Halime Sultan (; - after 1623) was a consort 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 ...

, and the mother of Sultan

Mustafa I Mustafa I (; ‎; ; 1600/1602 – 20 January 1639) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 22 November 1617 to 26 February 1618, and from 20 May 1622 to 10 September 1623. He was the son of sultan Mehmed III and Halime Sultan. Earl ...

. The first woman to be

Valide Sultan Valide Sultan (, lit. "Sultana mother") was the title held by the mother of a ruling sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans first formally used the title in the 16th century as an epithet of Hafsa Sultan (died 1534), mother of Sultan Suleima ...

twice and the only to be Valide twice of a same son. She was an '' de facto co ruler'' of

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 ...

as Valide Sultan from 1617 to 1618 and again from 1622 to 1623, as her son was mentally unstable. Halime was also one of the prominent figures during the era known as the Sultanate of Women. Halime lived in 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 ...

as a courtier during the reign of seven Sultans:

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 ...

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( '; ; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no ...

Osman II Osman II ( ''‘Osmān-i sānī''; ; 3 November 1604 – 20 May 1622), also known as Osman the Young (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 26 February 1618 until his regicide on 20 May 1622. Early life Osman II was born at Topkapı Pa ...

Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...

Early life

She was born around 1570. A slave concubine of Abkhazian origin, Halime Sultan, whose original name is unknown, entered Mehmed's harem via the

Black Sea slave trade The Black Sea slave trade trafficked people across the Black Sea from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to slavery in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea slave trade was a center of the slave trade between Europe and the rest of t ...

when he was still a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and the governor of Saruhan (

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 ...

) Sanjak. She bore him at least four children, two sons and two daughters. After Sultan

's death in 1595, she came to Constantinople along with Mehmed. In Istanbul, her son Mahmud was very popular with the janissaries. However, Halime never was

Haseki Sultan Haseki Sultan (, ''Ḫāṣekī Sulṭān'' ) was the title used for the chief consort of an Ottoman sultan. In later years, the meaning of the title changed to "imperial consort". Hurrem Sultan, principal consort and legal wife of Suleiman the ...

and was not favored by her mother-in-law Safiye Sultan, who favored Handan Hatun. But is regarded as favourite concubine of Mehmed. She sent a message to a religious seer for she was superstitious, and anxious to know if her son would become the next Sultan, and how much longer her husband would reign. The seer responded, but the message was intercepted by Abdürrezzak Agha, the chief black eunuch of the imperial harem, and who later gave it to Mehmed and Safiye, instead of her. The message said that Mehmed would die within six months without showing whether by death or deposition, and her son will become the next Sultan. Safiye incensed Mehmed, and he had Mahmud executed, who indeed knew nothing of his mother's action. Mahmud's followers who were supposed to be involved in the matter were thrown into the sea. It was also rumored that she was also executed. However, she was sent to the Eski (old) Palace located at the Beyazıt Square by the end of June. Mehmed died just six months after Mahmud's death. On Friday January 9, Safiye Sultan, along with Şehzade Mustafa were also sent to the Eski Palace. Between Mehmed's death and Mustafa's enthronement her stipend consisted of 100 aspers a day.

As Valide Sultan

First tenure

When Mustafa ascended the throne in 1617 she became the

and wielded a great power. While she, as a consort of Mehmed, had suffered the same obscurity as

Handan Sultan Handan Sultan (; /1568 – 9 November 1605) was a consort of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III, and mother and Valide Sultan to their son Sultan Ahmed I. She acted as '' de facto'' regent during her tenure from 1603 to 1605. Handan Sultan was one of ...

, she was clearly able to command greater status as Valide Sultan than her fellow consort had. This was probably in large measure because she exercised power more directly, for her mentally incompetent son as his mental condition unimproved. No one had expected that Mustafa, who suffered from severe emotional problems, would become sultan, and so she had not enjoyed a position of much status within the imperial harem. She received 3,000 aspers although her mother-in-law Safiye Sultan was still alive. Her fellow consort

received only 1,000 aspers as Valide Sultan.

Kösem Sultan Kösem Sultan (; 1589 – 2 September 1651), also known as Mahpeyker Sultan (;), was the Haseki sultan, Haseki Sultan as the chief consort and legal wife of the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, Valide sultan, Vali ...

, the Haseki Sultan to

, his favorite consort and legal wife, lost her position in Topkapi Palace and she retired in the Old palace after Mustafa I ascended along with her son . She had a potential ally in

Kara Davud Pasha Kara Davud Pasha, also known as simply Davud Pasha () or as Hain Davud Pasha ("Davud Pasha the Traitor"), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman statesman who became briefly Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in 1622, ...

, but during Mustafa's first reign which lasted for only three months, she was unable to exploit her relationship by appointing Davud Pasha vizier. One of the few political alliances the ''valide'' was able to forge with her son's sword-bearer, Mustafa Agha, a high ranking inner palace officer, who was brought out of the palace and awarded the prestigious and strategically vital post of governor of Egypt on condition that he would marry the Sultan's wet nurse. Within a few months the pasha was brought back to Istanbul as grand vizier.

