Humasah Sultan: Prince Mehmet’s Daughter
🩵Updated on June 3rd, 2026
Hümâşah Sultan is the only daughter of Sehzade Mehmet and when he passed away in 1543, she was about 2 or 3 years old according to Allahverdi. She was raised with great care and affection in the harem under her grandmother’s (Haseki Hurrem Sultan) guidance.
Çağatay Uluçay mentions Humasah’s letters in his book “The Women and Daughters of the Sultans” (Turkish: Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları) Humasah wrote sincere and touching letters to her grandfather during his campaigns. A letter written by Hümâşah to her grandfather can be found in the Ottoman archives in modern day. In her letter to Sultan Suleyman, she expresses her great joy at receiving a letter from her grandfather. She wishes mercy upon her deceased grandmother. She prays for her grandfather, saying, "May Allah Almighty increase your days a thousandfold." She also asks about her grandfather's health, informing him that she is well. She signed the letter with "Your Cariye (a sign of humbleness), Hümâşah." Another one of her letters that can be found in the archives, is addressed to Prince Selim (future Selim II), her uncle. In her letter, she inquires about her uncle's health and well-being. She reports that both she and her Sultan Grandfather (Suleyman) are doing very well. Her wakf documents also include simple Turkish words when addressing her relatives, suggesting an intimate, cozy, simple way of life.
Çağatay Uluçay shows that members of the dynasty were not only political figures but also a family who addressed each other with intimate titles such as "uncle" and "nephew." M. Çağatay Uluçay, in his book "The Wives and Daughters of the Sultans," has brought similar letters to the present day by simplifying or transcribing them from their original language. The work is considered one of the fundamental sources for understanding the roles of palace women in social life and within the family.
Born: According to Allahverdi, she was 2-3 years old by 1543.
Death: Seyyid Lokman record her death date as after May 25th, 1577 (But her second husband passed away in 1580 and she remarried)
First Husband: Ferhad Pasha - married in 1559, passed away in 1575
Second Husband: Lala Mustafa Pasha - passed away in 1580
Third Husband: Gazi Mehmed Pasha - passed away in August 1592
Will written in 1570: includes the words “my sons and daughters” suggesting multiple children alive at that year
Wakf mentions Sultan Suleyman, Sehzade Mehmet, Mihrimah Sultan.
Children: 8 kids from Ferhad Pasha according to Selaniki: Mehmet (eldest son, named after her father), Fatma (eldest daughter married to Mehmed Bey), Osman (Sanjakbey of Bolu), Mustafa (Sanjakbey of Belgrade), Hatice
And Abdülbaki (from Lala Mustafa Pasha) (total of 9)
Humasah married for the first time in 1559 according to Allahverdi’s findings in her wakf. (Suleyman gifted her a palace according to her wakf documents in July 1559, considering her age this marriage date makes sense)
Her first husband was Vizier Mehmed Ferhad Pasha. He was a legendary master calligrapher with a license from Karahisar. Sultan Selim II had a palace built in Bayezid for his nephew Humasah. Ferhad Pasha and Hümâşah lived happily in this palace for nine years. Ferhad Pasha sold the Qurans he wrote in his own handwriting for one hundred gold coins. According to Uzuncarsili, he is Hattat Mustafa Pasha’s son, “Hattat” means calligrapher so it makes sense that he made hand made Qurans. His will was that his funeral shall be paid for with this “halal” money when he died. (February 2nd 1575 according to Selaniki) He compiled Sultan Suleiman's poems in his own handwriting while still alive. The most exquisite example of Muhibbi's Divan has survived to this day thanks to his efforts.
Ferhad Pasha performed many charitable acts during his lifetime. He commissioned Mimar Sinan to build the "Damat Ferhad Pasha" mosque in Çatalca. Two Qurans, the product of his handwork, have survived to this day. They are exhibited in the Topkapi and Turkish Islamic Art Museums.
From her marriage to Ferhad Pasha, Hümâşah had 8 children according to Selaniki. (I’ve listed the names I was able to find)
Humasah’s life wasn’t exempt from tragedy. Two of her sons died in battle: Osman Bey, the Sanjakbey of Bolu, died in front of Baghdad.
Mustafa Pasha, the Sanjakbey of Belgrade, was another son of Humasah who died in battle. (Sons of Princesses were generally not the target of fratricide, as they were not considered the direct descendants of the Ottoman royal male line, but as they were promoted to higher government positions in the state, their duties sometimes led them to their death as we can see in this case. On the contrary, the only Ottoman Sultan to have died in battle was Murat I, or Murat Hudavendigar.)
