Emine Gülbahar Mükrime Hatun (; died 1492) was a concubine of Ottoman Sultan

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

, and mother of Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

Early life

The Ottoman inscription ('' vakfiye'') describes her as ''Hātun binti Abdullah (daughter of Abdullah)'', which means that she was a Christian slave converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. She was either of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

origin. Ambassadors' reports, for example the Venetian Iacopo de Promontorio-de Campis' notes in 1475 report that Bayezid's mother was an Albanian slave. It is likely that the attribution of a Greek origin arose from the confusion with the homonymous

Gülbahar Hatun Gülbahar is a Turkish given name for females and may refer to: * Gülbahar Gözütok (born 2002), Turkish karateka * Gülbahar Hatun, consort of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, Valide Hatun as the mother of Sultan Bayezid II * Gülbahar Hatun, consort ...

mother of

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

, who is believed to have been a Greek slave originally from

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

. According to Shuteriqi, the mother of Sultan Bayezid II may have been one of the daughters of

Gjergj Arianiti Gjergj Arianiti (13??–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the uncle of Moisi Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was Skanderbeg's ...

and

Maria Muzaka Maria Muzaka was an Albanian princess from the Muzaka family. She was a daughter of Andrea III Muzaka and his wife Chiranna Zenevisi, Lady of Grabossa. From her marriage to Gjergj Arianiti, Maria had eight daughters, most notably of them were ...

, who was captured when Sultan Mehmed II was in the vicinity of

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

Consort

Gülbahar entered in Mehmed's harem in 1446, when he was still a prince and the governor of

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

. She had at least two children, a daughter,

Gevherhan Hatun Gevherhan Hatun ( "''Gem of the Khan''"; - ) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Mehmed II (reign 1444–46 and 1451–81) and Gülbahar Hatun. She was the sister of Sultan Bayezid II (reign 1481–1512). Early life Gevherhan Hatun was th ...

, born in 1446, who married

Ughurlu Muhammad Ughurlu Muhammad Beg or Ughurlu Mehmed (; ; ; d. 1477) was a prince of the Aq Qoyunlu, son of Uzun Hasan and his Kurdish spouse. Early life He was born in November 1442 to Uzun Hasan and a daughter of Dawlatshah Bulduqani-Mardasi, 8 months lat ...

in 1474, and a son, Şehzade Bayezid (the future

), born in 1447 in Demotika. In 1451, after Mehmed's accession to the throne, she followed him to

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

. According to Ottoman tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors as a part of their training. In 1455 or 1456, Bayezid was appointed the governor of

, and Gülbahar accompanied him, where the two remained until 1481, except for in 1457, when she came to Constantinople, and attended her son's circumcision ceremony. Gülbahar was apparently quite concerned about the future of her son, and related to that, her own properties. In order to secure her properties, she endowed the incomes of certain villages and fields to the Enderun mosque in 1474. Among the endowed properties was the village of Ağılcık, which was turned back into a Timariot village in 1479 during the land reform. In 1468, Mehmed gave the village of Bağluca to Gülbahar. After six years, in 1473, she sold the village to Taceddin Bey, son of Hamza Bali (died 1486), the book keeper of Bayezid's court. In 1478, the village's exemption was abolished and granted back to her probably as a result of the land reform. This order was reissued a year later at the request of Mevlana Şemseddin Ahmed according to which the village was not reverted to her, and she had likely become subject to a legal dispute.

Mother of the Sultan

Per custom, Gülbahar got the highest position in the imperial family after the sultan himself when her son, Bayezid ascended the throne in 1481 until her death in 1492. During her son's reign, she and the rest of the Imperial Family resided at the Old Palace (''saray-ı atik'') and were visited by the Sultan who on each visit used to pay his respect to his mother. In one case, Gülbahar complained of her son's rare visits and in a letter to her son wrote: Gülbahar had a considerable influence over Bayezid, for she used to make evaluations about the situation of some statesmen. Bayezid also valued his mother's words. In a letter written to him, she advises him against Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha, but favours his tutor Ayas Pasha and Hizirbeyoğlu Mehmed Pasha. In 1485, Bayezid endowed a mosque, and a school in Tokat in the memory of Gülbahar Hatun.

Death

Gülbahar Hatun died in 1492, and was buried in

Fatih Mosque, Istanbul The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English) is an Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site of the Church of the Holy Apost ...

. The tomb was damaged in the 1766 Istanbul earthquake, and was rebuilt in 1767–1768.

Issue

, Gülbahar Hatun had at least a daughter, and a son: *

( 1446 - 1514). Married at least one time, she had a son. *

(3 December 1447 - 26 May 1512). 8th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

In popular culture

*In the 2012 film ''

Fetih 1453 ''Sultana Muhammad Fetih 1453'' ( ''The Conquest 1453'') is a 2012 Turkish epic action film directed by Faruk Aksoy and produced by him, Servet Aksoy and Ayşe Germen. Starring Devrim Evin, İbrahim Çelikkol and Dilek Serbest, the film is based ...

'', Gülbahar Hatun is portrayed by Turkish actress Şahika Koldemir. *In the 2013 Turkish series ''

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

'', Gülbahar Hatun is portrayed by Turkish actress Seda Akman. *In the second season of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's '' Rise of Empires: Ottoman'' (2020-2022), Gülbahar Hatun is portrayed by actress Yasemin Eti. *In the 2024 Turkish

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

TV series ''Mehmed: Sultan of Conquests'', Gülbahar Hatun, here called Bahar Hatun, is portrayed by the Turkish actress Esila Umut.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulbahar 15th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans 1492 deaths Mehmed II Valide hatuns 15th-century Albanian people 15th-century Albanian women Concubines of Ottoman sultans 15th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire Burials at Fatih Mosque Graveyard, Istanbul