Valide Sultan Mahidevran

Valide Mahidevran Sultan (turco ottomano:خاتون ماه دوران, "Luna della fortuna" o "Luna fortunata" e "rosa di primavera"; 1398 circa – Bursa, 3 febbraio 1481) was the mother and Valide Sultan of Iskender I, she was Haseki of Bayezid II and one of the most powerful Valide of the times. 
== Title and Status ==
Mahidevran was the mother of Şehzade Iskender, the youngest son of Bayezid II. She held a prominent position in the harem of her husband in Manisa, when he was Şehzade. She became one of the most prominent favorites in Bayezid's harem, even surpassing Hafsa Sultan, Şehzade Selim's mother.
== Origin and early life ==
Little is known of Mahidevran's early life. Her ethnic background is a matter of controversy. She was either an Montenegrin or Muslim. Theories of her origins are:
* According to some contemporary sources, the name of Mahidevran's father, was Abdall or Abdallahman, this suggests that he was a Muslim convert slave of an unknown origin. So Mahidevran was muslim.
* According with some (unidentified) accounts, in which she was of "Montenegrin origin", she was from Montenegro, and her birth name was Maviera.
== As Haseki ==
She was only one among the seventeen women of the harem of Bayezid, but when in 1413 she give birth a son when Bayezid was governor of Manisa. She became a highly ranked consort, like Hafsa sultan's rank. She earned 5 aspers a day like Hafsa Sultan, but the others three concubines (Miria Hatun, Fatma sultan and Rakiye Hatun) only earned 3 aspers. Many whispered that Mahidevran herself offered her son Iskender's name an obvious nod to the legendary conqueror of the world. Despite Mahidevran's insistence that his son was prepared for authority from the start, his early childhood was meaningless aside from his close relationship with his younger sister, Hürrem Sultan.
When Selim I died, Bayezid moved to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, along with his family to ascend the throne. In the same year, he lost his two other sons, nine-year-old Mehmed and the toddler Murad (sons of Fatma Sultan), Iskender became the second eldest son. This gave Mahidevran an elevated position, even higher than Hafsa Sultan. Mahidevran became Haseki and legal wife of Bayezid, next to give birth her first daughter, Hürrem Sultan (1417). This led to Mahidevran starting to lead the Topkapi Harem after Farya Sultan's death clashing numerous times with Hafsa Sultan, mainly triggered by the fact that Hafsa had lost her status, fueled especially by the affection that Farya Sultan felt for her, Hafsa Sultan was sent first to Manisa with her son Selim, who became governor, and then to Eski Saray after Selim's death in 1441. Some speculate that Mahidevran Sultan plotted before 1441 to kill Selim so that his son Iskender ascended the Ottoman throne. 
== As Valide ==
In 1443 after the death of Bayezid II, Mahidevran received the title of Valide Sultan
Category:Characters