Gülbahar Hatun

Gülbahar Hatun (; died in 1492) was a concubine of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, and mother and Valide Hatun of Sultan Bayezid II.

Early life The Ottoman inscription (vakfiye) describes her as Hātun binti Abdullah (daughter of Abdullah), which means that she was a Christian slave converted to Islam. Various sources attribute, Albanian , Greek , Serbian or French According to Shuteriqi, Gülbahar may have been a daughter of Gjergj Arianiti and Maria Muzaka, however this theory is not supported by modern historians. She was likely a Christian slave concubine who converted to Islam.

Consort Gülbahar entered in Mehmed's harem in 1446, when he was still a prince and the governor of Manisa. She had two children, a daughter, Gevherhan Hatun, born in 1446, who married Ughurlu Muhammad in 1474, and a son, Şehzade Bayezid (the future Bayezid II), born around in 1447–1448 in Demotika

In 1451, after Mehmed's accession to the throne, she followed him to Edirne. According to Ottoman tradition, all princes were expected to work as provincial governors as a part of their training. In 1455 or 1456, Bayezid was appointed the governor of Amasya, and Gülbahar accompanied him, where the two remained until 1481, except for in 1457, when she came to Constantinople, and attended her son's circumcision ceremony.

Death

Gülbahar Hatun died in 1492, and was buried in Fatih Mosque, Istanbul. In the 2013 Turkish series Fatih, Gülbahar Hatun is portrayed by Turkish actress Seda Akman. In the second season of Netflix's Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020-2022), Gülbahar Hatun is portrayed by actress Yasemin Eti. In the 2024-2025 Turkish historical fiction TV series Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı, Gülbahar Hatun was portrayed Esila Umut for the first two seasons and later by Saadet Aksoy. She is currently being portrayed by Turkish actress Aslı Tandoğan, third person to take on the role.