...
magistrate who was to marry the daughter of Yarhisar invited Osman Ghazi and his men to his wedding festivity. In the spring the Söğüt people migrated to Domaniς plateau until autumn. Osman Ghazi asked to leave all his belongings at the Bilecik castle before coming to the wedding. It was the usual practice in those years to entrust the heavy goods of encampment to neighbouring castles. The magistrate accepted gladly. The wedding would be in Chakirpinar, two hours away from Bilecik. On the way to the wedding, the magistrate of Yarhisar was encircled by Osman's soldiers. They turned back toward Yarhisar. When the people saw their magistrate, they opened the gates and Osman's soldiers got in. The conquest of the castle did not take long. At the Bilecik castle, one of the bales left by Osman Ghazi was opened. A soldier got out of it and informed others. Armed soldiers stepping out of the bales captured everyone in the castle. Bilecik had fallen to the Ottomans. While the guests were waiting for the bride, the horsemen of the Ottomans appeared. There was a big ceremony in Karacahisar. Orhan Ghazi would marry Holofira, the daughter of the Yarhisar magistrate. The young bride converted to Islam and became Nilüfer Hatun.
Nilüfer Hatun Imareti ("Nilüfer Hatun Soup Kitchen"), a convent annex hospice for dervishes, now housing the Iznik Museum in İznik,
Bursa Province
Bursa Province ( tr, ) is a province in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. It borders Balıkesir to the west, Kütahya to the south, Bilecik and Sakarya to the east, Kocaeli to the northeast and Yalova to the ...
, was built by Sultan Murad in 1388 to honor his mother after her death.
Issue
Murad I: (1326 – 15 June 1389). Assassinated by Miloš Obilić during the Battle of Kosovo.
See also
*
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
List of the mothers of the Ottoman Sultans
This is a list of the biological mothers of Ottoman sultans. There were thirty-six sultans of the Ottoman Empire in twenty-one generations. (During early days the title ''Bey'' was used instead of ''Sultan'') Throughout the six-century history th ...