Ayşe Sultan (; died 1640) was a consort of Sultan

Osman II Osman II ( ''‘Osmān-i sānī''; ; 3 November 1604 – 20 May 1622), also known as Osman the Young (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 26 February 1618 until his regicide on 20 May 1622. Early life Osman II was born at Topkapı Pa ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Life

Her name appears in privy purse registers from 1619 on, but nothing is known about her except her name. Her origin is unconfirmed, but the consorts of the Ottoman sultans were by custom normally

concubines Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar, but mutually exclusive. During the e ...

of Christian origin, who came to the

Ottoman Imperial harem The Imperial Harem () of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the concubines, wives, servants (both female slaves and eunuchs), female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (serag ...

via the

Ottoman slave trade Chattel slavery was a major institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and traditional society. The main sources of slaves were wars and politically organized enslavement expeditions in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, S ...

, and converted to Islam and given a

slave name A slave name is the personal name given by others to an enslaved person, or a name inherited from enslaved ancestors. Ancient Rome In Rome, slaves were given a single name by their owner. A slave who was freed might keep their slave name an ...

after their arrival. According to Peirce, Ayşe was Osman's

haseki sultan Haseki Sultan (, ''Ḫāṣekī Sulṭān'' ) was the title used for the chief consort of an Ottoman sultan. In later years, the meaning of the title changed to "imperial consort". Hurrem Sultan, principal consort and legal wife of Suleiman the ...

. But according to Piterberg, Osman II did not have a haseki and Ayşe was just "a politically insignificant consort." Even though her status was debatable, it is clear that Ayşe could not become a prominent female figure like other

s, so much so that, during his reign, Osman II favored other concubines over her, for example Meylişah Hatun, who bore him his firstborn, Şehzade Ömer. Also, a governess (''daye hatun'', lit. wet-nurse) who was appointed as a stand-in valide, could not counterbalance the contriving of Mustafa I's mother in the Old Palace. This condition made the conspicuous absence of a female power basis in the harem during her spouse's reign, the basic and exceptional weakness from which Osman II suffered. After Osman's death in 1622 she stayed in the Old Palace.

Privy Purse The Privy Purse is the British sovereign's private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018. Overview The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres (20 ...

records her presence lastly in 1640.

References

Sources

* * 17th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 17th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire Concubines from the Ottoman Empire Haseki Sultan {{Ottoman-bio-stub