Halime Sultan

Halime Sultan (, "the gentle one" or "the patient one",  - after 1623) was the consort of Sultan Mehmed III and the mother of Sultan Mustafa I. She was the first woman to became Valide Sultan twice and the only mother of a sultan to become Valide Sultan twice. Mehmed and she had four children: two sons, Şehzade Mahmud and Mustafa I, and two daughters, Hatice Sultan and Şah Sultan. She was the de facto co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire with Valide Sultan from 22 November 1617 to 26 February 1618 and from 19 May 1622 to 10 September 1623, as her son was mentally unstable. Halime was one of the most prominent figures of the era known as the Female Sultana.  

Halime witnessed the reigns of six sultans in the Ottoman Empire, and they were: Murad III, Mahmud III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I, Osman II, Murad IV.

 Early Life 
She was born around 1570. A slave concubine of Abkhazian origin, Halime Sultan, whose real name is unknown, was sold by Black Sea slavers into Mehmed's harem when Mehmed was a prince and governor of the Saruhan (Manisa) Sanjak. She bore him at least four children, two sons and two daughters. After the death of Sultan Murad III in 1595, she accompanied Mehmed to Constantinople. In Istanbul, her son Mahmud was very popular with the Janissaries. However, Halime was never a Haseki Sultan and her mother-in-law Safiye Sultan did not like her, preferring Handan Hatun.

She sent a message to a religious sage because she was very superstitious and wanted to know if her son would be the next sultan and how long her husband would reign. The sage responded, but the message was intercepted by the head of the royal harem, Khoja Abdur Rezzak Aga, who later gave the message to Mehmed and Safiye instead. The message stated that Mehmed would die in six months and his son would be the next sultan. Safiye angered Mehmed and he had Mahmud executed, who in fact knew nothing of his mother's activities.

Mahmud's followers were thrown into the sea. Rumor had it that Halime was also executed. However, in late June she was sent to the Eski (Old) Palace in Beyazit Square.Börekçi, Günhan. İnkırâzın Eşiğinde Bir Hanedan: III. Mehmed, I. Ahmed, I. Mustafa ve 17. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Siyasî Krizi - A Dynasty at the Threshold of Extinction: Mehmed III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I and the 17th-Century Ottoman Political Crisis. p. 78. Mehmed died only six months after Mahmud's death. On Friday, January 9, Safiye Sultan and Şehzade Mustafa were sent to the Eski Palace. During the period between Mehmed's death and Mustafa's accession to the throne, Halime's allowance was 100 aspers per day.

 Valide Sultan 

 First tenure 
When Mustafa ascended the throne in 1617, she became Valide Sultan and assumed great power. Although as a consort of Mehmed, she had vague powers similar to Handan Sultan, she was clearly able to achieve a higher status than Handan. She probably exercised power directly in the Ottoman Empire, acting as regent for her mentally disabled son, as his mental state did not improve. No one expected a prince who suffered from serious mental problems to become a sultan, and so Halime did not enjoy a high position in the royal harem. She received 3,000 aspers even though her mother-in-law Safiye Sultan was still alive. Mahmud's consort Handan Sultan received only 1,000 aspers after becoming Valide Sultan. After the death of Ahmed I, his beloved consort and legitimate wife, Haseki Kösem Sultan, lost her position at the Topkapi Palace and retired to the Old Palace after Mustafa I ascended to the throne.

Kara Dawud Pasha was a potential ally of Halime, but during Mustafa's first reign, which lasted only three months, he was unable to use Dawud Pasha as vizier. Halime Sultan was able to form several political alliances with her son's sword-bearer and a high-ranking palace official, Mustafa Aga, one of whom was brought to the palace and married to the Sultan's maidservant, who gained the prestigious and strategically important position of Governor of Egypt. Within a few months, the pasha was returned to Istanbul as Grand Vizier.

 Osman's reign 
Later, Mustafa was deposed due to his mental state and his nephew Osman II ascended the throne. Mustafa was sent back to Kafe. Halime Sultan and her daughter Shah were sent to the Eski Palace. However, during her retirement in the Old Palace between her son's two reigns, she received only 2,000 aspers. Safiye was still alive during the first months of retirement, probably as a member of the royal family of the Old Palace who received 3,000 aspers per day. In addition, Kösem Sultan received 1,000 aspers per day during her retirement in the Old Palace. Even after Kösem's stay in the Old Palace, she was an important figure for controlling Osman II and showed that she was not unfamiliar with the art of damat politics. The reason why Osman II suffered from weakness was the clear absence of a female power base in the harem. Until Osman's death in 1620, a governess (daye hatun, literally wet-nurse) was appointed as a stand-in for the valide, and she could not cope with Halime Sultan's intrigues in the old palace.

