page_title: Büyük Valide Han
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Büyük Valide Han / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Büyük Valide Han, view of the main courtyard (with many later structures now added to the building in various places)
context_page_description: The Büyük Valide Han is the largest historic han in Istanbul, Turkey. It was founded in 1651 by Kösem Valide Sultan, the mother of the Ottoman sultans Murat IV and Ibrahim.
context_section_description: The han is located in the central historic market district that extends from the Grand Bazaar to the Eminönü neighbourhood on the shore of the Golden Horn. Since the founding of the first bedesten by Mehmet II in the mid-15th century, the Grand Bazaar developed into the city's main hub of international trade, spawning entire districts of shops, warehouses, and merchant lodgings. A han, a type of urban caravanserai, was a common type of commercial structure in Ottoman architecture (and more broadly in Islamic-world architecture) which served a number of functions including lodging for foreign merchants, storage for goods or merchandise, housing for artisan workshops, and offices from which to conduct dealings. A number of hans were built over the centuries in and around the Grand Bazaar district.
  Before the construction of the Büyük Valide Han, the site was occupied by the 16th-century palace of Cerrah Mehmed Pasha. It was in this palace that one of the first printing presses in the city was set up, in 1567, by Apkar of Sivas. The han was founded in 1651 by Kösem Mahpeyker Valide Sultan, the powerful mother of the Ottoman sultans Murat IV and Ibrahim. Its revenues were used to finance the upkeep of the Çinili Mosque she had founded earlier in Üsküdar, the Asian district of Istanbul, through the use of the usual waqf system. 
  In the 19th century the building was inhabited by, and associated with, the Iranian merchant community. An Iranian presence in the city had long existed thanks to Istanbul's position in the Silk Road and due to invasions and political upheaval which had displaced migrants from Iran. By the beginning of the 19th century, most of the Iranian merchant community was established in a small caravanserai called Hoca Han in the Eyüp neighbourhood. However the community grew in number and importance during the 19th century following the Treaties of Erzurum (1823-1847) which allowed for the resumption of trade and diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran. In order to accommodate this growth, they began to move into the larger and more centrally-located Valide Han. By the late 19th century, many rich Iranian merchant families held their offices here. Iranian Shi'a rituals such as celebrations of 'Ashura were also able to take place in the main courtyard of the han, where a private mosque also served the community. Thanks to the preeminence of the trade route between Tabriz and Istanbul in particular, Iranian Azerbaijanis made up the majority of the community and were specialized in import trades such as carpets and silk.
  Today the han is severely dilapidated but still partly occupied by offices and businesses, though the occupants are all Turkish rather than of Iranian origin. The Iranian mosque in the middle of the main courtyard still continues to serve as a Shi'a mosque connected to the Iranian community, but it is only open for certain occasions. In recent years the han was also visited by tourists enjoying the views of the city available from its rooftop. The interior of the han also made a brief appearance during a motorcycle chase scene in the 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall.
caption: View of the main courtyard; many later add-on structures are visible over the original building
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