This page is for Sultanate of Women - special period of the Ottoman Empire. You can ask me on tellonyme about the Ottoman Empire 🤗 https://tellonym.me/reallifesultanas Follow me on Instagram also: www.instagram.com/reallifesultanas
Most of the sultans were born in Istanbul, followed by Edirne end then Manisa.
Sultan Süleyman I was born the eastest, among all the Ottoman rulers, as he was born in Trabzon.
Sultan Selim II was the first sultan to be born in Istanbul, he also was the first to die in Istanbul.
Sultan Osman II was the first prince-to-become-sultan born in Istanbul after Selim II. There was an 80-year-long gap, when all the princes-to-become-sultan were born in Manisa.
Sultan Ahmed III was born in the northest, as he was born in Dobrich.
Most of the sultans died in Istanbul, followed by Edirne and then Bursa.
Sultan Mehmed I was the only sultan to born and die in Bursa.
Sultan Selim II was the first Sultan to die in Istanbul, as before him all sultans died in previous capitals or during campaign, or exile.
Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin died the farthest from the actual capital, as he died in North-Italy.
Mehmed (1566.05.26. - 1603.12.22.) - Handan (~1568 - 1605)
Ayşe 1583-1632/9
- Destari Mustafa Pasha 1602-1610
* 2 daughters and one son, who all died young
- Gazi Hüsrev Pasha 1613-1632
Selim 1585-1597
Şah 1587-1617/8
- Mirahur Mustafa Pasha 1604-1610
* three sons, all died young
- Cigalizade Mahmud, son of Cigalizade Yusuf Sinan Pasha 1612-until her death
* Mehmed (?-a. 1650), Mustafa (?-?), Karahoca Ibrahim Kethüda (?-a. 1650)
Ahmed I 1590-1617
Süleyman ~1593-1597
Nani believes she had one son Osman, who was 3 or 4 in 1600
Mehmed (1566.05.26. - 1603.12.22.) - Halime (~1568 - after 1624)
Hatice 1585-1617?
- Mustafa Aga, one Yeniçeri officer
Mahmud 1587-1603
Safiye 1590-?
- Davud Pasha 1604/1605 (consummated 1606)-?
* Süleyman (after 1606 - after 1662)
Halime
- She could be the wife of Tiryaki Hasan Pasha (1604-1611), but maybe she was unmarried until 1622.
- She could be the wife of Budin Ali Pasha (?-1616?)
Cihangir 1598-1602 (identity of his mother is not known for sure)
Mustafa I 1600-1639
And Mehmed III had another daughter Hümaşah, but we dont know anything about her. She could be the wife of Tiryaki Hasan Pasha (1604-1611), or the wife of Budin Ali Pasha (?-1616?) or none of those.
Theories:
Ayşe: I believe she was the eldest daughter of Mehmed, and so the daughter of Handan. Mehmed got Handan after his circumcision in 1582 June, so they could start reproduction in August or so. In 1600 Nani said, the sultan had a daughter, who was 18 years old and that the sultan is thinking about her possible husbands. Based on ottoman calculations 18 is actually 17, so she was born in 1583. Back then Handan as a new favourite, gift of the beloved aunt of Mehmed, possibly was a soley sexual partner for a while making logical that Mehmed's first child was Handan's. And as Destari Mustafa seems to be the first Damad of Mehmed III's daughters, his wife should be the eldest Sultana.
Ayse: She survived her husband in 1632 but does not mentioned after 1639 in the register she was listed previously, which could mean she died between 1632 and 1639 or she moved back to the Old Palace, and so we should search for her in another register.
Halime: All we know is that she was unmarried in 1622. This could mean: she was too young to be married off or simply she was widowed. I personally think she was the wife of Tiryaki Hasan Pasha between 1604 and 1611, then a widow until 1622 (at least), or also the wife of Budin Ali Pasha until 1616.
