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Holofira/Nilüfer Hatun

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Harem Fashion in the 16th century ⬇️⤵️

Bassano da Zara, in / Costumi et i modi particolari de la vita dc Turchi (1545), describes women dressed richly in silk, with lined cloaks sweeping to the ground and laced-up boots fitting tight to the ankle. All had trousers and chemises of very fine linen or muslin, some white and some dyed red, yellow, or blue. On their heads they wore small round caps embroidered with satin, damask, or silk, and, under these, colored strips of thin silk as wide as a priest's stole, with a little fringe at the edges. Some preferred caps of velvet or brocade, to which a stole was attached. Some wore two caps, a small white one with another of silk on top. In a 1599 account contained in Early Voyages and Travels in the Levant, Thomas Dallam recalled the sight of thirty concubines spied through a grate in the harem wall: "Theie wore upon theire heads nothinge butelittle capp of clothes of gold, which did but cover the crown of her head,pearls and a jewell hanging on her breast and jewels in her ears; her coats were like a soliders mandilyon [a buttoned cloak], of red satin , and some of other collors, and girded like a lace of contraire color; they wore fine clothe made of cotton woll, as whyte as snow and as fine as lane"

Source : Alev Croutier, Harem: The World Behind the Veil

~Şivekar Sultan~

The Storytellers told Ibrahim I that the bigger and fatter the woman, the sweeter the lovemaking would be. One day while traveling in Üsküdar, the sultan was inspired by the corpulent women he saw. He then ordered to find the fattest beauty in Istanbul. The courtiers searched and searched and finally found a Armenian woman who weight 150 kg. She entered Ibrahim’s harem, was named Şivekar and became the seventh Haseki Sultan. Ibrahim could not live without her for a while. It seems that Şivekar did not have any children.Compared to other Ibrahim’s consorts, Şivekar was the one who had influence during her Hasekiship. In a letter to the grand vizier, she requested that Hasan, one of the axe – masters be assigned to a certain position. Upon Ibrahim’s dethronement, Şivekar was sent to the Old Palace. She lived the longest among Ibrahim’s consorts. She passed away in 1693.

The purpose of political marriages was to create alliances and support with other dynasties. However, the Ottoman rulers did consummate inter-dynastic marriages. A son born to a foreign princess would have been supported by his mother's dynasty in the race for the throne. If the son had succeeded his father, the mother's family might have tried to interfere in the affairs of state. There are rare examples of inter-dynastic marriages, such as that of Orhan the First and his wife, the Byzantine princess Theodora. After the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II, the empire became strong and a foreign relative would only have been an obstacle and so the sultans stopped marrying. Not only foreign princesses, but also Turkish nobles

~Sultana Rosana~

The more we research Rosana, the clearer it becomes that she probably didn't even exist? She was described as a tall, blonde, beautiful woman of 20.

Many stories have been spread about Rosana, such as that she killed women she thought the Sultan liked, or that Murad had his brothers executed in Rosana's favor.

It is even said that Murad IV sent her from his campaign back to the capital when he started to pay attention to Emirgüne's sister.

In my opinion, these stories are exaggerated and partly resemble the true events of one or more other concubines. We know, for example, that a letter from the "sultana wife" prompted Murad to execute his brothers. And we can assume that there was always one concubine who was jealous of every other concubine. And the stories about "Rosana" were inspired by such events.

Sanavber Hatun

There is a 14-page deed of foundation from 1628.

Sanavber's Tag is Sanavber bint Abdülmennan. Mostly converts were referred to as "bint Abdullah", but there were also converts who appeared as bint Abdülmennan (e.g. Mahidevran, Mimar Sinan), so the theory that she could be a slave cannot be ruled out.

Murad IV's first child was born in 1627, and as we know, a concubine's stipend gets higher as soon as she gives birth. Would there really be enough money for a young concubine and young mother to build a foundation?

Perhaps Sanavber was a high-ranking servant and could therefore afford a foundation.

Nothing more is known about her.

The second Haseki of Murad 4

Nothing is known about her, not her name, her origin, neither the identity of her children.

It is mentioned that she appeared at the end of Murad’s reign, but the exact year is not given. Her stipend was 2751 per day and seven months later it was reduced to 2000 aspers per day. Based on this information, we can assume that she was the mother of prince born in 1638, who passed away few months later. Nothing else is known about the second Haseki. She disappears from the registers with Murad’s death.

