Ismihan Sultan (daughter of Iskender I)

## Ismihan Sultan

**Ismihan Sultan** (Ottoman Turkish: اسمیخان سلطان, "*Purity of the Khan*" or *"Highness of the Khan*"; Manisa, 1588 – May 1657, Constantinople) was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Iskender I (reign 1603–09) and his first Haseki, Ayşe Sultan. She married the statesman Melek Ahmed Pasha in 1604 and next the previous sultan's Silahdar (sword-bearer), Mustafa Pasha.

The famed Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi noted a specific encounter with Ismihan Sultan in his *Book of Travels*. An entire chapter of the book is dedicated to Ismihan Sultan. She was the most famous child of daughter of Iskender and the favorite granddaughter of Hirihmene Sultan.

## Life

Ismihan Sultan was born to Sultan Iskender I, her mother was certain Ayşe Sultan. When Valide Sultan, Hirihemene her grandmother was exiled in the Old Palace and her mother, Ayşe Sultan became Valide substituted, Ismihan's salary increased by 1,000 aspers.

When Hirihmene Sultan return to Topkapi triumphed over Ismihan's mother, killing her, Ismihan stood by her grandmother instead of her late mother. This suggests that Hirihmene raised Ismihan, she wrote:

> "absolutely I am saddened by the death of my progenitor, may Allah keep her in favor but it was cowardly of her to try to remove the memory of my grandmother".
>
>

### First marriege

The marriage of princesses for political ends has always been used by the sultans, and Ismihan was no exception. In the early 1604s, Iskender propouse her to Melek Ahmed Pasha, Ismihan left the palace of Topkapi and she moved with Melek Pasha to their palace (known as Piyale Pasha Palace).

However, Ismihan was extremely hostile towards her husband, as evident on her wedding night when she stabbed him with a dagger, and declared she would exercise her right as imperial princess to never consummate the marriage. In addition to her distaste for her husband, she stated that she had received a prophecy that she would die if she had a daughter with her husband. Melek Ahmed accepted this, also because he could not do anything else by virtue of his wife's higher rank.

Despite the turbulent start, the marriage eventually turned out to be very happy. Melek Ahmed adored his wife and showered her with kindness and gifts, while Ismihan discovered that she respected her husband and proved to be an excellent support to him, managing his assets and advising him on political matters, until his appointment as Grand Vizier. However, finally, after seven years, Kösem Sultan ordered both of them to complete the wedding. Ismihan obeyed and soon became pregnant, giving birth to a daughter.

Evliya Çelebi regarded Ismihan Sultan as a prime example of the dynasty's beneficence. He also noted that the relationship between Ismihan and Melek was comparable to the happy married life between Ayşe Sultan, daughter of Mustafa I and Voynuk Ahmed Pasha, stating that it was among the most peaceful and friendly.

After the death of Melek, Ismihan reportedly threw herself on his coffin and wept uncontrollably, a behavior strongly frowned upon by traditional Ottoman costum.

### Second Married

When Melek Ahmed died in 1611, a week after the birth of their third daughter, Fatma Hanimsultan, her grandmother wanted her to marry one of her own political friends, the previous sultan's Silahdar (sword-bearer), Mustafa Pasha. Apparently it was also the will of the late Iskender I, and the candidate was liked by Ismihan, who declared she would marry no one but him, so Ismihan spouse the pasha. The year of their marriage is given as August 1612, they moved in Piyale Pasha Palace after their marriege.

Mustafa loved and respected his wife as Ismihan loved and respected him. When Ismihan's eldest son, son of Melek Ahmed Pasha, Sultanzade Mehmed Bey died in 1628, in the campaign of the new Sultan Osman II, Ismihan fell into a depression and wrote numerous odes to his son but nothing remains of these writings.

Evliya Çelebi tells us that after Mehmed's death, Ismihan made his way to Mecca where he spent two weeks in a monastery to reconnect with Allah.

Mustafa Pasha died in 1642 at the age of 52.

## Issue

She and Melek Ahmed had two daughters and one son:

* Sultanzade Mehmed Bey (1607 - 1628) He died in a campaign of Osman II.
* Atike Ayşe Hanımsultan (1609 - 1661). She married Süleyman Paşah. She was the stepmother of his children by his first marriage, Mahmud Bey and Ahmed Bey, but she hadn't her own child. She was very devoted and took care of her mother's charitable foundations after her death. She was buried in the Şehzade Mosque.
* Fatma Hanımsultan (1611 - 4 April 1652) married firstly Ibrahim Bey, son of Ömer Bey, with whom she had a daughter Gevherşah Hanım (who in 1528 married Iskender Bey, governor of Antalya). She married secondly Dukakinzade Mehmed Pasha. From second marriage, she had son Iskender Bey, and daughter Rükiye Hanım. She died in Aleppo on April 4, 1652.

With Silahtar Mustafa had two sons:

* Ahmed Bey, governor of Vize, married in January 1506 to the daughter of Hasan Pasha, governor of Rumelia. He had a daughter, Gevherhan Hanım.
* Sultanzade Mustafa Bey.
* Sultanzade (Fulan) Bey
* Mihrişah Hanımsultan
* Hibetullah Hanimsultan

## Widowed and death

Widowed in 1642, she and her children did not move to Topkapi to wait for Ismihan to be remarried, instead staying in Piyale Pasha Palace, give her back in 1611 after her marriage to Silahtar Mustafa.

Princesses were treated no differently from other elite ruling families. The state often loaned the princesses' vast wealth to them. After Ismihan Sultan's death, the Koprulu grand vizier Mehmed Pasha ordered the seizure of Ismihan's fortunes, despite the existence of his daughters.

This was in accordance with the Ottoman land ownership system, the Timar system. In the Timar System, land is redistributed after an individual's death, rather than being passed on to future generations. If future generations prove to be beneficial to the empire, the Sultan may distribute other parcels of land to these individuals.

She was buried in the her father Iskender I's türbe, in the Mosque Hagia Sofia.