 Second tenure 
To combat the Janissaries, Osman II closed down their coffee shops and began planning to create a new and more loyal army composed of Anatolian sekbans. This angered the Janissaries and led to a palace revolt, led by Halime Sultan, who wanted to free his son from his captivity and become Valide Sultan again. Later, on 18 May 1622, Osman was deposed again and the rebels entered the palace and freed Mustafa from his captivity and recognized him as their sultan. Halime returned from the old palace and became Valide Sultan again. Some of the Janissaries consulted with him about what appointments to make, and in fact his son-in-law, Kara Dawud Pasha, became Grand Vizier. This group of Janissaries was loyal to Mustafa, and Mustafa was not safe while Osman II was alive.  Their unease was well-founded, as some of the rebels wanted to save Osman. Kara Dawud Pasha was finally forced to take the final step, so Osman II was strangled to death in the Yedikule prison in Istanbul on 20 May 1622.

 Murad's enthronement 
After Osman's death, the Governor General of Erzurum, Abaza Mehmed Pasha, decided to march on Istanbul to settle the score with the murderers of Osman II. Kara Dağüt Pasha was chosen as the scapegoat and was sentenced to death for suppressing the rebellions that had developed in the empire. But to no avail: despite the proposals of envoys from the capital, Mehmed Pasha continued his advance. Faced with a growing crisis, the clergy and the new Grand Vizier Kemankes Kara Ali Pasha urged Kösem to agree to spare the life of her son's eldest son, Ahmed I's surviving eleven-year-old Şehzade Murad. Kösem agreed, requesting only that her son's life be spared. Accordingly, Mustafa was dethroned and imprisoned again.

 Death 
thumb
She died in the Eski Saray (Old Palace) post 1623. She is buried in the mausoleum of her son Şehzade Mahmud in the Şehzade Mosque, Istanbul.Börekçi, Günhan. Factions And Favorites At The Courts Of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) And His Immediate Predecessors. pp. 65 and n. 96

 Issue 
Mehmed and Halime had at least two sons and two daughters:

 Şehzade Mahmud (1587, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 7 June 1603, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople) was executed by order of Sultan Mehmed III. He is buried in the Şehzade Mahmud Mausoleum, Şehzade Mosque.

 Hatice Sultan (1590, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 1613, Constantinople). She Married first in 1604 to Mirahur Mustafa Pasha. She Married second on 10 February 1612 to Kağalöğlu Mahmud Pasha, son of Sigalazade Sinan Pasha and Saliha Hanımsultan (great-granddaughter of Sultan Suleiman I). She died shortly after her second marriage and was buried in his own tomb in the Şehzade Mosque.Günhan Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors (2010)Tezcan, Baki (2001). Searching For Osman: A Reassessment Of The Deposition Of Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618-1622)
 Sah Sultan (1592?, Manisa Palace, Manisa - post 1623). She married Kara Dawud Pasha in 1604. They had a son, Sultanzade Suleiman Bey, and a daughter. During the second reign of Mustafa I, they wanted to place their son on the throne.
 Mustafa I (1600/1602,Günhan Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors (2010), p.64 Topkapi Palace, Constantinople – 20 January 1639, Kafes, Eski Palace, Constantinople) was a sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is buried in the Mausoleum of Mustafa I in the Hagia Sophia.

 In popular culture 
In the 2015 TV series Muhtesem Yuzyil: Kösem, Halime Sultan is played by Turkish actress Aslihan Gürbüz.In the series she is depicted as the mother of three children, Sehzade Mahmud, Mustafa I and Dilruba Sultan (invented name because, when the series was filmed, the names of Mehmed III's daughters were not known. The name of the corresponding historical princess is now known as Sah Sultan).

 Related pages 

 Safiye Sultan
 Ottoman dynasty
 Ottoman Empire
 16th century

 References 

 Bibliography 

Category:1570s births
Category:1620s deaths
Category:Consorts of Ottoman sultans
Category:Turkish Muslims
Category:Mothers of Ottoman sultans
Category:Royal favourites
Category:Former Christians from the Ottoman Empire