Mahidevran Hatun - the Woman of Ottoman hearts
Mahidevran Hatun was probably one of the most tragic figures in the Ottoman Empire and became not only because of this a beloved woman of the common people, but because she was the mother of the most powerful prince of the Ottoman Empire.
She was born in Albania or Montenegro between 1498 and 1500. In the 1510s she joined the harem of the then Prince Süleyman in Manisa and was given the name Mahidevran, which means 'eternal beauty' or 'moon of happiness'. Other sources refer to her as Gülbahar, meaning 'spring rose'.
Contrary to popular belief, she is not a Caucasian princess and the wife of the prince, but merely his concubine. The rumours that she was a princess were probably invented later because of her popularity with the people.
She is described as a beautiful brunette with green eyes.
Ayşe Hafsa, the mother of Prince Süleyman, chose Mahidevran for her son's harem and in 1515 she was blessed with her first and only child, Prince Mustafa. This confirms that her salary before 1515 was not that of the mother of a prince's child and that it suddenly increased in 1515.
And since the rule was "one concubine-one son", it was out of the question for her to have more children.
Şehzade Suleyman already had an older son, Şehzade Mahmud, and a daughter, Raziye Sultan, who was born in the same year as Mustafa.
Although Mahidevran was never Süleyman's favourite and he probably did not love her, she spent a pleasant and peaceful time in Manisa.
This was to change in 1520 when Sultan Selim I died and the prince ascended the throne as Sultan Süleyman.
The Baş Hatun of the Sultan
The harem quickly packed up in Manisa and arrived at the Old Palace in Istanbul in late 1520 or early 1521.
There the new Sultan already had a new favourite, Hürrem, who soon became pregnant and gave birth to little Prince Mehmed.
This was not a problem for Mahidevran at first, she was never the Sultan's favourite and she probably didn't love him either. There had always been other women and their children in Suleyman's life.
In 1521 the plague broke out in the Sultan's harem. The Sultan's eldest son Şehzade Mahmud and his half-siblings Raziye Sultan and Şehzade Murad and their unknown mother died of the epidemic.
Only Mahidevran and her son Mustafa and Hürrem with the newborn Mehmed survived the plague. According to legend, Mahidevran and little Mustafa prayed so loudly in their room during this time that the whole harem could hear them.
This tragic event made Prince Mustafa the Sultan's eldest son and Mahidevran became Baş Hatun, a title given to the mother of a Sultan's eldest son.
However, she was not able to enjoy her rise for long as Süleyman soon broke the 'one concubine-one son' rule for his new concubine Hürrem and Hürrem gave birth to Mihrimah Sultan in 1522. Four more children followed.
The enmity that ensued between the two women is legendary, but it was only verbal, never violent. Had this happened, one of them would have been exiled or even executed.
The Sultan neglected Mahidevran and Mustafa more and more and spent more and more time with Hürrem and her children. Even Ayşe Hafsa Sultan asked Süleyman to spend more time with Mahidevran and Mustafa, but this was to no avail.
This must have hurt Mahidevran very much, especially for her son Mustafa, whom she made the centre of her life. She looked after him herself, rather than leaving it to a number of nannies, as was usually the case. One ambassador quoted: “Mustafa was his mother's whole joy”
In 1533, Şehzade Mustafa became Sanjak-Bey (governor) in Manisa and Mahidevran went with him, as was customary for the mothers of princes.
Only a year later, the news of Sultan Süleyman's marriage to Hürrem reached the Manisa harem. In addition, she was now elevated to the rank of Haseki Sultan, a title he had invented especially for Hürrem. This news must have come as a slap in the face to Mahidevran.
Meanwhile, Prince Mustafa was becoming increasingly popular with the people and had many allies among the officials. Ibrahim Pasha, the current Grand Vizier, was one of the prince's supporters.
However, Ibrahim Pasha died in 1536 at the hands of the Sultan and through the machinations of the same Hürrem Sultan. Ibrahim was a thorn in her side as he openly supported Mustafa and, like her, had the ability to influence the Sultan.
Hatice Sultan, Sultan Süleyman's sister, was not the wife of Ibrahim Pasha, contrary to what is often claimed. What is true is that she had a close friendship with Mahidevran Hatun. The two often exchanged letters in which they spoke of 'sisterhood and true and sincere kind friendship and tender compassion”.
Mustafa was a good governor and his popularity continued to grow. At his side, of course, was Mahidevran.
A Venetian ambassador wrote: “Mustafa's mother is always by his side, helps him, gives him advice on how to endear himself to the people, Mustafa's popularity is due to his mother's abilities in addition to his talent. Mahidevran Hatun takes special care to protect her son from poisoning, we received information that she herself prepares Mustafa's meals, but at least she is present during their preparation and supervises the processes, often tasting them herself”
In 1536, she became the grandmother of Nergisşah Sultan for the first time.
In 1542, the small family had to move to the province of Amasya, near the Persian border. Şehzade Mustafa now served as governor of this extremely difficult province. He was replaced in Manisa by Hürrem Sultan's eldest son, Şehzade Mehmed, who was given the so-called 'crown prince' province.
However, Şehzade Mehmed died of an epidemic, probably the plague, in the same year as the move. Mahidevran Hatun was not unaffected by this fate and immediately sent a letter to his grieving parents, Hürrem and Süleyman.