Source: Leslie Peirce- The Imperial Harem

~The last Haseki Sultan~

Rabia was the consort of Ahmed II. Her date of birth and origin are unknown.On 7th October 1692, Rabia gave birth to twin şehzades Selim and Ibrahim. Sultan Ahmed II ordered huge festivales. On 14th November 1692, the Sultan rewarded Rabia with the title of Haseki Sultan and he made her wear a crown. Thus, Rabia became the last Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Sadly, Şehzade Selim passed away on 15th May 1693. In July 1693, the mansion of late Kara Ibrahim Pasha, grand vizier during the reign of Mehmed IV, was donated and assigned to Rabia. On 23th October 1694, Rabia gave birth to her only daughter, Asiye. Ahmed II granted Rabia lands in Aleppo. Property of Ahmed's sister, Gevherhan Sultan who passed away in September 1694, was given to Asiye Sultan. It is understood from the documents,that late Gevherhan Sultan was in debt, especially the debt she owed Rabia was high. After Ahmed II passed away in Februar 1695, Rabia and Asiye left Edirne and moved to Istanbul to the Old Palace. Rabia's son Ibrahim stayed in Edirne, in care of the new Valide Sultan , Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş. Unfortunatelly, Asiye passed away on 9th December 1695. Nothing else is known about Rabia's life in the Old Palace. We can only imagine how devasted she was after loosing two of her childern, her master and beeing far away from her only living child. Rabia passed away on 14th January 1712. 370 kuruş ( ca. 4320 $) were spent on her funeral. Rabia rests next to Ahmed II, in Sultan Süleyman's tomb

Meylişah/ Melylikaya/Mehlika. Her date of birth is unknown. She was of russian origin.

Originally she was a slave of Kuyuncu Mehmed Pasha and after his death, Pasha's wife presented her to chief black eunuch of the Imperial Harem, Haci Agha. The agha treated her like his own daughter and he decided to freed her. When Meylişah and Osman II met, she was a free woman. There is no record of their marriage but according to islamic law, a freed slave woman could not be a concubine again. On 20th October 1621, Meylisah gave birth to sehzade Ömer, the only known child of Osman II. Unfortunatelly, in February 1622 Ömer tragically passed away. According to venetian bailo, Osman Il and Meylisah together with prince Ömer and with other female family members were watching a re-enactment of the sultan 's Polish campaign organized as a big show at the palace. One of the acemioglan (boys considered to join the Janissaries) playing the role of a Polish solider discharged the gun and caused a ricochet.Osman blamed Meylisah for that accident and refused to see her ever again. She lost her ranks and titles. She disappers from Harem records with Ömer's death. Nothing more is known about her.

#meleksimasultan

~Hümaşah Sultan~

Hümaşah was born Manisa. She might be born in autumn 1543 during visit of Hürrem Sultan or she might be posthume child of Sehzade Mehmed. According to historian Alderson, her mother's name was Aya. It is known that Aya was married off to Pertev Pasha. After Sehzade Mehmed's death, Hümaşah and Aya Hatun moved from Manisa to Istanbul, Old Palace. Hümaşah was close to her grandparents and her cousin, Ayşe Hümaşah, daughter of Mihrimah Sultan and Rüstem Paşa. Perhaps, both girls were educated together. Both of them were close to their uncle Sehzade Cihangir. Apparently an outgoing personality, the teenage Changir was the perfect uncle to his nieces.

In 1566/1567 Hümaşah was married off to the third Vezir, Ferhad Paşa. The marriage lasted 8-9 years till Ferhat Pasha's death on 06. January 1575. The ceremony took place in the Old Palace. From marriage with Ferhad Pasha she had several children. The known ones are: Sultanzade Hüsni, Sultanzade Osman, Fatma Hanimsultan, Sultanzade Ibrahim, Sultanzade Mustafa. They had at least 4 more daughters but the names are unknown, probably because they didn't reached adulthood. It appears that some of the childern were twins. In August 1575, Hümasah remarried to Sokolluzade Lala Mustafa Pasha. But the marriage lasted also till Lala Mustafa Pasha's death, on 7. August 1580. They had a son Sultanzade Sokolluzade Abdülbaki. Her third marriage took place in 1581 with Gaazi Mehmed Pasha who outlived Hümasah. They didn't have children together.Hümasah sultan also educated and trained Safiye and presented her to her cousin Murad, son of Selim Il and Nurbanu. Safiye lived in Hümasah's household after her abduction but Safiye's role in Hümasah's household is still unclear.

