FAV FITS: FATMA'S CYAN GOWN

What if, God forbid, one day His Majesty executes one of your sons, what will you do, Hürrem? I'm really wondering whether you will be able to stand before me and repeat the same words [The only Sultan in my heart is Süleyman Khan].

Is this just another case of what's in the show bleeding into people's assumptions about the historical reality or is there some basis of truth to it?

Hey! Could I blow your mind with something? After having done archival-level research across primary Ottoman, European, and Safavid sources— it appears that Sultan Selim I only had 3 daughters who survived into adulthood: Şahzâde (Hanım) Sultan and Beyhan Sultan (both born of Ayşe Hafsa in the early 1490s in this order) and Şah Sultan (born before 1505 of an unknown concubine who was alive as of November 1556).

I had made an in-depth thread a couple of months back elaborating about these sources, if you would like to read for yourself, here!

Please take your time with this thread because, I'm afraid it's quite lengthy, haha and I know prima-facie my claim seems bizzare— I had been researching on this topic (Selim I's daughters) intermittently since over a year (especially when I had been sick, it was a welcome distraction in a way, I guess).

So, essentially, how Historian Eda Öner had rather recently illustrated in her article (the extract of which I've appended in the aforementioned link), Kara Ahmed Paşa was in fact, married to a certain “Fatma Sultan, daughter of Mustafa Bey”, so that she must've been a grand-daughter of Sultan Bayezid II via one of his daughters (perhaps, someday when I have more time, I might pin-point which one, but Bayezid's family is very large and then, tracing the sons-in-law with such a common name as Mustafa would be quite something 😭)

Fatma — as a matter of fact— did have a land dispute with her niece, Mihrümah, instead (regarding the location of mosque complex) but Süleyman of course, ruled in favour of his daughter rather than his executed-in-disgrace former Grand Vizier.

That said, given Hürrem's decisive role in the deposition and execution of her husband, Fatma must've hated her guts (it's always a two-pronged vehicle when you contextualise these executions— Hürrem, of course + also, Kara Ahmed had proven himself to have been an incompetent Grand Vizier, even though he was a courageous and militarily-competent man, that's why he was popular with the Janissaries while Rüstem wasn't, interalia; Ahmed'd also conspired in tandem with Cairo Governor Dukakinzade Mehmed Paşa against Semiz Ali Paşa, another one of Hürrem's men— in fact, one whom she'd initially preferred over Rüstem, so yeah...)

(ETA: I do think the execution specifically rather than mere deposition— was kind-of Hürrem avenging the False Mustafa affair that put Bayezid in disfavour with Süleyman— which she had to smooth over, like for instance, Ambassador Ogier de Busbecq had illustrated in his letters + Kara Ahmed's scheming against Semiz Ali...)

I'll also add that due to his mother-in-law's protection, Rüstem had continued to be alternative foci of power even in political exile and Ambassadors continued to treat him as GV (as Rüstem himself claimed that he'd be Grand Vizier again very soon, lol and regardless of his deposition, he commanded the reverence of everyone since he was the Padişah's son-in-law).

We can imagine how all of this must've been such a head-ache for Kara Ahmed and his wife in an already turbulent timeline of ~2 years (October 1553 - September 1555) for which he had been Grand Vizier— sandwiching Rüstem's Grand Vizierates.

Honestly, who says we need to manufacture drama for Ottoman history, there's SO SO much, if we really research scrupulously and thoroughly!

Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine Well, me and my ghosts, we had a hell of a time

- "Florida!!!", Taylor Swift and Florence + the Machine

Confirmed cases:

Şah Sultan Daughter of Selim I – certainly died of the plague.

Mihrimah Sultan – confirmed to have died during a major plague outbreak in Istanbul.

Seventeen daughters of Sultan Murad III – reported by Selânikî to have died in the Old Palace during the 1598 plague outbreak.

A daughter of Mehmed III – died in 1612, prompting Sultan Ahmed I to leave the palace and reside in Davud Paşa Palace.

Hanzade Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan) – died of plague during Ramadan, confirmed by historian Naîmâ.

Rukiye Sultan (daughter of Murad IV) – died of the plague in 1696; her death was lamented in a poem by her nephew Mehmed Rızmî.

Likely (but not fully confirmed) cases:

Mahfiruz Hatun (mother of Osman II) – In my personal opinion, she may have died between 1610–1611 during the first major plague wave. This is not confirmed, but after extensive discussion with @rhaenahanzades, we considered it plausible since several foreign accounts mention plague outbreaks inside the palace during these years.

Fatma Sultan (daughter of Murad III) – possibly a plague victim; research on this point is ongoing.

Gevherhan Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I) – possibly died during the consecutive plague waves of 1630–1631.

Atike Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I) – may have died during the severe plague that struck the capital around late 1660 (probable).

Fatma Sultan (daughter of Sultan İbrahim) – likely died in mid-1662, possibly during a plague wave.

Unconfirmed / Disputed:

Fatma Sultan (daughter of Mehmed IV) – rumored to have died young from plague, but no primary source has been found to confirm this

" The English traveler Alexander William Kinglake, in his work Eothen, notes that the plague was first observed in Istanbul in 1615, and that further outbreaks occurred in 1617, 1620, 1637, 1650, and 1655. Beyond the epidemics recorded in the Ottoman lands during the 17th and 18th centuries, Europe also experienced major plague outbreaks: Verona and Milan in 1630, Florence in 1630–1631, Venice in 1631, Genoa in 1656, London in 1664–1665, and Marseille in 1721. While plague outbreaks began to decline in the second half of the 19th century, the disease was gradually replaced in the Ottoman Empire by cholera. Ultimately, a new wave of plague emerged in the late 19th century, originating in Southeast Asia and spreading across the world. The plague continued to exist from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century."

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