Hafsa Sultan

Not to be confused with Hafsa Hatun or Ayşe Hatun (consort of Selim I).
In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Ayşe Hafsa, the title is Sultan, and there is no family name.
Hafsa Sultan
Bust of Hafsa Sultan, Manisa, Turkey
Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure30 September 1520 – 19 March 1534
PredecessorGülbahar Hatun (as Valide Hatun)
SuccessorNurbanu Sultan
Born1478/1479
Died(1534-03-19)19 March 1534
Eski Saray, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Burial
Yavuz Selim Mosque, Fatih, Constantinople
Consort ofSelim I
IssueHatice Sultan
Fatma Sultan
Hafize Sultan
Beyhan Sultan
Suleiman I
Names
English: Ayşe Hafsa Sultan
Ottoman Turkish: حفصه سلطان
HouseOttoman
ReligionSunni Islam (converted)

Ayşe Hafsa Sultan[1] (Ottoman Turkish: حفصه سلطان; 1478/1479 - 19 March 1534), was a concubine of Selim I and the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent. She was the first Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and, during the period between her son's enthronement in 1520 until her death in 1534, she was one of the most influential women in the Ottoman Empire.

Origins

The traditional and general view holds that Hafsa Sultan was the daughter of Meñli I Giray (1445–1515), the Khan of the Crimean Tatars.[2][3][4] This belief, supported by numerous seventeenth-century Western sources, presents Hafsa as a Tatar princess whose noble lineage symbolized the deepening political alliance.[5][6][7]

Various Turkish and Western historians including Cemal Kafadar & Halil Inalcik; John Freely; André Clot & Matthew Reisz hold to this idea.[8][9] According to this perspective, Hafsa Sultan’s position as the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent gains further political and symbolic significance and makes the Ottoman dynasty a Gengishid family.[10][11][12]

Reşat Kasaba mentions the marriage between Selim I and Hafsa Sultan as the "last marriage between an Ottoman sultan and a member of a neighboring Muslim royal family".[13]

However, contemporary historians have debunked this traditional view, demonstrating, based on Ottoman documentary evidence, that she was actually a slave of Christian origins, whose background was "ennobled" for propaganda reasons, conflating her figure with that of Meñli's real daughter, Ayşe.[14][15]

Ilya Zaytsev and Esin Atıl demostrated that Ayşe first married Şehzade Mehmed, the governor of Kefe, and that she later married his half-brother Selim I; consequently, her marriage into the Ottoman dynasty is believed by some to be one of two noted instances of wedlock between the Girays and the Ottomans (the other being the marriage of Selim I's daughter, maybe Gevherhan Sultan, to Saadet-Giray, but also this marriage is not proved).[16][17] The Ottomanist Alan Fisher, Leslie Peirce, and Feridun Emecen all see Hafsa as having been of slave origin and not the daughter of the Crimean Khan.[18]

Early life

Around sixteen, she became one of the many concubines of Selim, when he was a prince and the governor of Trabzon from 1487.[19][20][21][22] With him, she had at least four daughters, Hatice Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Hafize Sultan and Beyhan Sultan and finally, in 1494, her only son, Suleiman.[22][23]

According to Turkish tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors as a part of their training. Hafsa joined Suleiman during his early princely assignments, initially in Kefe in 1509,[24] and later in Manisa [25] in 1513.[26] She was supervisor and manager of the inner household and of Suleiman's personal life.[27] Within his court in Kefe, she was granted a monthly stipend of 1,000 aspers, compared to Suleiman's 600 aspers.[28] In 1513, as the mother of the heir apparent , Hafsa received a stipend of 150 aspers a day.[29] In Manisa, where she became the eldest member of the household, she received a further raise, being granted a monthly stipend of 200 aspers a day.[27] This stipend totalling 6,000 aspers a month surpassed that of anyone else on the princely payroll and was triple that of the prince himself.[30]

In his provinces, Hafsa was Suleiman's closest companion and kept him constant company.[31] According to Guillaume Postel, she, purportedly saved Suleiman from potential execution by his father. She allegedly instructed him to disavow any interest in succeeding his father as the sultan. Several years before Selim's death, he is said to have tested his sons' loyalty by expressing a desire to retire from the sultanate and asking which of them sought to rule the empire. Postel conveyed that those who responded with boldness met a fatal fate. Suleiman, guided by his mother's understanding of Selim, declined the opportunity, asserting that he was his father's slave, not his son. He expressed that even after Selim's death, assuming such responsibility would cause him great distress.[32]