Hümasah Sultan died in 1582, the cause of death is unknown. She is buried in Shezade Mosque. The Mosque was built in honor of Hümasah's father, Sehzade Mehmed.

Her children are also buried in Sehzade's mosque.

Ayşe was born around 1613, she was greek. With permission of Kösem Sultan, Murad IV rewarded her with Haseki Sultan title. In 1633, Murad raises her salary to 2000 aspers a day. The number and identity of her childern has not been confirmed. Angelo Alessandri, a secretary of venetian ambassador wrote about her that she was of Greek origin. According to him, although she was beautiful, she was not as beautiful in spirit as her mother- in law Kösem. Apparently, Ayse was a woman who wasted her money more for greed then generosity. Murad was known for loving Ayşe. He treated her like a queen and she behaved like a queen.Ayşe accompanied Murad IV to Baghdad Campaign. Which was unusal since the incident with Bayezid I amd Olivera Lazarevic when they were captured by Timur. According to austrian historian Joseph von Hammer- Purgstall, Ayşe witnessed the entire campaign.Murad IV passed away in February 1640. We know that Kaya Esmehan's mother came into conflict with Kösem Sultan because Kösem wanted to marry the little girl Kaya to Melek Ahmed Pasha, who was about the same age as Kösem, and she succeeded in doing so. Ayse's salary was cut to just 100 aspers per day. This could just be a coincidence or a hint that Ayse was Kaya's mother. Ayşe passed away in 1679/1680.

~Mara Branković~

Mara Brankovic, daughter of serbian despot Djuradj Brankovic and byzantine nobless Irene Kantakouzenos. She was married to Sultan Murad II. She was one of the chief personality's of the 15th century. She was also related to royal family of Constantinopole (maternal side). She was the link between slavic, greek, western and ottoman world. She was highley respected by her stepson Fatih Sultan Mehmed. He even mentioned her as "my mother" in official documents. Whole story on my YT channel!

~VALIDE AYŞE HAFSA SULTAN~

She was the favorite consort of Sultan Selim I. Following the one concubine mother -one son policy she gave birth to three daughters Hatice, Fatma, Beyhan and a son Süleyman (Süleyman the magnificent). She was very loved by people, her master, her childern and the whole harem. To express his love to his mother, Sultan Süleyman gave her the Valide Sultan title, before that, Valides were addresses as Valide hatun. Thus, she became the first slave origin woman having the title "Sultan". Her exact date of birth and origin are unknown,she bay be from black sea regiok but she was definitly NOT the crimean princess, daughter of Mengli Giray. Hafsa Sultan was the first slave origin consort able to build a imperial mosque (Sultan Mosque in Manisa). She died on 19th March 1534 in Istanbul. She rests in Yavuz Sultan Selim's Mosque.

~Mahidevran Gülbahar~

She was born around 1500, her origin is unknown but most historian claim that she was albanian, montenegrian or even circassian. Her name

Mahidevran means the one who is always beautiful and the name Gülbahar which is perhaps her converted name means rose of springs. Mahidevran was listed among 17 women in prince Süleyman's harem in Manisa. In an register she appears as gözde (favorite) together with three other women named Yasemin, Hubeh, Server. Those three recived a salary 5 aspers a day and Mahidevran recived 4 aspers a day.

The reason is unknown but maybe she was the new one at the time. In 1515 Mahidevran gave birth to her only child Mustafa. In 1521, when Süleyman ascended the throne, Mahidevran along with other concubines moved from Manisa to Istanbul. Mustafa was third child and second son of Süleyman. In autum 1521

Süelyman's three childern, eldest son Mahmud, daughter Raziye and baby Murad died because of plague. Mustafa and Mehmed (son of Hürrem) survived. Thus, Mahidevran was the mother of the eldest living son and "first" consort. Till the moment when Sultan Suleyman broke the one mother-one son policy and called back Hürrem, the mother of prince Mehmed. No doubt that concubines and their childern were rivals with other concubines and kids but Mahidevran's and Hürrem's relationship worsened.

