Mahfiruz Hatun

Mahfiruz Hatice Hatun
File:Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan.png
Born	c. 1590
Died	Before 1618 Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Eyüp Cemetery, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Spouse	Ahmed I
Issue	Osman II
Full name Turkish: Mahfiruz Hatun Ottoman Turkish: ماہ فروز خاتون‎
Religion	Sunni Islam

Hatice Mahfiruz Hatun or Mahfiruze Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: ماه فروز خاتون, "Glorious moon" or "Daytime moon" or "Turquoise Moon"; c. 1590 - before 1618) was a consort of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–17) and the mother of Osman II (r. 1618–22).

Biography

Due to the preminence of Kösem Sultan during Ahmed's reign, there is not much records about her life.

Her origins and her original name are unknown, although she must have been the same age as Ahmed I.

She was his first concubine, and on 3 November 1604 she gave birth to Ahmed's firstborn, the future Osman II, making Ahmed I the youngest Ottoman sultan to have fathered a child.

Despite this, she was not given the title of Haseki Sultan, which instead was given to Kösem, the most beloved consort and mother of Ahmed's second son, Şehzade Mehmed, and at least three other sons and three daughters, which deprived Mahfiruz of all power. However, she received the title of Başkadin (mother of the first-male born).

She disappears from the harem records shortly after Osman was born. While it was initially believed that she was disgraced and exiled, it is now believed that she died between 1608 and 1613, maybe in childbirth, and therefore was never her son's Valide Sultan, who ascended the throne in 1618.

Indeed, records indicate that, during Osman's reign, she was not in any of the Imperial Palaces, not even in the provinces, and that the duties and salary of the Valide Sultan were instead attributed to Osman's governess, the Daye Hatun.

Mahfiruze was buried in the Ëyup cemetery, in a mausoleum built around 1610, which reinforces the theory that she died prematurely.

• 

  Her consort Ahmed I

• 

  Her son Osman II.

Issue

By Ahmed I, Mahfiruze had only one known child, the Sultan's firstborn and first son:

• Osman II (3 November 1604, Istanbul, Topkapı Palace – murdered during a janissary revolt on 20 May 1622, Istanbul, Topkapı Palace, buried in the Ahmed I Mausoleum, Sultan Ahmed Mosque). 16th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

In addition to Osman, many historians speculate that she may have had a second child with Ahmed, even if they disagree on the identity of this one and don't exist a certain proof for this.

So, Mahfiruze may also have been the mother of one between:

• Gevherhan Sultan (born in 1608, generally believed to be a daughter of Kösem Sultan).
• Hatice Sultan (born in 1608, died in 1610; unknown motherhood).
• Şehzade Süleyman (born in 1613, generally believed to be a son of Kösem Sultan).
• Şehzade Bayezid (born in December 1612, unknown motherhood).
• Şehzade Hüseyin (born on 14 December 1613, unknown motherhood).

In popular culture

In the 2015 Turkish television series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Mahfiruze was portrayed by actress Ceyda Olguner. Historical advisors to the series noted that Mahfiruze was a Circassian by birth. In the fifth episode of the first series, the character was recast with actress Dilara Aksüyek and introduced as "Çerkes güzeli Raşa" (Circassian beauty Rasha) before being renamed to Mahfiruze.

See also

• List of mothers of the Ottoman sultans
• List of consorts of the Ottoman sultans