Valide Sultan

After Suleiman's accession to the throne in 1520, Hafsa came to reside in the Old Palace in Istanbul.[33] Following his ascent, and likely with his approval, Hafsa, began signing her letters as "the sultan's mother" (valide-i sultan). Although not an official title, it became widely recognized. Hafsa, possibly the first sultanic mother to consistently use this appellation, served as a crucial source of support for various individuals during these years, particularly women associated with the dynasty. Examples include aiding the daughters of Prince Âlemşah after their mother's death and assisting a female member of Khayr Beg's harem. In her letters to Suleiman, Hafsa demonstrated both business-like and affectionate tones, addressing him as "the light of my eye, the joy of my heart."[34]

During the early years of Suleiman's reign, Hafsa emerged as a dominant female influence in his life, as evidenced by her son's granting of the title "Valide Sultan" (Mother Sultan) to her, making her the first person in Ottoman history to bear the title of sultana despite not having royal blood. Although her letters carried formal chancery formulas, they revealed an intimate undertone. Expressing a deep yearning for her son's company and showcasing concern for his safety during campaigns, Hafsa's letters unveiled the profound bond between mother and son. In a rare handwritten letter, she shared a light-hearted anecdote about a household servant and lamented a missed opportunity to see Suleiman. Ending the letter with a gift of black-eyed peas, she conveyed her love, stating that even a treasure wouldn't be enough of a gift for him.[35] She also attempted to prevent the execution of Ferhad Pasha, who was married to her daughter Beyhan.[36][37]

Suleiman had a deep affection for his mother, which is highlighted in Bragadin's 1526 report, describing her as a "a very beautiful woman of 48, for whom [the sultan] bears great reverence and love." Following the Ottoman triumph at the battle of Mohács in 1526, Suleiman took special care to personally inform his mother of the victory through a letter, emphasizing the close bond and reverence he had for her.[38]

Shortly after Suleiman's ascension to the throne, Hafsa initiated the construction of an extensive mosque complex in Manisa,[39] surpassing any built by previous concubines.[40] Its construction probably started during Suleiman's governorship in Manisa, and was completed in 1522–23.[36] This complex included a mosque, a religious college, a dervish hostel, a primary school, and a soup kitchen, employing a staff of 117. Suleiman later expanded it to include a hospital and a bath in his mother's name. Known as "Sultaniye," this imperial mosque featured two minarets, an honor typically reserved for the sultan. Financed through properties acquired with support from Suleiman's father, Selim, and later Suleiman himself, the mosque complex was endowed with income generated from these assets.[40]

Hafsa's groundwork for the project included a significant collective purchase in 1518, involving 56 ordinary shops, 11 shops with roofed fronts, and 111 booths in the Urla market near Izmir. This acquisition, totaling 116 transactions and valued at 66,690 aspers, laid the foundation for the mosque complex's financial support. Beyond construction, Hafsa actively promoted settlement in the mosque's vicinity, offering lots for rent or sale. Those constructing residences on these lots received tax exemptions from the sultan as an encouragement.[41]

She had a kira named Strongilah. She provided assistance to the women in the harem and developed a strong bond with Hafsa.[42]

Death

Hafsa died on 19 March 1534,[43][44] and was buried in the vicinity of her husband’s tomb in Yavuz Selim Mosque, Istanbul.[43][30] Construction of a separate mausoleum for her was ordered, and readers were hired to recite the Quran continuously at her grave.[43] Her funeral was marked by significant public demonstrations of mourning.[38] In the depiction of her funeral, royal chancellor and historian Celâlzâde Mustafa Çelebi paid tribute to her with an extensive series of commendations, likening her to revered Muslim women. He compared her to Khadija, the first wife of Muhammad, as well as to Fatima and Aisha, highlighting her asceticism, righteous thoughts, and her active involvement in charitable foundations and virtuous deeds.[45]

Issue

Together with Selim, Hafsa had four daughters before having her only son:

  • Hatice Sultan (ante 1494 – post 1543/44). Married twice, she had five sons and at least three daughters.[46][47][48]
  • Fatma Sultan (ante 1494 – c. 1566). Married three times, maybe she had two daughters.[21]: 65 [49]
  • Beyhan Sultan (ante 1494 – 1559; called also Peykhan Sultan). Married to Ferhad Pasha,[50] she had at least two children.[47][48]
  • Hafize Sultan (ante 1494 – 10 July 1538). She married twice and had a son.
  • Suleiman I (6 November 1494 – 6 September 1566). 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.[51]
  • In the 1997 Ukrainian series Roxolana, Hafsa Sultan is played by Tatjana Nasarowa.
  • In the 2003 TV miniseries Hürrem Sultan, Hafsa Sultan is played by Turkish actress Deniz Türkali.[52]
  • In the 2005 German documentary miniseries Mätressen – Die geheime Macht der Frauen (Mistresses – The Secret Power of Women), Hafsa Sultan is played by German actress Cornelia Schmaus.
  • In the 2011 TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, young Hafsa Sultan is played by Turkish actress Evrim Alasya, and old Hafsa Sultan is played by Turkish actress Nebahat Çehre.[53]
  • In the 2019 series Kingdoms of Fire, Hafsa Sultan is played by Tunisian actress Souhir Ben Amara.