Suddendly, Mahidevran was again outranked, but this time by woman who was below her. It was never the affection that Süleyman showed towards Hürrem it was the ranking. But Mahidevran and Hürrem had to tolerate eachother thanks to Valide Ayse Sultan who had cordial relationship with both of them. In 1533

Mustafa was appointed to Manisa and as the tradition says, his mother moved with him. Later, in 1542 when Mustafa was appointed to Amasya, Mahidevran moved once again. In 1553 Sultan Süleyman I executed his and Mahidevran's son Mustafa. Mahidevran moved to Bursa and thus she was the last concubine to retire in Bursa.Sultan Süleyman made Mahidevran responsible for all Mustafa's mistakes and took all her wealth and salary away. Mahidevran lived in poverty for many years till the moment when prince Selim in 1560s started to send her money. With that money she could pay finishing Mustafa's Türbe. Selim II payed her debts and bought her a house with garden. Mahidevran died on 3th February 1581 in Bursa.

~Mahfiruze~

Mahfiruze was the mother of first - born son (Osman) of Sultan Ahmed I

She was choosen by Handan and Gevherhan Sultanas.

Altough, the mother of the second-born son, Mahpeyker Kösem recived the Haseki Sultan rank and thus Ahmed made clear that Kösem was the favorite consort, Mahfiruze didn't fell out of favor. It is possible that Mahfiruze gave birth to Şehzade Çihangir in 1609. And for sure she gave birth to şehzade Bayezid in 1612. Mahfiruze disappears from harem registers after Bayezid's birth. She possibly died due birthcomplications. Some historians suggest that she was alive during Osman's reign and died in 1629, but there is no proof that Mahfiruze was Valide Sultan.There was a rumor that Mahfiruze was beaten and exiled for irritating Kösem but it seems unlikely that a royal mother,the mother of the first-born prince would be treated so disrespectfull.The main problem of Osman II who ascended as a young boy was that he didn't have a valide who could advise him. During his reign, Osman's wetnurse ruled the harem! Even if the rumor was true, that Mahfiruze was exiled, Osman II as the current Sultan could always recall her back to the palace! Mahfiruze is burried in Eyüp Sultan Mosque and not in Ahmed's Complex, that also suggest that she died in 1612 because the complex was finished in 1616. In 1618, when Osman ascended the throne, he built a tomb for her.

Handan was born in Bosnia around 1570. She was educated by Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Selim II. She was giftet to prince Mehmed future Mehmed III. Handan gave birth to at least 4 childern. She was the mother of Ahmed I.Handan was the first female co-regent of the ottoman empire since her son Ahmed I ascended the throne as 13 years old teenage-boy. Ahmed didn't serve in province so he wasn't able to build alliances. In the first months of Ahmed's reign, Ahmed, Handan, grand vezir Ali Pasha and Ahmed's teacher Mustafa efendi met to discuss state affairs. The three men spoke face to face while Handan stayed behind the spanish wall. Few months later Handan steped back from politics and her salary was reduced. The whole thing is probably Handan's idea because she wanted Ahmed to be the opposite from his late father Mehmed III, who was overruled by his mother, Safiye Sultan. It is a known fact that Safiye was hated by soliders and even common people, so Handan suggested that Ahmed I sends her to the old palace. Handan had healthissues. In 1605 her situation worsened, especially after Ahmed executed one of her trusted men, Sinanpashaoglu Ahmed Pasha (son in law of Gevherhan Sultan who raised Handan)

On 9th November 1605, Valide Handan Sultan died, she is burried in Hagia Sofia, in Mehmed III's masoleum.

~Gülfem Hatun~

The exact date of birth is unknown, she was roughly the same age as Süleyman I

She originally came from Greek islands or somewhere else in the Balkans. It was belived for centuries that Gülfem was one of the concubines of Süleyman, whose child died and after that Gülfem asked him to stay in harem as supervisor. This position would give her not only an status but a new meaning in life. But this theory seems unlikely. Usually the mothers of the heirs are mentioned as mother of (name of the eldest son or daughter). If the child died, they appeard in harem documents as mother of deceased Sultan X / valide - i merhum Sultan X. Gülfem simply appeard as Gülfem hatun. More about Gülfem on my YouTube Channel.

Sources: Leslie Peirce - The Imperial Harem and Empress of the East