Gülşah Hatun (, died ) was a concubine of 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, ...

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 years

Her origin is unknown, 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.Peirce, Leslie (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508677-5. She entered in Mehmed's

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

in 1449, when he was still a prince and the governor of Manisa. In 1450, just before Sultan

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

's death and Mehmed's ascension, she gave birth to her only son,

Şehzade Mustafa Şehzade Mustafa (; – 6 October 1553) was an Ottoman prince, son of sultan Suleiman I and his concubine Mahidevran Hatun. He was Suleiman's oldest survived son, the governor of Manisa from 1533 to 1541 and of Amasya from 1541 to 1553, whe ...

, who would become his father's favourite son. According to Ottoman tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors as a part of their training. Mustafa was sent to govern

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

and later Kayseri, and Gülşah accompanied him.

Mustafa's death

Mustafa died on 25 December 1474. It was rumored that Mustafa had made Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha's wife, Selçuk Hatun, his lover, and that Mahmud retaliated by poisoning Mustafa. There are speculations that Gülşah Hatun may have been a party to the illicit relations between the prince and Selçuk Hatun, wife of Mahmud Pasha. Selçuk Hatun was sister of Hatice Hatun, one of Mehmed II's consorts. Giovanni Maria Angiolello, a Venetian traveler, author of an important historical report on the Aq Qoyunlu and early Safavid Persia, who was in the service of Mustafa, and who with the rest of Mustafa's household accompanied the prince's cortege from his post his

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

to Bursa, where he was buried, denied any role for Mahmud Pasha in Mustafa's death; nevertheless, Mehmed II had the man executed shortly thereafter. Gülşah Hatun had not been informed of her son's death, and when the wagon carrying his body stopped outside the palace, she and the women of her train began to wail. Babinger wrote that Mustafa's daughter, Nergiszade Ferahşad Hatun, shared her grandmother's grief, and the lamentations went on endlessly. Mehmed sent word that she should remain in Bursa with those maidens whom she required. Mehmed also had a good provision made for her, where she might live there honorably. He ordered that Mustafa's daughter and her mother and rest of the ladies, together with all others belonging to the court of his deceased son, should come to Istanbul. All the women were lodged in the palace where women of Mehmed's harem stayed, and after several days the maidens were married to courtiers. Nergiszade Ferahşad married her cousin Şehzade Abdullah, eldest son of Şehzade Bayezid (future

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 ...

) in 1480.

Last years and death

In 1479, Gülşah Hatun was granted the village of Sığırcalu in Dimetoka, its revenues were converted into mülk so that Gülşah could turn it into an endowment for the eventual upkeep of her tomb in Bursa. Gülşah Hatun died in 1487, and was buried in Bursa in the tomb she had built for herself near that of Mustafa. The tomb of Gülşah Hatun has an entrance with elegant jogged voussoirs, and marble cenotaphs inside, newly made from old pieces.

Issue

By Mehmed II, Gülşah had a son: *

(1450 - 25 December 1474, died in controversial circumstances following a sex scandal). Sanjakbey of Konya, he had at least a son and two daughters: ** Şehzade Hali; ** Hani Hatun; ** Nergiszade Ferahşad Hatun, also called Nergisşah Ferahşah. In 1480 she married her cousin

Şehzade Abdullah Şehzade Abdullah ( 1525 – 1528) was an Ottoman prince, son of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his favorite Hurrem Sultan. He was born around 1525 in Eski Saray, the Ottoman Empire and died due to a disease, possibly smallpox, in ...

(son of

) and had a son and two daughters: *** Şehzade ''Fülan'' (1481-1489). *** Aynışah Sultan (1482 - 1540), she married Ahmed Pasha. Buried in the

Şirin Hatun Şirin Hatun (; "''sweet one''", dead in 1521) was a concubine of Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire. Life Her origin is unknown, but the consorts of the Ottoman sultans were by custom normally concubines of Christian origin, who came to t ...

's mausoleum, Bursa, with her mother. *** Şahnisa Sultan (1484 - 1540), she married firstly her cousin Şehzade Mehmed Şah (died in 1512, son of Şehzade Şehinşah, son of Bayezid II); secondly Mirza Mehmed Pasha (died in 1517) and had a son, Sultanzade Şemsi Ahmed Pasha; eventually she married Nuri Bey.

Popular culture

*In the Turkish series '' Mehmed: Sultan of Conquests'', Gülşah Hatun is portrayed by Turkish actress Sena Çakır. In the series, she is shown to be Ibrahim Bey's daughter.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gulsah Hatun 15th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans 1487 deaths Mehmed II Concubines of Ottoman sultans 15th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire 15th-century women from the Ottoman Empire