Hatice: Actually the identity of her mother is not known for sure. She is referred to as Halime's daughter in one source, however, her husband's identity is wrong in that source, so maybe she was not Halime's but a random consort's. Her husband is quite low-level compared to others, so maybe she did not have a brother. OR the identity of the husband (yeniçeri officer) supports the original theory of her being Halime's. We know how Mahmud and Halime had a close relationship with the janissaries and then. Maybe Hatice had something to do with it through her hubby? True, her husband was a Yeniçeri leader only in 1616, and true, that we don't know the exact date of their wedding. The agha died at the end of 1616 and Hatice is lost from history. Maybe she died, maybe remarried.
For Hümaşah it is possibly she died before being married to anyone, or she may was the wife of Tiryaki Hasan Pasha between 1604 and 1611, and/or the wife of Budin Ali Pasha until at least 1616.
Ahmed (1590.04.18. - 1617.11.22.) - Kösem (~1589 - 1651.09.02.)
Mehmed 1605. 03. 08. - 1621. 01. 12.
Ayse ~1606 - 1657
Fatma ~1608 - 1671 (before March)
Hanzade 1609 - 1650.09.
disputed: Selim 1611.06.27.-1611.06.27.
Murad IV 1612.07.27. - 1640.02.08.
Kasim 1614 - 1638.02.17.
Ibrahim 1615.11.05. - 1648.08.18.
Ümmügülsüm ~1616 (possibly) - after 1690
Ahmed (1590.04.18. - 1617.11.22.) - Mahfiruze (~1589 - ~1612)
Osman II 1604.11.03. - 1622.04.20.
disputed: Gevherhan ~1606 - after 1631
disputed: Cihangir 1609
disputed Bayezid 1612. 12. - 1635.07.27.
Ahmed (1590.04.18. - 1617.11.22.) - Unknown concubine(s)
daughter born in 1605 March
Hasan 1612.11.25. - ~1612
Hüseyin 1613.11.14. - 1617
Atike 1614 - 1670
Süleyman 1615 - 1635.07.27.
Abide 1618 - 1648(?)
Orhan (died as a child)
Zahide (died as a child)
Zeynep (died as a child)
Esma (died as a child)
Hatice (died as a child)
Marriages of Ahmed I's daughters:
Gevherhan:
- Öküz Kara Mehmed Pasha 1612-1621
* one son (1620)
- Topal Recep Pasha 1623-until her own death
* Safiye Hanimsultan (~1624-?)
- married Mehmed Pasha and was his widow in 1638/9
- married Sadrazam Abaza Siyavuş Pasha 1643-1656
Ayşe:
- Nasuh Pasha 1612-1614
- bethroed to Şehit Karakaş Mehmed Pasha 1614
- Müezzinzade Hafiz Ahmed Pasha 1622-1632
* Sultanzade Mustafa Bey 1628-1670
* Sultanzade X
- Silahdar Ahmed Pasha 1639-1644
- Voynuk Ahmed Pasha 1645-1649
- Ibşir Mustafa Pasha 1654/5-?
Fatma:
- Murtaza Pasha 1622-
- Şehid Ali Pasha 1624
- Çatalcali Kapudan Hasan Pasha 1624-1626
* Sultanzade Hasan ~1625
- Kara Mustafa Pasha 1626-?
- Sarraç Mustafa Pasha 1629-1630/1
- Kaçanikli Mehmed Pasha 1631
- Canpoladzade Mustafa Pasha 1632-1636
* Sultanzade Hüseyin 1633-1680
* Sultanzade Süleyman 1635-1665
- Koça Yusuf Pasha 1637-1658
* Sultanzade Ömer 1637-after 1670
- Melek Ahmed Pasha 1661-1662
- Kanbur Mustafa Pasha 1663-1666
- Közbekçi Yusuf Pasha 1667
Hanzade
- married or bethroed to Murtaza Pasha’s son 1622
- Bayram Agha 1623-1638
* one son
- Nakkaş Mustafa Pasha ~1641-until her death
* Sultanzade Abdülbaki Bey ~1642-after 1685
Ümmügülsüm
- married or bethroed to one pasha in 1626
- Halil Pasha ?-1641/2
- Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha ~1642-1648
Atike
- son of Ekmekçizade Ahmed Pasha 1618-?
