Mihrimah Sultan

Mihrimah Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: مهرماه سلطان, "sun and moon" or "light of the moon") was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574–1595) and Safiye Sultan, and sister of Sultan Mehmed III (reign 1595–1603) of the Ottoman Empire.

Birth

The Ottoman Register indicates that in 1595, when her father died, she was among his eldest daughters, which indicates that she may have been the daughter of Safiye Sultan. If that is true, she was not born before 1578-79. It would also make sense if she was born shortly after the death of Mihrimah Sultan, a daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, in whose honor she was named. If she was Safiye's daughter, she had at least three full brothers, Mehmed III, Şehzade Selim and Şehzade Mahmud, and three full sisters, Hümaşah Sultan, Ayşe Sultan and Fatma Sultan.

Marriages

Mihrimah married firstly in 1594 to Elvendzade Ali Pasha, governor of Baghdad.
After he was killed in battle in 1599, she was remarried by her brother Mehmed III to Mirahur Ahmed Pasha. After marriage, Mehmed III appointed him as governor of Mosul. During reign of Ahmed I, Ahmed Pasha held post as governor of Rumelia until 1614, and later as governor of Damascus.

After Ahmed Pasha died in 1618, she remarried Çerkes Mehmed Ali Pasha, who replaced her husband as governor of Damascus in 1618, so it can be assumed that she was probably married to him in the same year after death of Ahmed Pasha.

In 1621, Mihrimah and her husband came to Istanbul as he was appointed as fourth vizier. During reign of Murad IV, he became Grand Vizier in 1624, until he died in Tokat on January 28, 1625. It is not known if she had issue from these marriages.

Death

The further life of Mihrimah Sultan is not known, as well as whether she had more marriages. She probably died during the reign of Murad IV, but this has not been confirmed. When she died, she was buried in the Mausoleum of Murad III, which is located in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia.