Gevherhan Sultan (daughter of Selim II)

Gevherhan Sultan (born ca. 1544, Ottoman Turkish: کوھرخان سلطان‎) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Selim II and Nurbanu Sultan. She was the granddaughter of Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520–66) and Hürrem Sultan, sister of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574–95) and aunt of Sultan Mehmed III (reign 1595–1603).

Life

Strong alliances were made for the daughters of Şehzade Selim, the prince who would succeed Suleiman as Selim II, Ismehan married Sokollu Mehmed, Gevherhan the admiral Piyale, and Şah the chief falconer Hasan Agha. On 1 August 1562, Suleiman celebrated the triple wedding of his heir, Selim's daughters Ismihan, Gevherhan and Şah to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Piyale Pasha and Hasan Agha respectively.

After the triple wedding, Mihrimah Sultan, Gevherhan's aunt, pushed assiduously for a naval campaign against Malta, enlisting the help of her son-in-law, the grand vizier Semiz Ali Pasha, and promising to outfit four hundred ships at her own expanse. However, Suleiman and his son Selim prevented the campaign from going forward so that the admiral, Piyale Pasha, might remain in Istanbul with his new wife, Gevherhan Sultan. The State Treasury covered the expenses for the imperial wedding and granted 10,000 florins as a wedding gift to the imperial son-in-law. Two daughters, Ayşe and Fatma were born from this marriage. Piyale Pasha died in 1578 and Gevherhan became widow by his death. She later married Cerrah Mehmed Pasha. When he was appointed the grand vizier during Mehmed III's reign, Gevherhan became an influential political figure in court circles. This position seems to have enabled her to keep in touch with Mehmed III’s sons and their mothers as well.

Soon after his succession,Mehmed's son by Handan Sultan, Ahmed I wanted to express his gratitude to Mehmed Pasha and Gevherhan Sultan for the role they had played in bringing his parents together. By then, however, Cerrah Mehmed Pasha was old and ailing, and died on January 9, 1604. Ahmed, therefore, honored the late pasha's wife. He also named one of his daughters after her.

From her properties she constituted a religious and charitable foundation with whose revenues built and maintained a high theological college in the İstanbul neighbourhood of Caoğlu. She is buried in Selim II's mausoleum next to Hagia Sophia Mosque.