Hiranur Sultan

**Hiranur Sultan** (Ottoman Turkish: هيرانور سلطان; c. 1634 - 3 May 1681, buried in the Selim II Mausoleum) also called **Hiranur Hatice Sultan** or **Emine Hiranur Sultan**. For long time her name was unknown and she identified herself as **Fuldane Sultan**. She was probably the only concubine during the second term of Selim II, mother of Mustafa II and his Valide Sultan until her death in 1681 by plague. Even if she doesn't became one the most powerful women in the Sultanate of Women in 17th century she was one of the smartest.

## Early life

The origins of Hiranur are controversial. Serbian, Greek, Venetian or Cretans origins are attributed to her. Her original name was probably Elizaveta. She was captured and was bought by one of the loyal pashas of Şivekar Sultan, ​​a consort of Iskender I exiled to the Old Palace. Şivekar gave the slave girl as a gift to Selim when he was still exiled in the kafes of the Old Palace. Hiranur became pregnant and during Selim's second term gave birth and gave birth to her only child Şehzade Mustafa (later Mustafa II) on 3 November 1649 in Topkapı Palace, she was 15 years old.

### Exile

After her husband's death in January 1650 she was sent to the Old Palace with her son. Here he received a princely education supervised by Hiranur Sultan.

## As Valide Sultan

### Accession

When Mehmed died in 1669. There was no other possibility of succession and Mustafa was the only candidate to ascend the throne. The Topkapi pashas sent messengers to Mustafa to inform him of the death of his cousin Mehmed. Mustafa's succession took place two days after the death of Mehmed IV, the first greeting on Friday was held in the Bayezid mosque.

Hiranur enter in the Topkapi as Valide Sultan. She was 35 years old. She entered the rooms of the Valide Sultan and settled down. However Hiranur did not have a strong court, it only had a few ladies-in-waiting which it had acquired during its settlement in the Old Palace: Firyal Hatun, Melike Hatun and Devlet Hatun. Hiranur allied himself with the Grand Vizier Çorlulu Ali Pasha and his followers.

Though Hiranur was young, inexperienced, and without allies, she quickly established her authority as a Valide. It is believed that Şivekar Sultan educated her and taught her everything he knew. Some of her allies at the palace were besides her three faithful ladies-in-waiting; her kira, Sarai Devlet; chief eunuch Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa; Asporça Sultan concubine of his son, Mustafa II and the Grand Vizirs, Çorlulu Ali Pasha, Baltacı Mehmet Pasha, Ağa Yusuf Pasha, Silahdar Süleyman Pasha, Hoca İbrahim Pasha, Hacı Halil Pasha, Nişancı Mehmed Pasha. The fact that all the grand viziers during the reign of Hiranur were loyal to him there was a relative political calm called "the calm of Hiranur".

### Russo-Turkish War of 1674-75

She is believed to have advised her son to go to war against Russia in 1674. In 1673, King Maxilian of Sweden settled in Bender within the Ottoman Empire and wished the sultan to declare war on Russia and formed an alliance with Sweden so he suggested to Hiranur who had great influence over the sultan to pregnant him to participate in the war. Maxilian sent Stanislaw Poniatowski and Thomas Funck as his messengers. The Valide was intrigued by Maxilian, became interested in his cause and even corresponded with him in Bender. On February 9, 1674, Turkey declared war on Russia, as the sultan had been advised by his mother, who convinced him that Maxilian was a man worth taking a risk for.

However, the war was halted when a report reached Istanbul that the Safavids were invading the Ottoman Empire, resulting in a period of panic, causing the sultan to neglect Russia.

#### Russo-Turkish War aftermath

After learning that the threat of the Safavids was false, the grand vizier, Baltacı Mehmet Pasha advised him to resume the war against Russia however the sultan feared leaving the empire, it is believed that Mustafa II already at this time manifested "mad" behavior , Mehmet Pasha insisted to resume the war against Russia with the help of Hiranur Sultan, however Mustafa against his mother's decisions appointed Ağa Yusuf Pasha as the new grand vizier. However Yusuf Pasha proved to be very useful and thanks to him Hiranur was able to ally with the Janissaries.

Hiranur after Mustafa disobeyed her increasingly took the reins of the empire and sidelined her son, who became increasingly mentally unstable. Mustafa was limited to taking care of the internal affairs of the empire while Hiranur was in charge of supervising his son and foreign affairs. Hiranur was able to name all of his son's grand viziers, except for Yusuf Pasha. Even after his exile he still had influence in the sultan and the empire.

However Mustafa did not allow his mother to organize wars against other powers, Mustafa in fact had a strong fear of being deposed or killed as happened to Iskender and Osman, Mustafa never left his mother keep a pasha in power for more than two years so to prevent himself from acquiring too much power and that it would cause the people to go against him.

### Relations with the Mughal Empire

#### Jahandar Shah

In the year 1676, the Mughal Emperor Jahandar Shah, the grandson of Aurangzeb sent gifts to the Hiranur Sultan and referred to himself as the Ottoman Sultan's devoted admirer.

#### Farrukhsiyar

The Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar a grandson of Aurangzeb, is also known to have sent a letter to the Ottomans but this time it was received by the Grand Vizier Hoca İbrahim Pasha providing a graphic description of the efforts of the Mughal commander Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha against the Rajput and Maratha rebellion.

### Problems with the Janissaries

The Janissaries, however, were restless and wanted to participate in a war. Mustafa openly replied that they would not participate in any war under his mandate. The annoyed Janissaries consulted Hiranur Sultan who promised them that he would talk to the sultan and they would certainly participate in a war.

However Mustafa exiled his mother in 1679 to the Old Palace once she asked too many times for the Janissaries to participate in a war.

### Exile

Hiranur allied with Şehzade Ibrahim's mother, a minor concubine of Mehmed IV who would not threaten Hiranur's power.

Şehzade Ibrahim was openly liked by the Janissaries who always asked to see him and know if he was still alive. Rumors began to circulate that the Janissaries wanted to bring the prince to the throne.

## Patroness of architecture

Among Hiranur's projects was a complex of buildings which included a mosque, soup kitchen, school, fountain and tomb, built in Üsküdar. She also sponsored the transformation of a church in Galata into a mosque and building of five fountains with which clean water was finally made available to the area. She also made endowments in Edirne, Chios, Mecca, Medina, Kastamonu, and Menemen. After the reconquest of the island of Chios of 1659, on 1673 a church was converted into a mosque in her name. She also constructed a fountain next to the mosque in Chios.

## Death and Burial

Between 1680 and 1681 there was a wave of plague that struck the capital. At the end of 1680, Hiranur was struck by the wave of plague and was moved to a more secluded part of the Old Palace in the hope that she could rehabilitate there. Even though Hiranur was ill, she still attended her sessions with the viziers and continued to plot with the Janissaries. However, she died on 3 May 1681. She was buried in the Sultan Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sofia.