Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan

Hatice Mahfiruz Sultan (, "glorious moon", "daytime moon" or "turquoise moon"; also called Mahfiruze Sultan; – 1608/1628) was the chief consort of Ottoman sultan Ahmed I and mother of his firstborn son, Osman II.

Biography Her origins are unknown, although she has been described as being Greek, and that she taught Osman Greek. This hypothesis was eventually disproven by Turkish historian Baki Tezcan as based on the novel: Histoire d'Osman premier du nom, XIXe empereur des turcs, et de l'impératrice Aphendina Ashada by Madeleine-Angélique de Gomez published in 1743.

Her Name The Turkish historian Yılmaz Öztuna calls her "Hadîce Mâh-Fîrûz(e)" and the Turkish historian Necdet Sakaoğlu says she was variously called "Mahirûze, Hatice Mahfirûze, Mahfirûze, Mahfirûz, Mah-ı Feyrûz". Her name was first recorded in The Chronicle of Naima (Tārīḫ-i Naʿīmā), written by Ottoman historian Mustafa Naima around 1700, quoting Mahfiruz as a "noble and august" lady.

Early life in the harem Mahfiruz was presented by Servazad Hatun to Handan Sultan, mother of Sultan Ahmed I, who personally chose her for her son. Contemporary portrait of Ahmed I, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art On 3 November 1604 Mahfiruz gave birth to his firstborn son, the future Osman II, making Ahmed I the youngest Ottoman sultan to have fathered a child. According to Ahmet Refik Altınay , in the following years, she bore the Sultan other children, including Şehzade Bayezid in 1612, Şehzade Hüseyn in 1613, Şehzade Süleyman in 1615, an information reproduced by several authors; foreign ambassadors report a daughter who reached adulthood and got married, identified as Gevherhan Sultan and born between 1605 and 1608. These children may contradict the theory of a premature death.

As Haseki Sultan (?) According to some historians, she held the title of Haseki Sultan from January 1604, an information mentioned also by the French historian and politician Alphonse de Lamartine. The fact that Mahfiruz was the first one to be entitled Chief Haseki is also underlined and explained by Tektaş, who writes that Kösem wouldn't have allowed another woman to hold the title after herself.

As Valide Sultan (?)

As Osman ascended the throne in February 1618, she was taken from the Old Palace to Topkapı Palace again.

Regarding Osman's accession, she attended and partecipated in the February 1618 crowning procession. This can be seen, as the Austrian Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Hans Mollard von Reinek - invited to attend the ceremony with his entourage composed also of a painter - wanted the moment to be depicted in a portrait; this painting, titled "The rise of the young Osman" was later auctioned at Sotheby's and sold to the Turkish Ministry of Culture in 2016 and since then exposed at Topkapı Palace. The enthronement of Osman II (r.1618-22), by a European artist travelling with the Austrian Ambassador Baron Mollard. During her alleged tenure as Valide Sultan, she and Kösem Sultan were not on bad terms, according to historian Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, and this can be seen as Sultan Osman visited the Old Palace in April 1619 where he stayed for some days, on the occasion of celebrations held for him by Kösem; Kösem wanted probably to have a good relationship with Mahfiruze at the time. Mahfiruz is largely remembered in Eyüp because of her charity work which is reported by the city itself during anniversaries or events: she had a cüzhane (Quran reading room) built in Eyüp Cemetery between 1618 and 1622, completed in the same year as recorded from one of Eyüp cemetery's guides. She ordered Quran to be read every day; she also staffed her Cüzhane and provided equipment for the same. She is remembered as a fervent muslim woman.

Her other contributions to the city of Eyüp are widely reported: she provided Quran copies to her cüzhane, and also rendered religious services at the tomb of Sultan Ahmed I. A devotee of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, because of her charitable works she got nicknamed as "Sâhibe-i Hayrât". She had a bond with Eyüp and as often as she could and had the opportunity, she visited it.

Death The Turkish historian Baki Tezcan says that Mahfiruz died in 1610, if not earlier. His theory is supported by contemporary ambassadorial accounts throughout Ahmed I's reign, extending up to the accession of Osman II in 1618, such as the English ambassador George Sandys, who reported in 1610, or around this time: "this also hath married his concubine, the mother of his yonger sonne, (she being dead by whom he had the eldest) who with all the practices of a politicke stepdame endevours to settle the succession on her owne...”; the Venetian ambassador Cristoforo Valier reported between 1612 and 1615 (when he died) that Ahmed had four sons: "two from the sultana who died and two from the one alive"; the Italian author Pietro della Valle also said that Osman's mother had died when he wrote about Osman II's accession to the throne: "Osman, Sultan Ahmed's firstborn son, but not son of the living sultana Kösem". That Mahfiruz is dead is also stated in a relation on the life and death of Nasuh Pasha, written sometime after Nasuh’s execution in 1614 and sent by the French ambassador Achille de Harlay on March 5, 1616, he also reported in his letter to Louis XIII: "not the son of the living sultana but the eldest named Osman, who has been motherless for ten years"; the letter is dated on 26 February 1618, the day of Osman's enthronement. Tezcan argues that the document (dated 28 October 1620) cited by Uluçay as evidence for the year of Mahfiruz's death does not in fact suggest that she died that year. Günhan Börekçi quoted Tezcan's theory in his "A Queen-Mother at Work: On Handan Sultan and Her Regency During the Early Reign of Ahmed I".

According to historian Leslie P. Peirce, Mahfiruz did not became Valide Sultan and instead died in exile in 1620, as evidenced by the absence of a Valide Sultan in the Privy purse during Osman's reign and the high stipend of the Daye Hatun (wet nurse of the sultan) from middle 1620 onwards, an indication that she served as de facto Valide Sultan. But as per ibrahim pecevi she was alive and died 1620.

Death as Valide Sultan According to modern accounts, Mahfiruz lived to become Valide Sultan, and as such, died on 26 or 28 October 1620.

According to the official website of Eyüp Cemetery, Mahfiruz Valide Sultan was sent to the Old Palace in 1623 upon the ascension of Sultan Murad IV to the throne. Her life there was spent weeping over the tragic fate of her son, and she died in 1037 (1628).

As per Record of Ottoman Historian İbrahim Peçevi she lived 2 years as valide sultan.

Burial When she died, Mahfiruz was buried in Eyüp Cemetery, an unusual place for a former consort of a sultan. According to some authors she decided to be buried there on her own wishes, while others consider this as a sign of disfavor. The chronogram on her mausoleum suggests it was built by Osman in 1618.

Issue

Mahfiruz had at least three or four sons: (3 November 1604, Constantinople, Topkapı Palace – 20 May 1622, Constantinople; buried in the Ahmed I Mausoleum, Sultan Ahmed Mosque) — his father's firstborn and the 16th sultan of the Ottoman Empire; he was killed during a janissary revolt, becoming the first Ottoman sultan to be executed. Şehzade Bayezid (November 1612 – 27 July 1635), executed upon the order of his elder half-brother Murad IV in 1635 ( or late 1608, Constantinople – 18 April 1631, Constantinople; buried in the Ahmed I Mausoleum, Sultan Ahmed Mosque). Şehzade Süleyman ( 1613/1615 – 27 July 1635), executed upon the order of his elder half-brother Murad IV in 1635