Osman's reign

Later, Mustafa was dethroned and his nephew

ascended the throne due to Mustafa's mental condition. Mustafa was sent back to the kafes. She and her daughter Şah were sent to the Eski Palace. However, she received only 2,000 aspers during her retirement to the Old Palace between her son's two reigns; during the first months of her retirement Safiye was still alive, perhaps a neighbour in the Old Palace, receiving 3,000 aspers a day. Also, Kösem Sultan received 1,000 aspers a day during her retirement in the Old Palace. From her location in the Old Palace, she was a key figure in the deposition and assassination of Osman II and showed that she was no stranger to the art of '' damat'' politic. The basic and exceptional weakness from which Osman II suffered was the conspicuous absence of a female power basis in the harem. From 1620 until Osman's death, a governess (daye hatun, lit. wet-nurse) was appointed as a stand-in valide, and she could not counterbalance the contriving of Halime Sultan in the Old Palace.

Second tenure

Seeking a counterweight to Janissary influence, Osman II closed their coffee shops and started planning to create a new and more loyal army consisting of Anatolian sekbans. The result was a palace uprising by the Janissaries which was supported by Halime Sultan as she wanted to free her son from his confinement and become the Valide Sultan once again. Later on 18 May 1622 Osman was again dethroned and the rebels, meanwhile, broke into the imperial palace and freed Mustafa from his confinement and acclaimed him as their master. She once again returned from the Old Palace and became the Valide Sultan. Some of the

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

consulted with her about the appointments to be made and it was in fact her son-in-law,

, who became the grand vizier. The faction committed to the cause of Mustafa and she could not feel secure while Osman II was alive. Their uneasiness was well grounded, since some of the rebels wished to spare Osman, hoping no doubt to make no use of him for their own ends at some future date.

had recourse, therefore to the last extreme measure on 20 May 1622, Osman II was strangled in the prison of Yedikule in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Murad's enthronement

After Osman's death, the governor general of Erzurum, Abaza Mehmed Pasha, decided to advance to Istanbul to settle the score with the murderers of Osman II. Kara Davud Pasha was chosen as a scapegoat and was executed in an attempt to modify the discontent and preempt the rebellions that were building up in the empire, but to no avail: Mehmed Pasha, despite the offers made by the emissaries from the capital, continued his advance. Faced with an ever-deepening crises, clerics and the new Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Ali Pasha petitioned her to agree to the deposition of her son in favour of eleven year old Şehzade Murad, the oldest surviving son of Ahmed I. She concurred, only pleading that her son's life be spared. Accordingly, Mustafa was dethroned and incarcerated again.

Death

She died in the Eski Saray (Old Palace) after 1623. Tomb of Şehzâde Mahmu

/ref> She is buried in the mausoleum of her son Şehzade Mahmud (son of Mehmed III), Şehzade Mahmud in the

Şehzade Mosque The Şehzade Mosque () is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent as a memorial to his son Şehzade Mehmed who died in 1543 ...

, Constantinople (now Istanbul).

Issue

Together with

Mehmed Mehmed or Mehmet is the most common Turkish form of the Arabic male name Muhammad () (''Muhammed'' and ''Muhammet'' are also used, though considerably less) and gains its significance from being the name of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Origina ...

, Halime had at least two sons and two daughters: * Şehzade Mahmud (son of Mehmed III), Şehzade Mahmud (1587, Manisa Palace,

– 7 June 1603, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople; executed under Mehmed III's order, buried in Şehzade Mahmud Mausoleum,

). *Hatice Sultan (1590, Manisa Palace, Manisa - 1613, Constantinople), married firstly in 1604 to Mirahur Mustafa Pasha, married secondly on 10 February 1612 to Cağaloğlu Mahmud Pasha, son of Cigalazade Sinan Pasha and Saliha Hanımsultan (great-granddaughter of Sultan Suleiman I). She died shortly after her second marriage and was buried in her own

türbe ''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...

in the

. After her death, Mahmud married Hümaşah Sultan, an other daughter of Mehmed III;Günhan Börekçi - ''Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors'' (2010)Tezcan, Baki (2001). ''Searching For Osman: A Reassessment Of The Deposition Of Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618-1622)'' *Şah Sultan (1592?, Manisa Palace, Manisa - after 1623), married in 1604 (consummated in March 1606) to

, later

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

. They had a son, Sultanzade Süleyman Bey, and a daughter. During Mustafa I's second reign, she was suspected, together with her husband, of wanting to install her son on the throne. *

(1600/1602, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople – 20 January 1639, Kafes, Eski Palace, Constantinople; buried in Mustafa I Mausoleum,

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 ...

Mosque),

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of the

In popular culture

*In the 2015 TV series '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem'', Halime Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Aslıhan Gürbüz. *In his poem ''Osman''

Ivan Gundulić Dživo Franov Gundulić (; 8 January 1589 – 8 December 1638), better known today as Ivan Gundulić, was the most prominent Baroque literature, Baroque poet from the Republic of Ragusa (now in Croatia). He is regarded as the Croatian national ...

describes Halime as omnipotent witchMiović Vesna-Per favore della Soltana: moćne osmanske žene i dubrovački diplomati (2018) p.115

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halime Sultan Valide sultan 17th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans 16th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans Georgians from the Ottoman Empire Burials at Hagia Sophia People from the Ottoman Empire of Abkhazian descent Sultanate of Women 17th-century slave traders 16th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire Concubines of Ottoman sultans