Quick Facts
Biography
Gülbahar Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: کل بهار خاتون; c. 1453 – c. 1505), also known as Ayşe Hatun was a consort of Sultan Bayezid II and the mother of Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire and the grandmother of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
Names
One of the oldest references Cenabî History gives her name as Ayşe Hatun. According to Sicill-i Osmanî her name is Gülbahar Hatun, while Alderson gives her name as Ayşe Hatun, as well.
Origins
Gülbahar Hatun and Ayşe Hatun were never different women. The theory of Gülbahar Hatun's origins make her a different woman from Ayşe Hatun as both women had same maiden name, Ayşe in both the origins and were also married in the same year. The theories of her background are:
- The Ottoman inscription (vakfiye) describes her as Hātun binti Abd-us-Samed (Daughter of Abd-us-Samed), which supports the view that she was a non Muslim who later converted to Islam. Abd-us-Samed, meaning Servant of God, was the anonym that was applied to many Balkan and Anatolian Christians who converted to Islam in the classical Ottoman period.
The origin described above is also described for Emine Gülbahar Hatun, wife of Mehmed the Conqueror, mother of Sultan Bayezid II and the grandmother of Sultan Selim I. The origin described below is the most acceptable origin of Gülbahar Hatun.
- According to this origin (most sources have claimed that) she was the daughter of Alaüddevle Bozkurt Bey, the eleventh ruler of the Dulkadirids centered around Elbistan in Kahramanmaraş. Her real name was Ayşe and was renamed Gülbahar after her marriage.
Life
Bayezid married her in 1469 at Amasya. When Bayezid was still a şehzade ("Ottoman prince") and the governor of Amasya sanjak when she gave birth to Selim I in 1470. When Mehmed the Conqueror died in 1481, Bayezid moved to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, along with his family to ascend the throne.
According to Turkish tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors (Sanjak-bey) as a part of their training. Mothers of princes were responsible for the proper behaviour of their sons in their provincial posts. In 1495 was sent to Trabzon sanjak and then in 1511 to Samandıra, and Gülbahar accompanied him.
However, she herself never became recognized as a Valide Sultan because she died in 1505 before Selim's accession to the throne. Her tomb is located in Gülbahar Hatun Mosque, Trabzon. It was built in 1514 in honour of his mother and was restored in 1885.