Ayşe Sultan (; 1565 - 15 May 1605) was an Ottoman princess, daughter of

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

(reign 1574–1595) and Safiye Sultan, as well as sister of Sultan

Mehmed III Mehmed III (, ''Meḥmed-i sālis''; ; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the Long Turkish ...

(reign 1595–1603) 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 ...

Early life

Ayşe Sultan was the daughter of Sultan Murad III, and his consort Safiye Sultan. She had at least five full siblings: three brothers, Sultan

, Şehzade Selim and Şehzade Mahmud, and two sisters, Hümaşah Sultan and Fatma Sultan. Other possible her full sisters were Mihrimah Sultan and Fahriye Sultan.

Marriages

In 1582, Murad betrothed Ayşe to Bosnian Ibrahim Pasha. However, her grandmother,

Nurbanu Sultan Nurbanu Sultan (; 1525 – 7 December 1583) was Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and legal wife of Sultan Selim II (reign 1566–1574), as the mother of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574–1583) and the Valide sultan of the Ottoman Empire from ...

was against this marriage, because she wanted her adoptive son, Kapıcıbaşı Mahmud Bey, who when still a child had been given to her by her husband Sultan

Selim II Selim II (; ; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond () or Selim the Drunkard (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sul ...

, to be married to Ayşe. After Nurbanu's death in December 1583, Mahmud married Hatice Hanımsultan, daughter of

Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan Ayşe Hümaşah SultanPeirce, L. (2018). ''Empress of the East: How a Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire''. Regno Unito: Icon Books. ( and 'Şah's phoenix'; 1541 – 1598/1604) was an Ottoman princess, the only daughter of Mihrimah Su ...

( Suleiman I's granddaughter), in December 1584. In this way, he gave up every hope to eventually marry Ayşe, since in order to marry a princess a man had to repudiate his other wives. Ayşe Sultan finally married Ibrahim Pasha in 1586. Her wedding took place at the Old Palace, and was celebrated in a seven-day ceremony. Historian Mustafa Selaniki mentions the preparations, the presents which were given by both parties, the feasts, prepared for the ''Nakibü'l-esraf'' and the ''sadat'', for the Şeyhülislam (supreme religious leader), the

ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

and for the high-ranking officials. A year into the marriage, Murad dismissed Ibrahim Pasha from his post, because according to the chronicle of Hasan Beyzade, his damat, or bridegroom, status was an obstacle to sailing. Ibrahim served three times as

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

to Ayşe's brother Sultan Mehmed III. By her marriage, Ayse had a son Sultanzade Mehmed Bey and a daughter who both died in infancy. Ayşe Sultan was widowed upon Ibrahim Pasha's death on 10 July 1601. Yemişci Hasan Pasha became the new Grand Vizier. A ''telhis'' of Hasan Pasha announced that the Sultan Mehmed promised him the hand of Ayşe in marriage. In accordance to this telhis, historian

Mustafa Naima Mustafa Naima (; ''Muṣṭafā Na'īmā''; Aleppo, Ottoman Syria 1655 – 1716) was an Ottoman bureaucrat and historian who wrote the chronicle known as the ''Tārīḫ-i Na'īmā'' (''Naima's History''). He is often considered to be the f ...

suggests that Yemişci Hasan Pasha and Ayşe Sultan were only engaged. The wedding took place on 5 April 1602. The marriage was unhappy for her, but when a year later Mehmed decided to execute Yemişci Hasan Pasha, Ayşe sent a letter to her mother, Safiye Sultan, and her brother, in which she promised that if the Sultan forgave her husband, they would go to Mecca without any further charge or trouble. However, the Sultan replied to her indicating that she could accompany him in death if she insisted. Yemisci was executed on 18 October 1603. In 1604, she married Güzelce Mahmud Pasha (died 1606).

Charities

Ayşe was well known for her charity. In her testament, she gave the following instructions for her inheritance: her slaves and slave girls were to be manumitted unconditionally; 10,000 akçes were bequeathed to cover the cash debts of people detained in prison for debts of up to 500 akçes; 2,000 akçes were for the poor, sick and orphans, and the remainder for the poor in the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. A certain amount of money was allocated to pay the ransom for Muslim prisoners of war, with the condition that female captives be freed first.

Death

Ayşe Sultan died on 15 May 1605, and was buried in her brother Mehmed's mausoleum located at Hagia Sophia Mosque,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Issue

By her first marriage, Ayşe Sultan had a son and a daughter: *Sultanzade Mehmed Bey. Died in infancy and was buried with his father in his

türbe ''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...

(

Şehzade Mosque The Şehzade Mosque () is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent as a memorial to his son Şehzade Mehmed who died in 1543 ...

). *''Fülane'' Hanımsultan. Died as newborn and was buried with his father in his türbe (Şehzade Mosque).

Legacy

Ayşe Sultan owned a translation of "The Ascension of Propitious Stars and Sources of Sovereignty" (Matali' us-sa'ade ve menabi' us-siyade).

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayşe Sultan 1560s births 1605 deaths 16th-century Ottoman princesses 17th-century Ottoman princesses Burials at Hagia Sophia Daughters of Murad III