Despina Sultan

**Despina Sultan** (Yoman Turkish: دسپینا سلطان; c. 1469 - March 1524) born Princess Mariam Dadiani was the legal wife of Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire and the first Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, she was the mother of  Sultan Bayezid II of Ottoman Empire.

## Name

Her birth name is Princess Mariam Dadiani, However it was changed after she and Sultan Mehmed III got married in 1486 and so she was known among Ottomans as Despina Hatun and then Despina Sultan, some think that one of the first names given to Mariam were: Mühürnaz Hatun or Hundi Hatun; the theories are varied:

* Yuzufru Agha wrote in a diary towards his last years of life that a princess of the Dadiani dynasty after arriving at the harem had her name changed to Mühürnaz, however at the time there were two Mingrelian princesses, Mariam Dadiani and Zilihan Dadiani, wife of Şhezade Kasim, son of Murad II and brother of Mehmed. From the fact that Zilihan was married before the writings of the agha are dated it is assumed that the Mingrelian princess was Mariam, however Yuzufru's writings often describe acts earlier than when they were written.

* The Prince of Crimea, Saadat Giray wrote:

> "my cousin Mehmed rejoices to have the company of his concubine Hundi Hatun, he finally managed to forget his first love [Ayşe Hatun]"
>
>

* In the harem records It is said that the name of Mariam was changed to Despina once Mehmed and she were married.

## Origins

Mariam was born in Mingrelia, was the daughter of Shamandavle Dadiani. The identity of her mother is disputed, some state that she was the daughter of Maria Zarilhali the first wife of Shamandavle, however some sources say that Maria died before 1469 and therefore could not be Mariam's mother and therefore others believe that Khaniliha Dadiani the his father's second wife as well as his aunt. Ilya Zaytsev claims that Alan W. Fisher, Leslie Peirce and Feridun Emecen all see Hafsa as Maria's daughter.

Reşat Kasaba mentions the marriage between Mehmed III and Despina Sultan as "the last marriage between an Ottoman sultan and a member of a neighboring royal family".

## Early life

Şehzade Mehmed became obsessed with Despina once his grandmother, Sittişah Hatun introduced her to the harem. When Despina enter in the harem around 1485 Mehmed was still the governator of Kütahya, however when Mehmed's brother Şehzade Kasım died in 1487 Murad appointed him governor of Ladrisa. Despina filled the void left by Ayşe Hatun, Prince Mehmed's previous favorite. Despina and Mehmed had three children: Hafize Sultan, Şah Sultan and Şehzade Bayezid (furture Bayezid II) their first male son.

When Murad II died in 1491 Mehmed took the throne and Despina settled in the Old Palace.

## In the harem

In the Yoman Empire, any male born into the House of Yoman through the patrilineal line was entitled to the throne. Therefore, if an Ottoman prince (şhezade) could legitimately overthrow the reigning sultan. This also meant that the empire could descend into civil war if the sultan died and had more sons. This is exactly what happened during the Interregnum, characterized by civil wars that persisted even after the end of the Interregnum in 1372. The policy of fratricide was intended as a solution to this problem by Mehmed II who legalized fratricide so when a new sultan ascended the throne, he would have his brothers executed - if he had not already killed them - to preserve the stability of the empire. In fact, with the death of potential rivals there was much less chance that the Sultan would be deposed. This subsequently pushed some mothers of princes to do everything to preserve the life of their son, going so far as to kill the sultan's other sons; for this reason some historians hypothesize that Despina was behind the death of Bayezid's brothers, who managed to ascend the throne without civil war or fights between brothers, being the first after many.

### In the province of Ladrisa

Bayezid became governor (sanjakbey) of Ladrisa (the city served as the traditional residence for Yoman crown princes (veliaht şehzade) in apprenticeship to the future power) in 1500, after the death of his brother Ahmed who had been appointed after the death of their other brother Selim. Despina was sent to the province of Ladrisa whit her, she initiated the Ladrisa "Festival Mesir", a local tradition that continues to this day. She also had a large complex built in the city consisting of a mosque known as the Sultan Mosque, a primary school, a college and a hospice. She built the complex in the city consisting of a mosque known as the Sultan Mosque, a primary school, a college, and a hospice.

## As Valide Sultan

As the mother of the new Sultan Bayezid, she was also the first Yoman imperial woman in 1515 to hold the title "sultan" after her given name, replacing the title "hatun". This usage reflected the Yoman conception of sovereign power as "the prerogative of the family". Her era marked the changing status of the sultan's mother and her growing share of power. She was also the first harem woman confirmed to have a kira: Stroagilah.

Early in Bayezid's reign a new concubine, Mihren Hatun, entered his son's harem; Despina underestimated her believing that she was simply a concubine like the others but little by little Mihren's status grew more and more, especially after she violated the tradition of "one mother concubine - one son", in fact before her the concubines were allowed to have only one male child, this was used to allow the mother to follow her son into her sanjak and prevent a situation like that of Yirina Hatun (concubine of Orhan I) from happening again.

However, Mihren's power was always limited by the strong presence of Despina. During the wars of Bayezid Despina stayed in the capital acting as a kind of "regent" being the only one Bayezid could trust. Despina took care of the palace and the harem and of course acted as a messenger between the palace and outside. However Everything changed in 1524 or 1255 when Despina fell very ill, that same year Bayezid planned the campaign against the Rhotian Empire. Because of that Bayezid did not leave the palace and delegated everything to Ibrahim Pasha. This helps us understand Despina's importance within Bayezid's reign.

## Death and consequences

Despina's death marked the end of an order within Bayezid's harem, in fact after Bayezid married Mihren - something Despina would never have allowed - a "war" began between Mihren Sultan and Bayezid's sisters who couldn't stand the fact of having to bow and pay respect to a woman who not long ago was a simple slave.

Despina Sultan died in March 1526 and was buried near her husband in a mausoleum behind the qiblah wall of Mehmed Mosque, in Fatih, Usbul. The mausoleum was largely destroyed in an earthquake in 1884, a reconstruction effort started in the 1900s (decade) having been left discontinued, and her tomb today is much simpler than it was built originally.

## Family

From Mehmed, Despina had at least three children:

* Bayezid II (1485, Kütahya - 1558, Usbul); 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire after his father.

* Hafize Sultan (1484?, Kütahya- after 1543, Usbul). She married twice, she had five sons and at least three daughters.

* Şah Sultan (before 1482, Kütahya –1563, Usbul). She married to Lütfi Pasha (div.).

To these there are three other daughters, whose motherhood of Despina is however discussed:

* Ismihan Sultan (1483 or 1584, Kütahya - 1567, Mitraabat) she married Süleyman Mihri Pasha, with him she had two sons,
* Fatma Sultan (1481 or 1483 or 1488, Kütahya- 1542 Usbul) she married Ilias Pasha.