Her daughter from this marriage, Fatma Sultan, sadly did not live long. She passed away in her twenties while married to Mehmed Bey.
All of Hümâşah's children are buried in the cemetery of the Şehzade Mosque. (Her father Mehmet’s burial ground) She is also buried here but her exact burial in the mausoleum is unknown. Ayvansarâyî says she lays on the left side of Prince Mehmet.
Ferhad Pasha passed away in 1575. Hümâşah married for a second time to Lala Mustafa Pasha. From this marriage, Abdülbâki Bey was born. Lala Mustafa Pasha passed away in August 8th 1580, five years after her first husband’s passing, and Humasah was widowed for a second time.
Gazi Mehmed Pasha became her third husband. From her endowment deed, we can make an analysis of her personality and spirit, and get a little bit more information about her parents.
In her endowment deed she requested that no one interfere between her children, neither “her mother”, nor her siblings or relatives…
These statements indicate that her mother was alive and that she had other siblings from her mother’s side, as her father passed away young. Additionally, this critical piece of information suggests that her mother remarried after her father's death and Humasah did not leave anything to her half siblings from her mother’s side or mother in her will.
According to Mrs. Allahverdi, we are not certain about the identity of Hümaşah Sultan's mother. When Prince Mehmed died in 1543, we can assume that she returned to the palace in Istanbul with Hümaşah Sultan, who was only 2-3 years old at the time, but she later left the palace. (*I’m confused about this part of her article. The information about Humasah’s age at the death of her father Mehmet from Allahverdi and Ozguldur doesn’t match. I can’t be sure if she was born before Mehmet’s passing, or some months after, but considering the time Mehmet was given Manisa province she can’t be much older than 2-3 years old.) Her daughter Hümaşah was raised by her grandfather, Sultan Suleyman, and her grandmother, Haseki Hürrem Sultan. Although we have no record of Hümaşah's mother remarrying after leaving the palace, the fact that Hümaşah Sultan mentions her mother and siblings in her will, written in 1570, suggests that her mother remarried.
It is also possible to gain insight into Hümaşah Sultan's personality from the endowment deed. She was a person so knowledgeable in Islamic sciences and such a devout Muslim that she could plan a funeral ceremony step by step according to Islamic principles, knowing and writing down all the prayers to be recited. After a lengthy prayer section in the endowment deed, there is a section where Hümaşah Sultan wrote about what should be done during and after her death. She meticulously planned everything from what should be done at her last breath, the number of people who would recite which prayer during the washing and burial, and how much money would be given to those people; to the prayers to be recited at the graveside, on the seventh and fortieth days, and the charitable acts to be performed, and how much money would be spent for these. She even stipulated that the people who would pray should be righteous men and women knowledgeable in the Quran; and that those who would receive alms and food should be poor, homeless, and those in prison.
In the continuation of the endowment deed, after stating that her children could choose to either live alone or together, however they wished, she advised them to get along well with each other. She also added clauses anticipating potential problems and disagreements in the coming years. For example, if they were living together and the house needed repairs, she clarified this issue with the sentence, "They should all work together in agreement, or the one who lives more in it should pay more for the repairs." We can tell Humasah Sultan was a person who paid attention to detail, and who could foresee various possibilities that may occur in the future.
In her will, she did not forget about her servants, leaving them a certain amount of money and mentioning their names individually.
According to the endowment deed, her servants included a total of forty people, including thirty-two concubines and eight gatekeepers. Humasah addressed to her daughters and sons:
"…These thirty-two concubines and gatekeepers, totaling forty, and all those who are present, whether big or small, concubines or gatekeepers, are not freed; they are all the pure property of my sons and daughters."
CÜMLEDEN DESTUR İSTEYİP BAĞA HOŞÇA GİRİŞ: KANUNİ SULTAN SÜLEYMAN’IN OĞLU ŞEHZÂDELER GÜZİDESİ BAHTSIZ MEHMED’İN MANZUM HİKAYESİ — Serdar ÖZGÜLDÜR
Çağatay Uluçay “The Women and Daughters of the Sultans” (Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları)
Reyhan ŞAHİN ALLAHVERDI “An Orphan Sultan: Foundations of Şehzade Mehmed’s Daughter Hümasah Sultan”