In Amasya, Mahidevran was blessed with more grandchildren: Şah Sultan in 1545 and Şehzade Mehmed in 1546.
Şehzade Mustafa continued to do a good job as governor of Amasya and his popularity grew.
Hürrem Sultan therefore worked with her son-in-law Rüstem Pasha, who had become Grand Vizier, on a plan to overthrow the prince.
Hürrem used her proximity to the Sultan to inform Rüstem Pasha of the prince's mistakes, and in return she tried to cover up her sons' mistakes.
There was even a rumour that Rüstem Pasha had obtained Mustafa's seal and written false letters in his name, making it appear that he was allying himself with the Ottomans' arch-enemy, the Shah of Persia.
The final mistake was Mustafa's alone: he received the janissaries at his palace in Manisa and distributed food and money to them. Rüstem immediately reported this to the Sultan, and it was known that Suleyman feared nothing more than the Janissaries, as his own father, Sultan Selim I, had used them to defeat Sultan Bayezid II, Suleyman's grandfather and Sultan Selim I's father, in the struggle for the throne.
When the Sultan, who was stationed at Ereğli near Amasya on a campaign, asked Prince Mustafa to come to him, Mahidevran was extremely worried and begged him not to go.
The Austrian ambassador wrote of the following dilemma: “Mustafa vacillated between two options: if he went to his father and found him angry, he would risk his life, but if he did not go, he would openly admit to inciting a rebellion against the Sultan. In the end, he chose the braver, but riskier way, so he left Amasya to go to his father's camp not too far away. Either he trusted in his innocence or in the support of the army, he believed that nothing bad could happen to him in the presence of the army.”
Nevertheless, he made his way to the Sultan's camp.
When Mahidevran Hatun heard that deaf-mute executioners were arriving at the camp, she tried to warn her son and wrote him a letter. But Mustafa could not imagine that his own father would execute him and went to the Sultan's tent.
This was his death sentence.
Şehzade Mustafa was executed on 6 October 1553 on the orders of his own father, Sultan Suleyman. Before the execution, he went to kiss the Sultan's hand, but the Sultan replied: "Ah, you dog! How dare you greet me?"
A short time later, Mustafa's only son, Şehzade Mehmed, was also executed.
Mahidevran Baş Hatun's whole world must have collapsed when she heard the news. Her only son, dead, executed by his own father.
But worse was to come: Sultan Süleyman, believing her to be responsible for the prince's alleged rebellious attitude, cut off all her financial resources and separated her two granddaughters from her. Nergisşah Sultan was married to a much older pasha from Anatolia and had to move in with her husband, while Şah Sultan and her mother were sent to the Old Palace in Istanbul.
Mahidevran Hatun herself lived in poverty in Bursa. It is even said that her servants had to steal from the bazaars in order to have enough to eat.
She was soon supported by her granddaughter, Nergisşah Sultan, who did not care what the Sultan said. She left her husband and went to live with her grandmother. This shows that they had a very close relationship.
A few years later, Şehzade Selim, the only living son of the Sultan at that time, took pity on Mahidevran and gave her money, a beautiful house with a large garden in Bursa and had his half-brother's tomb in Bursa completed.
This detail suggests that Selim was a very kind and good-natured man. He even went against the Sultan's orders.
Mahidevran Bas Hatun died on 3 February 1581 at the incredible age of 81. She outlived Hürrem Sultan, Sultan Süleyman and all their children.
Shortly before her death, she released all her servants from their duties.
Mahidevran Hatun is often referred to on the internet today as the "Woman of Ottoman Hearts". Why is that? Quite simply, she was a kind-hearted woman whose life took a tragic turn with the death of her son and is, in my opinion, a comparable figure to Princess Diana. Both were immensely loved by the common people; both led many charitable projects and both were neglected and forgotten by their husbands.
It makes me cry to think that such a great woman lost her child because the child's father had it executed.
For me, Mahi will always be one of my favourite women in history. She was a woman who loved nothing more than her son and grandchildren and wanted to know them alive and well.
Not only will she be remembered as the mother of the most powerful Ottoman prince and the most loved woman in the Ottoman Empire in her time.
Sources: Tiktok-Page of Julianna Herman who is a master historian, teacher and ottoman researcher (she uses following sources: PADİŞAHLARIN KADINLARI VE KIZLARI - M. Çağatay Uluçay; Ask Mektuplari - M. Çağatay Uluçay; Harem - M. Çağatay Uluçay; The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600 - Halil Inalcik; The Ottoman Empire: Sultan, Society and Economy - Halil Inalcik; The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereingty - Leslie Pierce; Harem-i Hümayun – Leslie P. Peirce; Empress of the Easr - Leslie Pierce; A Spectrum of Unfreedom - Leslie Pierce; Morality Tales - Leslie Pierce; A History of the Ottoman Empire - Douglas A. Howard; Kisa Osmanli Tarihi - Yilmaz Öztuna; Yavuz Sultan Selim - Yilmaz Öztuna; Kanuni Sultan Suleyman - Yilmaz Öztuna; Bu Mülkün Kadin Sultanlari - Necdet Sakaoglu; The Ottoman Empire and the World around - Surayia Faroqhi; Approaching Ottoman History - Surayia Faroqhi; Women in th Ottoman Empire - Surayia Faroqhi)