- Sofu Kenan Pasha ~1624-1652
- Doganci Yusuf Pasha 1652-until her death
Theories:
The daughter born in 1605 March being Gevherhan (and then she was not Mahfiruze's daughter).
Hasan being Mahfiruze's not Bayezid and they both died due to complications.
Zeynep being Mahfiruze's daughter as Osman II possibly had a daughter Zeynep (as there are two Zeyneps buried in Ahmed I's türbe), and since Zeynep is not a dynastical name, Osman may named her after his deceased sister.
PS: One of the sarcofagies is for a grown woman, which can be a mistake, or maybe Osman's daugter Zeynep reached adulthood (would be strange as until now there is no evidence for an adult sultana called Zeynep during this period).
Identity of Abide: Now it seems that Abide was not a daughter, but an aunt of Ahmed I and so the daughter of Murad III, see more under Murad III's family tree.
There is a chance, that Kösem and Ahmed had another daughter together: Ümmügülsüm.
I am so glad, that with Anonymous sender and Ottomanladies, the truth came to light. Ottomanladies answered very long and very detailed about Ümmügülsüm, she shared her thoughts about the topic, now, here, you can find a conclusion from me:
What we know:
A privy purse register from 1622 gives the names of five unmarried princesses, who may be daughters of Ahmed, Osman II, and even Mehmed III: Umm-i Külsum(=Ümmügülsüm), Hanzade, Halime, Fatma, and Akile. Hanzade and Fatma were Kösem's daughters; Akile is possibly mistaken for Atike or Abide; Halime might be Mehmed III's daughter, named after her mother, Halime. But Ümmügülsüm was less clear.
The relazione of Angelo Alessandri from 1637 says that Murad IV had four FULL-sisters. We know three of them: Ayse, Fatma, and Hanzade. But who could be the fourth? Gevherhan was already dead, Atike was well-knownly not a full-sister and also not Abide. Maybe Ümmügülsüm?
There are some decisions and letters of Murad IV, where he mentions Ümmügülsüm as a sister of his. He uses the same wording that he used for Ayse, who undoubtedly was his full-sister, suggesting Ümmügülsüm was also a full-sister of his.
The 1638/39 harem registers mention one Ümmügülsüm Sultan who received the highest payments besides the three already known daughters of Kösem (Ayse, Fatma, Hanzade) and two daughters of Murad III. This means she could be either the daughter of Murad III or Ahmed I. But since Ahmed I's other daughter, Atike - who was not Kösem's - got a lesser stipend, if Ümmügülsüm is Ahmed I's daughter, she had to be Kösem's daughter too and so she is the fourth full-sister of Sultan Murad IV.
In 1648 the Raguzan envoy also mentions her (possibly her as they use the name Iumi), as the wife of Ahmed Pasha, governor of Herzegovina. They probably married ~1642 until the pasha's death in 1648. This was her second marriage, her first husband was one Halil Pasha, with whom she married before 1638.
In book ''Whisper of the cities'' one Ümmühan Sultan is mentioned as she met with the English ambassador's wife. Based on her, Ümmühan was said to be the aunt of deposed Mehmed IV and sister of Ibrahim I. This happened in 1690, so she still was alive then.
There are still questions:
Why no historian ever discovered this information as none of the evidence is new?
Why Ümmi is not mentioned among Ahmed I's children?
Where is she buried? *
When was she born? *
Why Ibrahim did not force her to serve Telli Hümasah (his wife) when he did it to all of the other daughters of Kösem?
To be honest the burial place of Ahmed I is quite a mess. For example there are two sarcofagies for 'Zeynep' daughters of Ahmed I. One of the sarcofagies stands for an adult woman. There was no daughter of Ahmed, called Zeynep who reached adulthood. So maybe the name is mistaken and that Ümmügülsüm. Maybe she was buried somewhere else as she lived a quite long life, survivin everyone around her and her grave is not idetified yet.
