Mihren Hatun

**Mihren Hatun** (Ottoman Turkish: خاتون میهرن, "*they love*" or "*their love*"), called also **Mihren Hanim** or **Sultan**, was a wife of Sultan Osman II of the Ottoman Empire.

## Family

Mihren Hatun was the daughter of Şeyhülislam Hocazade Esad Efendi, member of one of the most venerated ulema lineages in Ottoman history. Her mother was the daughter of Bostanzâde Mehmed Efendi, who had served as the chief mufti under Sultan Kasim I, and his son Sultan Mustafa I. She had three brothers named Ebusaid Mehmed Efendi, who also served as a Şeyhülislam, Arif Mehmed Efendi (died 1655), and Ebussuud Efendi (died 1673). She was the granddaughter of esteemed Hoca Sadeddin Efendi, royal tutor, müfti, historian and founder of a veritable dynasty of prominent religious officials (two of his four sons and three of his grandsons held the post of müfti, while his other two sons held the post of chief justice).

## Marriage

As the Ottomans attempted to transform themselves from an outstanding ghazi family, whose status relative to other prominent ghazi families was that of primus inter pares, into a ruling dynasty from which sovereignty emanated, one of the most fundamental notions that guided this ruling house was the prerequisite for avoiding consequential links with the free aristocracy within society. Nonetheless Osman considered marrying Mihren. Most likely Mehmed did not marry Mihren to have children but only because he was good looking, Mehmed in fact liked to surround himself with beautiful girls, having a full harem but which he did not use. At first, Esad Efendi rejected the sultan's intention to marry his daughter, because such a marriage would constitute a serious break in the Ottoman dynastic tradition. Bailo Giustinian noted that Osman was considered capricious and immature in the eyes of his people and that he acted without first consulting his advisers. Furthermore, according to the bailo, marriage was seen as a new practice that could harm the well-being of the empire.

Meanwhile, government viziers were concerned that the sultan's marriage to the mufti's daughter could disrupt the delicate balance of power in the imperial court as it would allow Esad Efendi to exert greater influence over the sultan, thus creating an alternative focus of power. between them. Eventually, despite his initial refusal, Esad Efendi granted the sultan's request to marry his daughter. As a wedding dowry, Osman gave 600,000 gold pieces to his new father-in-law. The marriage was celebrated in the Old Palace with fireworks on 21 September 1646, three months before the death of Osman. Acting as the sultan's proxy in the marriage was the prominent Sheikh Jelveti Üsküdari Mahmud, whose followers included Esad Efendi.

The Venetian bailo commented on the marriage by saying that Esad Efendi had accepted it simply to dissuade Osman from undertaking the Pilgrimage. Nevizade Atai, compiler of a seventeenth century ulema biography, described Esad Efendi as "a second Edebali" because he was honored by the tie of marriage to the dynasty and foremost among the ulema. By the marriage of Mihren to Osman her father's relations with the sultan cooled, in part at least because of the marriage. Her marriage with Osman was a sharp break with the dynasty's tradition of avoiding legal alliances, especially with high born Muslim women and it contributed to the popular discontent that culminated in his omicide.

The sight of Mihren, a free born Muslim of exceptional pedigree, passing through the Babüssaade and into the harem must have seemed an inconceivable nightmare to an Ottoman. However, privy purse accounts suggest that Mihren never entered the harem of the imperial palace. Certainly this free born Muslim woman of great status would have been an anomaly in a household composed of slaves, and her presence disruptive of the harem's established hierarchies. An incident related by the Venetian ambassador Carlo Monacci in his 1648 report suggests that the prospect of a free muslim woman residing within the imperial harem may have been an important element in the unpopularity of the marriage.

After Osman's death in January 1649 she was exiled in the Old Palace.

## Issue

Mihren was most likely childless but some indicate her as the mother of twins Şehzade Ibrahim and Şehzade Selim, as their date of birth is unknown.

Since the mother of the twins is not indicated in any document, according to Peirce the marriage was probably never consummated, since Osman's interest in the sexual act was minimal.

However, according to Oztüna, Mihren Hatun was the mother of the two, as Mihren was a free woman and to leave the palace after Osman's death and remarry would have been within her right but she did none of this and died in the Old Palace, this suggests that she had a reason for staying, stating the theory that she was the mother of the twins since at least Şehzade Ibrahim survived her father and died in the Old Palace in 1660.

## Death

Mihren died after 1649 most possibly in the Old Palace. She was buried in Yeni Cami.