Hürrem Hatun

A fictional depiction of Hürrem made by Timur Kalfa in 1285.

**Hürrem Hatun** (Modern Yoman: خاتون خُرّم; "*the joyful one*" or "*who brings joy*") called (**Sayın Hürrem**) "*Hürrem the Honorable*". She was the daughter of King Hanzade of Hai Empire, she was the first legal wife of Işa I in 1239, as the 1194 peace treaty between Yoman and the Hai empire decreed it.

## Family

She was the daughter of King Hanzade of the Hai Empire and his concibine, Abide Hatun (the adoring one). His maternafather was Abdüllah Abdarram Şah Mufti Efendi, one of the richest muftis in history.

## Marriage

Their marriage had already been signed 46 years earlier by Işa's grandfather and Hürrem's great-great-grandmother, Empress Dowager Lady Sakda. At the beginning of that year their wedding began to be planned, Işa was still a prince, sanjakbey of Bakvaär, he was 23 years old while Hürrem 13.

The chroniclers testify of the riches that was displayed during the wedding feast, which was held in the Yoman capital. The royal family of the Hai empire, the Sakdas clan, the Naehş clan and indeed the Khan of Krapgar Mehmed I Capy was present at the wedding. The chroniclers describe the valuable presents brought by Gazi Ümmütallah who however was not present at the ceremony.

According to some Hürrem conceived her first and only child that night: Mehmed Bey, however others like Atürkpaşahzade she did not become pregnant immediately but gave birth later in 1241 or 1242.

## As mother of Mehmed

Mehmed Bey was sent in 1255 to the province of Bilçikek. As his mother she accompanied him and settled in her son's harem. When Mehmed's first daughter was born in 1257, it was Hürrem who decided to name the child, calling her Hürremşah. Before finally deciding on the name he wrote to Işa to ask for his opinion, however the letter was lost and there are no further sources attesting to it, however Mustafa Çelebi states that in 1925 when he wrote his book "The Collection of the Yoman Empire" the letter survived and was still present in the Yoman history museum in Usbul, yet although most of Mustafa Çelebi's statements are globally accepted as truthful, much is debated about this. However, it will never be possible to reach a conclusion since after the fire of 1927 many sources were lost and if the letter was present it probably ended up burned.

When Işa died in 1278 Murad I ascended the throne executing all his brothers and their sons, however Hürrem, fearing for his son's life, hid him and helped him escape together with Mahmud Bey, another son of Işa.

## Death

Hürrem, however, failed to escape and was interrupted by Murad's men. Hürrem was interrogated and tortured but never said the whereabouts of her son. She was executed by Murad I himself who had summoned her to his rooms to interrogate her again, Hürrem again said nothing and was killed. Her corpse was thrown into the sea and she did not have a grave until the accession of Mahmud Bey in 1302 who built a Mausoleum for her and her son in Bilçikek, on her tombstone it is engraved:

> Lies here the Honorable Hürrem Hatun, mother of the Magnificent Mehmed Bey.
>
>

## In popular culture

* Mustafa Çelebi wrote about Hürrem's story in his book "The Collection of the Yoman Empire" (1925), a collection of stories concerning the lesser-known members of the imperial family. Many of the things we know about Hürrem are thanks to Mustafa.