Malhun Hatun

Kameriye Malhun Hatun (also called Mal Hatun or Mala Hatun; died after 1326) the Kayı leader of the Ottoman Turks and the founder of the Ottoman dynasty that established and ruled the Ottoman Empire. She was the mother of Sultan Orhan.

Biography According to some historians, she was the daughter of the Anatolian Turkish Bey, Ömer Bey.

The 1324 endowment deed for a Dervish Monastery built by Sultan Orhan suggests that his mother was not, as popular historical tradition maintains, Edebali's daughter but rather Mal Hatun, the daughter of one "Umar Bey or Ömer Bey". The title "Bey", used by the princely dynasties of Anatolia, suggests that Mal Hatun's father was a person of some status and authority. One possibility is that he was the eponymous ruler of an "Amouri" (Umeri) Principality, which was located northeast of the emerging Ottoman State and disappeared in the late 13th or the early 14th century.

The Amouri are described by the 13th century Byzantine historian George Pachymeres, who says that a son of Umar fought with Osman in one of his first raids against local Byzantine lords (the victory of Baphaion). The Ottomans, according to Pachymeres, went on to assume the role played by Amouri until their demise as the principal aggressor against the Byzantines in the northwest Anatolia. If Pachymeres's report is correct, the timing and the political context are appropriate for a marriage between Osman and Umar Bey's daughter.

Mal Hatun, who likely lived into the late 1320s and possibly died after her son Orhan's accession, was laid to rest in the family mausoleum that eventually formed around Osman's grave in Bursa

In popular culture In the Turkish historical drama series Kuruluş Osman, Malhun Hatun is portrayed by the Turkish actress Yıldız Çağrı Atiksoy. In the Turkish historical drama series Kuruluş Orhan, Malhun Hatun was portrayed by the Turkish actress Bennu Yildrimilr.