References

  1. ^ Tektaş, Nazım (2004). Harem'den Taşanlar (in Turkish). Çatı Kitapları. p. 85. ISBN 9758845020.
  2. ^ Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler (in Turkish). Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-975-329-623-6.
  3. ^ Halil İnalcık, Cemal Kafadar (1993). Süleymân The Second [i.e. the First] and his time. Isis Press. she was a Tatar, a daughter of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray
  4. ^ André Clot, Matthew Reisz (2005). Suleiman the Magnificent. Saqi. p. 26. His mother, Hafsa Hatun, is believed to have been the daughter of Mengli Giray, the khan of the Crimean Tartars.
  5. ^ Contemporaries of Erasmus : a biographical register of the Renaissance and Reformation, volumes 1-3, A-Z. Internet Archive. Toronto : University of Toronto Press. 2003. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-8020-8577-1. Suleiman i (Solymannus), known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent, was the son of *Selim i and Hafsa Sultan, the daughter of Mengli Giray{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  6. ^ John Freely (1 July 2001). Inside the Seraglio: private lives of the sultans in Istanbul. Penguin. Suleyman's mother, Hafsa Hatun, who was seventeen at the time of his birth, may have been a daughter of Mengli Giray, khan of the Crimean Tartars.
  7. ^ Gillian Long, Uradyn Erden Bulag, Michael Gervers (2005). History and society in central and inner Asia: papers presented at the Central and Inner Asia Seminar, University of Toronto, 16-17 April 2004. Asian Institute, University of Toronto.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Janusz Duzinkiewicz (2004). Derzhavi, Suspilʹstva, Kulʹtury: Skhid i Zakhid : Zbirnik Na Poshanu I︠A︡roslava Pelensʹkogo. Ross Pub.
  9. ^ Henk Boom (2010). De Grote Turk: in het voetspoor van Süleyman de Prachtlievende (1494-1566). Athenaeum-Polak & Van Gennep.
  10. ^ Carolus Bovillus (2002). Lettres et poèmes de Charles de Bovelles: édition critique, introduction et commentaire du ms. 1134'te la Bibliothèque de l'Université de Paris. Champion.
  11. ^ Elena Vladimirovna Boĭkova, R. B. Rybakov, Kinship in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 48th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Moscow 10–15 July 2005, pg.341
  12. ^ Glyn Williams, Brian (2001), The Crimean Tatars: The Diaspora Experience and the Forging of a Nation, BRILL, p. 56, ISBN 0295801492, Ottoman princes, such as the future Ottoman Sultans Selim I (who married Mengli Giray Khan's daughter, Hafsa Hatun...
  13. ^ Kasaba, Resat (2011), A Moveable Empire: Ottoman Nomads, Migrants, and Refugees, University of Washington Press, p. 44, ISBN 978-0295801490, The last marriage between an Ottoman sultan and a member of a neighboring Muslim royal family was the one between Selim I and Hafsa Sultan, the daughter of the Crimean ruler Mengli Giray Khan.
  14. ^ Alan Fisher (1993). "The Life and Family of Suleyman I". In İnalcık, Halil; Kafadar, Cemal (eds.). Süleymân The Second [i.e. the First] and his time. Isis Press. That she was a Tatar, a daughter of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray, was a story apparently begun by Jovius, repeated by other western sources, and taken up by Merriman in his biography of Suleyman
  15. ^ Encyclopedia_of_Islam vol. IX (1997), s.v. Suleyman p. 833
  16. ^ Zaytsev, Ilya (2006), "The Structure of the Giray Dynasty (15th-16th centuries): Matrimonial and Kinship Relations of the Crimean Khans", Kinship in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 48th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Moscow 10-15 July 2005, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 341, ISBN 3447054166, Only two instances concerning the Ottomans are noted. Ayshe (daughter of Mengli-Giray I) was married to şehzade and governor of Kefe Mehmed, and to his brother Selim I later on (917/1511). Sultan Selim's daughter was married to Saadet-Giray.
  17. ^ Atıl, Esin (1987), The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, National Gallery of Art, p. 27, ISBN 0810918552, Some historians state that she was the daughter of Mengili Giray Han, the ruler of the Crimean Tatars. Others mention that Ayse, another wife of Selim I, was the Crimean princess and given by Hafsa's father, a man named Abdulmumin or Abdulhay, and unknown person - suggesting that she was of slave origin.
