Ismihan Sultan

Ismihan Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: اسمیخان سلطان‎; c. 1545 – 8 August 1585) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Selim II (reign 1566–74) and Nurbanu Sultan. She was the granddaughter of Suleiman the Magnificent (reign 1520–66) and his favourite consort and legal wife Hürrem Sultan, sister of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574–95) and aunt of Sultan Mehmed III (reign 1595–1603).

Early life

Ismihan Sultan was born in 1545 in Manisa, when her father was still a prince. Her mother was Nurbanu Sultan.

First marriage

In 1562, strong alliances were made for the daughters of Şehzade Selim, the prince who would succeed Suleiman as Selim II, Ismihan married Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Gevherhan the admiral Piyale Pasha, and Şah the chief falconer Hasan Agha. 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.

In 1575, just after her brother Sultan Murad ascended to the throne her daily stipend consisted of 250 aspers. In the early 1580s, Ismihan presented her brother sultan Murad III with two concubines to prevent the extinction of the dynasty, since her brother remained faithful to one concubine, Safiye with whom he had two sons.

She is famous for having built the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque and the Esmahan Sultan Mosque.

Second marriage

After the death of the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in 1579, the princess's first choice for a new husband, Ösdemiroğlu Osman Pasha 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.

Death

Ismihan Sultan died in childbed, like her sister Fatma Sultan before her, on 8 August 1585, and was buried in the mausoleum of her father located in Hagia Sophia. Her newborn son Mahmud would outlive her by no more than fifty days.

Sources

• Peirce, leslie P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-08677-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara, Ötüken.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.