Fatma Sultan

Fatma Sultan (; 1606 or 1608 – 1670 ) was an Ottoman princess. She was the daughter of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–1617) and Kösem Sultan, sister of Murad IV (r. 1623–1640) and Ibrahim (r. 1640–1648), and the paternal aunt of Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687), Suleiman II (r. 1687–1691) and Ahmed II (r. 1691–1695). She is known for her many political marriages.

Life The year of her birth has been suggested as either 1606 or 1608. She lived in Topkapi Palace until her father's death in 1617, when she had to follow her mother and sisters to Eski Saray. She returned to court in 1623, when her younger brother Murad IV became the new sultan.

Marriages The Ottoman princesses were normally married away, to influential Ottoman officials, by their mothers or paternal grandmothers, who had the right to arrange their marriages and arranged matches which could be of political use. They had privileges in marriage which distinguished them from other Muslim females: such as the right to be the only wife of their spouse, to refuse to consummate their marriage until they were ready and to contract a divorce when they pleased. Due to many of them marrying as children and being widowed and divorced several times, often for political reasons, remarriages were very common. Fatma Sultan and her sister, Ayşe Sultan, are extreme examples of this: they were married at least seven times each, and entered into their last engagement at the ages of 61 and 50, respectively.

First marriage During the reign of her brother Sultan Murad IV, Fatma Sultan married Kara Mustafa Pasha in 1623. She was widowed in 1628, when Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed by her brother, Murad, for some action "contrary to the law of God."

Second, third and fourth marriage Upon the execution of her first husband, she married Sarrac Çatalcalı Hasan Pasha in 1629. He was initially associated with the chief black eunuch's household, had risen through the ranks from the saddlery to become a kitchen attendant and later the head courier (çavuşbaşi) in the sultan's service. In 1631, She was widowed at Yusuf Pasha's death in 1658. Her daily stipend during this time was 430 aspers.

Fifth marriage

One of the most noted of Fatma's seven marriages was with Melek Ahmed Pasha, who was previously married to her niece, Kaya Sultan, in 1662. By that time, she was in her late fifties. The marriage was forcibly arranged against the wishes of both parties, and was an unhappy one, and Melek Ahmed Pasha accused the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha of having arranged it to punish him. The Grand Vizier himself joked that he had given Melek Ahmed Pasha an elephant to feed.

On the wedding night, Fatma presented Melek Ahmed Pasha her demand of what allowance she wished for herself and her court. He replied that the amount was impossible, upon which she replied that divorce was the only alternative, and demanded he return her dowry to her, which amounted to one year of taxes of Egypt (this was possibly related to the fact that one of her previous husbands, the late Kara Mustafa Pasha, had formerly been a governor of the Egypt province of the Ottoman Empire and was reported to have been forced to pay back the tax proceeds that he had embezzled during his term).

When she was widowed in 1662 shortly thereafter, she sealed his residence and claimed the right to his property, which caused a conflict with the Grand Vizier, who was forced to give in to her demands.

Sixth and seventh marriage In June 1663, Fatma Sultan married Vezir Kanbur Mustafa Pasha, the Beylerbeyi of Baghdad. After his death in 1666, she married the Beylerbeyi of Silistre Vezir Közbekçi Yusuf Pasha on 5 September 1667.