  18. ^ *Alan Fisher (1993). "The Life and Family of Süleymân I". In İnalcık, Halil; Cemal Kafadar (eds.). Süleymân The Second [i.e. the First] and His Time. Istanbul: Isis Press. p. 9. ISBN 975-428-052-5.
    • Emecen, Feridun (2010). "Süleyman I". İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Vol. 38. İslâm Araştırmaları Merkezi. pp. 62–74. Information indicating that she was the daughter of the Crimean Khan or was related to the family of Dulkadıroğlu is incorrect.
    • Peirce 1993, p. 40
  19. ^ Şahin 2023, p. 36.
  20. ^ Peirce, Leslie; The Imperial Harem, Pg 63: "According to Bragadin’s report of 1526, Hafsa was “a very beautiful woman of 48, for whom [the sultan] bears great reverence and love.”
  21. ^ a b Türe, D.F.; Türe, F. (2011). Women's Memory: The Problem of Sources. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-3265-6.
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  23. ^ Şahin 2023, pp. 34, 124.
  24. ^ Şahin 2023, p. 68.
  25. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 61.
  26. ^ Singer, A. (2002). Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem. SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies. State University of New York Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-7914-5351-3.
  27. ^ a b Şahin 2023, p. 84.
  28. ^ Şahin 2023, p. 72.
  29. ^ Şahin 2023, p. 129.
  30. ^ a b Peirce 1993, p. 52.
  31. ^ Şahin 2023, pp. 84, 88.
  32. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 230.
  33. ^ Şahin 2023, p. 108.
  34. ^ Şahin 2023, p. 123.
  35. ^ Şahin 2023, pp. 123–124.
  36. ^ a b Şahin 2023, p. 124.
  37. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 79.
  38. ^ a b Peirce 1993, p. 63.
  39. ^ Peirce 1993, pp. 199, 200.
  40. ^ a b Peirce 1993, p. 199.
  41. ^ Peirce 1993, pp. 199–200.
  42. ^ Rozen, M. (2010). A History of the Jewish Community in Istanbul: The Formative Years, 1453-1566. Ottoman Empire and its Heritage. Brill. p. 204. ISBN 978-90-04-18589-0.
  43. ^ a b c Şahin 2023, p. 218.
  44. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 62.
  45. ^ Peirce 1993, p. 187.
  46. ^ Turan, Ebru (2009). "The Marriage of Ibrahim Pasha (c. 1495–1536): The Rise of Sultan Süleyman's Favorite to the Grand Vizierate and the Politics of the Elites in the Early Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Empire". Turcica. 41: 3–36. doi:10.2143/TURC.41.0.2049287.
    • Şahin, Kaya (2013). Empire and Power in the reign of Süleyman: Narrating the Sixteenth-Century Ottoman World. Cambridge University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-107-03442-6.
    • Peirce, Leslie (2017). Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire. Basic Books. p. 157. Muhsine, granddaughter of an illustrious statesman, is now largely accepted as Ibrahim's wife.
  47. ^ a b Turan, Ebru (2009). The marriage of Ibrahim Pasha (c. 1495–1536) – The rise of Sultan Süleyman's favourite to the grand vizierate and the politics of the elites in the early sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire. pp. 14, 25.
  48. ^ a b Gök, İlhan (2014). II. Bâyezîd Dönemi İn'âmât Defteri ve Ceyb-i Hümayun Masraf Defteri (Thesis). pp. 1464, 1465, 1469.
  49. ^ Ayvansarayî, H.H.; Crane, H. (2000). The Garden of the Mosques: Hafiz Hüseyin Al-Ayvansarayî's Guide to the Muslim Monuments of Ottoman Istanbul. Brill Book Archive Part 1. Brill. p. 175. ISBN 978-90-04-11242-1.
  50. ^ Turan, Ebru; THE MARRIAGE OF IBRAHIM PASHA (CA. 1495–1536): (footnote): "Ferhad Pasha married Beyhan Sultan after the Belgrade campaign; SANUDO, vol. 33, cols. 37, 43–44
  51. ^ Usta, Veysel (2019-03-21). "Şehzade Süleyman'ın (Kanuni) Travzon'da Doğduğu Ev Meselesi". Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi. 13 (26). Karadeniz Incelemeleri Dergisi: 397–414. doi:10.18220/kid.562304. ISSN 2146-4642.
  52. ^ "Hürrem Sultan (TV Series 2003)". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  53. ^ "The Magnificent Century (2011–2014)". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-02-04.

Sources

  • Peirce, L.P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Studies in Middle Eastern history. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-508677-5.
  • Şahin, K. (2023). Peerless Among Princes: The Life and Times of Sultan Süleyman. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-753163-1.
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