Ahmed Şehinşah Bey

Ali Şha Pasha and Ahmed Şehinşah Bey

**Ahmed Şehinşah Bey** (Yoman Language: احمد شهینشاه بیگ) was son of Orhan I. He's know for his probably relation with his step-brother Ali Şah Bey, being the only possible case of incest in the Yomann imperial family.

## Early life

The year of the birth of Ahmed Şehinşah is unknown, certainly born after 1237, as he was the younger son of his father Othan I, his mother's identity is almost unknown, he is known to have died before Ahmed was 17 years old.

Mustafa Çelebi described Ahmed as vibrant and lively, full of boundless energy.

## Relation with Ali

It is said that Ahmed entered into a relationship with AliŞah, his older brother, son of Hasma Hatun, this is now globally accepted by the historical community, mainly due to the fact that when Işa I ascended the throne in 1262, and executed his brothers, the document contained the names of all the brothers alive, including those of Ahmed and Ali, but their name was not reported in the list of those executed (together with that of Halil), later in 1300 a legend told by a certain Hasmat Efendi tells of two princes who ran away to escape from execution by Sultan Isa I. All this together with the fact that Mustafa Çelebi claims to have found other papers, some dating back to 1260-80 and others to 1300 (mostly belonging to Hasmat Efendi himself) where they declared a relationship between Ali and Ahmed, suggests that the two actually were in a relationship

Ahmed and Ali certainly saw each other many times before they started their relationship, it is likely that Ali was present at Ahmed's birth. However, they never really had a conversation until 1254, when the Yşryin Palace harem was destroyed and he was temporarily moved to Kutlur Palace, where Ali he had established himself as a sanjak bey as it was large and close to the capital. Ali was around 26 while Ahmed was at least 15, probably he was around 17.

Despite significant age difference of 10 years the brothers started a relationship. At the end of 1254 the two had to separate, the harem of the sultan was moved again once the construction of the new harem in the Turfeş Palace was completed. Orhan I took advantage and decided to appoint Ahmed sanjakbey of Hemêyûn.

The province of Kutlur was very close to that of Hemêyûn, Orhan purposely decided that the two provinces were close so that Ali could educate Ahmed, in fact Orhan wrote to Ali in 1255 to temporarily leave the province of Kutlur and help his brother Ahmed in his province, Orhan was worried that Ahmed could not rule peacefully, he was the youngest of his sons and Orhan liked him very much and he was motherless.

Ahmed and Ali spent at least a year together in Hemêyûn province, if the two did not begin a relationship in 1254 they certainly did so during Ali's stay in the province.

It is not known for certain how their relationship developed, they probably wrote letters and when they met they spent a lot of time together, even Mustafa is very vague about what happened between 1254 and 1262.

## Personal life

The state of Ahmed's harem is uncertain, Mustafa affirms that the prince had tried to intimate with women, but that only twice did he actually succeed in carrying out the act, also indicating that Ahmed almost felt disgust for the female gender. The fact is that he never had children.

## **Escape**

Once Orhan died, Isa took the throne, to maintain his power he decude to murdered his brothers systematically, fully respectting the law of fratricide. The young princeses soon found themselves in grave danger.

Realizing the perilous path that lay ahead, Ahmed and Ali hatched a plan to escape their brother's clutches. They confided in a loyal palace servant named Farid.

Işa became increasingly unpopular outside the capital, many complained of taxes and debts related to the jurisdiction of the camps, so several protests and hardships began which resulted in insurrections. Many say that Ali and Ahmed participated in the insurrections, stating that the two remained within the empire, however most likely they left the empire forever, fleding together to one of the hopeful city of desert.

## In popular culture

* Mustafa Çelebi wrote about their story in his book "The Collection of the Yoman Empire" (1925), a collection of stories concerning the lesser-known members of the imperial family;
* *"Aşık" iki prensin karanlık hikayesi* (1978) a critical work, which describes the relationship between Ali and Ahmed as a relationship more similar to pederasty than to a love relationship, indicating Ali as the one who forced Ahmed, the younger brother, to have sexual relations, even against the young man's will, abusing of his position as instructor and older brother;
* In the series *"Eski Sultan"* Ali is played by Turkish actor Erik Kasim.
* A depiction was found in the chambers of Sultan Kasim I where the two princes are probably depicted. Indicating that their history is already known at the time in the 1500s.