Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan

Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan (; 1541–1604) was an Ottoman princess, the only daughter of princess Mihrimah Sultan and Rüstem Pasha (Grand Vizier 1544–53, 1555–61). She was the granddaughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566) and his legal wife Hürrem Sultan.

Early life Ayşe Humaşah Sultan was born in 1541 in Istanbul. Her father was Rüstem Pasha, a devshirme from Croatia, and her mother was Mihrimah Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan. She was the only daughter of her parents, but she had at least a younger brother, Sultanzade Osman Bey. Ayşe Hümaşah, her mother, and her cousin would all imitate the communication style ushered in by her grandmother Hürrem, whose letters to the Sultan are known for their colourfulness, charm, and smoothness.

Marriages First marriage Ayşe Hümaşah married three times. Her first husband was the future Grand vizier, Semiz Ahmed Pasha. They married on 27 November 1557, when she was sixteen. The two together had ten children. The marriage took place on 7 April 1582. Kizlar Agha Mehmed Agha, served as her agent, while Miralem Mahmud Agha served as Feridun Pasha's agent. The marriage was performed by Sheikh-ul-Islam Çivizade Hacı Mehmet Efendi. Her dowry was 35,000 gold coins. The marriage, however, lasted only eleven months because the pasha died on 16 March 1583.

Third marriage (?)

According to rumors, Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan would also have married Mahmud Hudayi Pasha. This marriage is thought to have taken place in 1590. In 1591, she proposed to pay the expenses of one hundred galleys for six months, if her son-in-law Çiğalazade Sinan Pasha was made Kapudan Pasha. According to the French ambassador Jacques de Germigny, Ayşe Hümaşah formed a political faction with Safiye Sultan to oppose Nurbanu Sultan and her allies.

She inherited a large sum of money from her mother Mihrimah: she was most likely richer than the Sultan himself, and left him, at her death, an inheritance richer than the treasury of the State.

Last years and death In 1595, Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan made the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. In 1598, she commissioned a fountain in Üsküdar.

Possibly, she died in 1604 and was buried in the complex of Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, Üsküdar;

Issue Ayşe Humaşah had ten children by her first husband, five sons and five daughters:

Sons Sultanzade Mahmud Pasha (died 1602 buried in the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque) sanjak-bey of Kastamonu, Nakhchivan and of Şebinkarahisar; Sultanzade Şehid Mustafa Pasha (died 1593), sanjak-bey of Klis;