Ismihan Sultan (, "''Purity of the Khan''" or ''"Highness of the Khan''"; also Esmehan Sultan; Manisa, 1545 – Costantinople, 8 August 1585) was an
Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan
Selim II (reign 1566–74) and his favorite concubine,
Haseki Sultan and legal wife
Nurbanu Sultan. She was the granddaughter of
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
(reign 1520–66) and his favourite consort,
Haseki sultan and legal wife
Hürrem Sultan, sister of Sultan
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 1574–95) and aunt 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) as well as the niece of
Mihrimah Sultan. She was also the wife of renowned Ottoman Grand Vizier
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha.
Early years
Ismihan Sultan was born in
Manisa
Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...
in 1545.
She was the daughter Şehzade Selim (future
Selim II), son of Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
and
Hurrem Sultan and his favorite concubine, and later
Haseki and legal wife,
Nurbanu Sultan. She spent her early life in Manisa and Konya, where her father served as a sanjak-bey. Ismihan was described as not being particularly beautiful.
First marriage
In 1562, strong alliances were made for the daughters of Şehzade Selim, the prince who would succeed Suleiman as Selim II. On 17 August 1562, Ismihan married
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, while her sisters
Gevherhan married the admiral
Piyale Pasha, and
Şah the chief falconer Hasan Agha. It was widely reported that her father was particularly happy to give Ismihan's hand to Sokollu as a reward for the vizier's help in his succession struggle with his brother
Şehzade Bayezid. The State Treasury covered the expenses for the imperial wedding and granted 15,000 florins as a wedding gift to the imperial son-in-law. The couple owned two palaces, one located in Kadırga,
and the other one located in
Üsküdar
Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...
. The two together had three sons and a daughter.
The Ragusans remarked on the marriage of Ismihan and Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, according to which he was awed by the sultana no less than others were by him. She frequently referred to him as “Vlach, in
other words, a most vile rustic” (Murlacco, che vuol dire contadino vilissimo).
Second marriage
After the death of her first husband, the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in 1579, the princess's first choice for a new husband was Ösdemiroğlu Osman Pasha. However, he was not interested. Her next choice was Kalaylıkoz Ali Pasha, the governor of Buda, who agreed to the marriage, but when the imperial order came demanding his divorce, his wife's sorrow and suffering were said to have caused the city to revolt. However, the two married in 1584 and had a son, Sultanzade Mahmud Bey born in 1585.
Court career
In 1575, just after her brother Sultan Murad ascended to the throne, her daily stipend consisted of 300 aspers. In the early 1580s, Ismihan collaborated with her mother Nurbanu to further isolate
Safiye Sultan politically. After which Murad accepted as a gift from her, two beautiful slave women, each skilled at dance and musical performance. The French refused to return two Turkish women who had been captured at sea by
Henry III's brother-in-law and made members of
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...
's court. Interceding on behalf of the Turkish women were Ismihan and her aunt,
Mihrimah Sultan.
Death
Ismihan Sultan died of complications in childbirth on 8 August 1585, three days after giving birth prematurely to her son, and was buried in the mausoleum of her father located in
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
. Her newborn son, Mahmud, would outlive her by no more than fifty days.
Issue
Only two of Ismihan's five children survived after infancy.
From her first marriage, Ismihan had a daughter and three sons:
*Safiye Hanımsultan (1563 - ?). Ismihan Sultan's eldest child. She was firstly married to her father's cousin Sokollu Mustafa Pasha, governor of Buda. After his execution in 1578, she married the new governor of Buda, Silahdar Cafer Pasha. After his death in 1587, she gave birth to their twin sons, Mehmed Bey and Cafer Bey, who died as children. She married thirdly to Sultanzade Abdülbaki Bey, son of her mother's cousin
Hümaşah Sultan.
*Sultanzade Ahmed Bey (1564 - 1567). Died in infancy, probably of smallpox.
*Sultanzade Sokolluzâde Ibrahim Han Pasha (1565 - 1621). In 1924, one of his descendants, Sokolluzade Abdülbâki Ihsân Bey, married another Ottoman princess,
Rukiye Sultan, granddaughter of Sultan
Mehmed V
Mehmed V Reşâd (; or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a Constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarch. He had ...
.
*Sultanzade Piri Mehmed Bey (1566 - 1567). Died in early infancy, probably of smallpox.
From her second marriage, Ismihan had a son:
*Sultanzade Mahmud Bey (5 August 1585 - 24 September 1585). Ismihan died giving birth to him. He died 50 days after his mother.
Charities
Ismihan commissioned a
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
located near the Hippodrome, bearing Sokollu Mehmed Pasha's name. Her husband was responsible for the religious college and dervish hostel associated with it. She also commissioned another
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
in her name in
Mangalia,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
.
She also endowed a library in her own madrasa in Eyüp. Peasants on royal endowment land were accorded privileged treatment. The inhabitants of the Bulgarian village of Bobosevo, which had formed part of the holdings of Ismihan, today still remember that their village was under the protection of a princess (“under the veil of a Sultana”).
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismihan Sultan
1545 births
1585 deaths
16th-century Ottoman princesses
Deaths in childbirth