Mihrişah Sultan (mother of Selim III)

**Mihrişah Sultan** (; "_sun/light of the Şah_";  1745 – 16 October 1805), was a consort of Sultan Mustafa III and was the mother of Selim III of the Ottoman Empire. She was the _Valide_ _Sultan_ for 16 years from 1789 until her death in 1805.

## Early life

Mihrişah was of Georgian descent and was born in Georgia in 1745. However, there is also information that she came from Genoa. Her real name was Agnes. She was called the "_Georgian Beauty_" () for her beauty.

## As imperial consort

Around 1757, Mihrişah entered the harem of Mustafa III as a slave from the Black Sea. She later became one of his wives and a başkadın (first wife).  On 17 March 1759, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Hibetullah Sultan. Hibetullah's birth was celebrated throughout Istanbul, because no child had been born to the royal family in the previous thirty years.

On 24 December 1761, she gave birth to her second child, a son, Şehzade Selim (the future Sultan Selim III). His birth was celebrated for a whole week in Istanbul. On 9 January 1770, she gave birth to her third child, a daughter, Fatma Sultan, but she died on 26 May 1772 at the age of two. Among her concubines was Dilhayat Kalfa, a concubine of Ahmed III and tutor to Selim III. She was one of the greatest Turkish composers of the early modern period.

She was widowed in 1774, after which she went into exile in the Old Palace. A preserved document from the Topkapi Palace shows that Mustafa III borrowed money from her. However, he could no longer repay the debt because Mustafa III had died.

Both Mihrişah and her son Selim were members of the Mevlevi order, which practiced the teachings of Sufi saints.

### Selim's accession and political influence

During the fifteen-year reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid I, Prince Selim also resided in the Topkapi Palace, and Mihrisha was sent to live in the Old Palace. After Abdul Hamid's death in 1789, Selim ascended the throne, and Mihrisha became the Valide Sultan.

She occasionally extended favors or clemency to her son in various matters. When he instituted his Nizam-i Siddiq (New Order), Mihrisha and her ketuda (concubine), then Yusuf Aga, were both his strong supporters. To encourage her son's heart, Mihrisha built a mosque for the Humbarachihans (barracks for bombardiers) in Haskoy on the Asiatic coast, and established a medical school in Üsküdar.

Yusuf Aga was the second Ketuda of Mihrisah, succeeding the first Ketuda, Mahmud Aga, who died while serving as Ketuda. He was a close associate of Selim. In 1808, he failed to suppress the plot of Kabakci Mustafa to revolt against Selim. As a result, he was killed, after which his tax farm was given to Sultan Mustafa IV's mother, Sineperver Sultan.

### Patron of architecture

In the 1790s, Mihrişah built several schools and mosques. She was very active in this work.

She built the barracks at Humbarahan in 1792, which are known as large-scale modern military buildings.

The Mihrişah Sultan Complex, which Mihrişah built in 1792 and which was completed in 1796, is in the Eyüp neighborhood of Istanbul. It contains his tomb and a mausoleum (soup kitchen). It is known as the last Ottoman imaret still in use.

In 1793, Mihrişah built the Halicyoglu Mosque.

Mihrişah built the Valide Dam on the eastern branch of the Arabaki Mandrai in Istanbul, which provided additional water to the Buyuk Bent.

Mihrişah also built several fountains:

- In 1791, she built a fountain in İhsaniye in Üsküdar in memory of her daughter Hibetullah Sultan.

- In 1792, she built a fountain in memory of his daughter Fatma Sultan.

- In 1794, she had the Silahtar Yusuf Pasha fountain repaired in Kağıthane.

- In 1796, she built a fountain in Eminüne and Balıkpazarı in honor of Çaşnigir Zeynep. The fountains later became known as Mihrişah Valide Fountains.

- Two fountains on either side of the Sebil and a fountain in Yüp were built in 1796.

- A fountain was built in Fındıklı Mollabayırı in 1797.

- A fountain was built in the Kılıçali district of Beşiktaş in 1797.

- A fountain in memory of her daughter Fatma Sultan (later called the Mihrişah Valide Sultan Fountain) was built in Yenikoy, Istanbul in 1805.

The fountains built by Mihrişah met the water needs of the people around Beyoğlu, Galata and Boğaziçi.

## Death

Mihrişah Sultan died of unknown causes on 16 October 1805. She was buried in her charity complex in Eyüp, Istanbul.

## Issue

Mustafa III and Mihrişah had one son and two daughters:

- Hibetullah Sultan (17 March 1759 – 7 June 1762, buried in the Mausoleum of Mustafa III, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul), also known as Heybetullah or Heybetullah, was engaged to Mahir Hamza Pasha on 2 June 1759 but died before the wedding.

- Selim III (Topkapı Palace, 24 December 1761 – 28 July 1808, buried in the Mausoleum of Mustafa III), was the 28th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

- Fatma Sultan (9 January 1770 – 26 May 1772, buried in the Mausoleum of Mustafa III, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul).

## In popular culture

- In the 1989 Swiss-American drama film _The Favourite_, Mihrişah is portrayed by French actress Andrea Parisy.
- In the 2012 Turkish miniseries _Esir Sultan_, the role of Mihrişah is played by Turkish actress Ipek Tenolke.

## Related pages

- Ottoman dynasty
- Ottoman Empire
- 17th centruy
- Sultanate of Women

## Infobox (royalty)

- **succession**: Sultan, Valide sultan of the Ottoman Empire
- **reign**: 7 April 1789 – 16 October 1805
- **predecessor**: Şehsuvar Sultan
- **successor**: Sineperver Sultan
- **reign-type**: Tenure
- **full name**:

- **birth name**: Agnes
- **birth date**: 1745
- **birth place**: Georgia (country), Georgia
- **death place**: Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
 (now Istanbul, Turkey)
- **burial place**: Mihrişah Sultan Complex, Eyüp, Istanbul
- **spouse-type**: Consort
- **spouse**: Mustafa III
- **issue**: Hibetullah Sultan
Selim III
 Fatma Sultan
- **father**: Georgian Orthodox priest
- **religion**: Sunni Islam
- **image**: MihrişahSultanFountain01.JPG
- **caption**: Mihrişah Sultan Fountain in Yeniköy