Şehzade Korkut ( 1467 or 1469 – 13 March 1513) was an Ottoman prince who was for a short time the

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for the Ottoman throne.

Early life

Although it is stated that he was born in

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

in 1467 or 1469, there is no clear record about the year of birth in the sources. He is the son of Bayezid II. In one of his works, he writes his name as Ebülhayr Mehmed Korkut. In official documents, he used only the name Korkut. In 1479 his grandfather Mehmed II sent Korkut to Istanbul with his other brothers to be circumcised. After the death of his grandfather he was a short term regent before his father arrived at the capital. He was "the most beloved grandchild" of Sultan Mehmed, "who saw to it that Prince Korkut received the most rigorous education in his palace". He wrote six highly regarded works on religious subjects and a collection of poems, and also composed musical works.

As a governor

According to Ottoman tradition, all princes ( tr, şehzade) were required to work as provincial (

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

) governors (

sanjak-bey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' ( ota, سنجاق بك) () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak ...

) as a part of their training. In 1491, Korkut was appointed as the governor of Saruhan sanjak (

Manisa Manisa (), historically known as Magnesia, is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province. Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port ci ...

in modern Turkey). In 1502, he was appointed as the governor of Teke (

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

in modern Turkey), a port on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

coast. Antalya was much farther from Istanbul than Manisa, and Korkut interpreted this appointment as a sign of disfavor by his father, the sultan. He asked for his former seat; upon refusal in 1509, he escaped to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

under the pretext of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

. Egypt was under

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

rule, and he was welcomed by the Mamluk sultans. His father considered this a sign of negligence on Korkut's part, but pardoned him, and Korkut returned to Ottoman lands.Joseph von Hammer: ''Osmanlı Tarihi'' cilt I (condensation: Mehmet Ata-Abdülkadir Karahan), Milliyet yayınları, İstanbul. pp 243 During his voyage back home, the

Knights Hospitalier The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

attacked his ship and attempted to capture him, but Korkut managed to escape from the knights and return home safely.

Beginning of the interregnum

Beyazıt was now old and ailing. Korkut decided to move to Manisa to be closer to the capital. During this travel, a part of his treasury was raided by the rebels of Şahkulu. Later, he secretly traveled to

İstanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

to have a role in the coming interregnum between his brothers. However, he found almost no supporters in the capital. He met with his brother Selim, who convinced him to return to his sanjak. Korkut then gave up all of his claims to the throne and took no part in the civil war between his two brothers (

Şehzade Ahmet ota, شہزادہ احمد , house = Ottoman , house-type = Dynasty , father = Bayezid II , mother = Bülbül Hatun , birth_date = , birth_place = Amasya, Ottoman Empire , death_date = , death_place = Ye ...

and

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

Death

Selim I (known as ''Yavuz'') became the new sultan in 1512. Korkut readily accepted his brother's reign. Nevertheless, distrustful Selim decided to test his loyalty by sending him fake letters from various bureaucrats of the empire that attempted to encourage him to take part in a rebellion against Selim. Feeling that Korkut was preparing to revolt, Selim had Korkut executed in 1513 near

Emet EMET or emet may refer to: * Emet, a town in Turkey * Emet (geographic region), a territorial division within the Kalenjin society of pre-colonial Kenya * EMET Prize, an annual academic and cultural prize in Israel * Endowment for Middle East T ...

(around Kütahya in Turkey). He was buried in Bursa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korkut, Sehzade 16th-century people of the Ottoman Empire 1467 births 1513 deaths Executed people of the Ottoman Empire Sons of Ottoman sultans People from Amasya 16th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Executed royalty Pretenders to the Ottoman throne