Considering the known children of Kösem and their birth date, the most possible for Ümmügülsüm is that she was born during the late reign of Ahmed I. In 1605 Kösem gave birth to Mehmed; in 1606 or 1607 to Ayse; then in 1607 or 1608 to Fatma; in 1609 to Hanzade. While I see that there is a gap here for one more child (if Kösem got pregnant extremely rapidly), she cannot be older than Fatma, as she was also not married off in 1622 yet, and also since we know quite precisely the sequence of these daughters, I do not think another one was born here but no one knows about her. It would be strange. Then in 1612, she gave birth to Murad, but between him and Hanzade there was time for another child - let it be Selim who was born in 1611 or Ümmügülsüm. Then Kasim followed Murad quite quickly, he was born in 1614, and then Ibrahim came in 1615, so there was no time for anyone else between Murad and Ibrahim. After 1615 there is another chance for the birth of Ümmügülsüm. So she either was born after Hanzade (~1611), or after Ibrahim (~1616). Either way - considering she was not just still alive in 1690, but was surely not suffering, dying since she was involved in the diplomacy meeting - she possibly died in the 1690s, she very probably reached 80 maybe even more in the end.
Hüma Hatun, was the mysterious mother of Mehmed II. We know quite little exact things about her. Some suggested she was a Frech princess, others said she was a Jewish noble woman and there are some saying she was Hungarian. Among Hungarian sources quite a few mentions her as a Hungarian who was the grand-aunt of King Mátyás I of Hungary. About this last possibility, Gyöngyössy Márton wrote an interestning article. In this post I will make a summary out of his work written in Hungarian.
But first of all, what we know about Hüma Hatun? Her origin is controversial as I already mentioned, however, it is sure that she was a slave origin woman. How do we know? She was mentioned in the deed of her poius foundation as “Hatun bint Abdullah”, which clearly refers to women converted to Islam. Also her name, Hüma, is a persian origin name, meaning bird of paradise. Such names were given to slaves. What we surely know about her life is that she followed herson Mehmed to Amasya in 1443. She died soon in 1449 in Bursa. The place of her death suggests that she may had health problems thats why she moved to Bursa instead of being with Mehmed in Amasya. She was buried in Bursa, where her son later built a türbe for her honour, called Hatuniye Türbe.
The main reason why the author (and not just him but other historians too) believe there was a relation between Mehmed II and King Mátyás I, is that Mátyás himself wrote it in several letters of his. He said that the (elder) sister of his grandmother was captured during the reign of Murad II and was taken to the harem of the sultan, where she later give birth to a boy: Mehmed. Can it be possible?
What we must clear now is that a noble girl would truly be a nice gift for a sultan! So if they would find a virgin noble woman in nearly any age, it would be a nice gift. I think in such case, it was not necessary to be 10-12 years old to be taken to the harem, even an older girl would be fine (especially in this early period of the empire). So based on Mátyás I, the sister of his grandmother was taken away in the 1420s. Is mathematically it possible that Hüma Hatun was captured then? Yes. Hüma Hatun should be 15-25 when become a mother in 1432, so she was probably born in 1417-1407.
I must add, that it is also possible that Mátyás only said stuff like this to make political benefits. The fight between Cem and Bayezid happened during his reign, so maybe he wanted to claim some right lol? True, he said it even before to Mehmed II. Sounds strange though, but fun fact later Mehmed II and Bayezid II also referred to Mathias as a brother. However, I can imagine it coming from our centuries-long common history lol. I mean both Hungairans and Turkish are türks from Central Asia. So we are sibling nations, even nowdays Turkish people say we are kardeşler, so... Anyway, while it is interesting that they called Mátyás a brother, it doesn't 100% proves that there was a blood relationship.
Sultan Mehmed II and King Mátyás I.
Okay now, let's check the grandmothers of Mátyás I. Fun fact, we only know his maternal grandmother’s identity for sure. Mátyás's mother was Erzsébet Szilágyi and her mother was Katalin (Catherine) Bellyéni. Is it possible she was related to Hüma Hatun? In short: no, Katalin's family was not in a good place to be captured and attacked. So she surely was not Hüma Hatun’s sister, however, Erzsébet Szilágyi was related to Ottoman’s trhough her father, Mihály Szilágyi.
Szilágyis were related to the descendants of Savcı Bey, the executed Ottoman prince, son of Murad I. Savcı Bey rebelled against his own father with his Byzantine ally and in the end was executed for that. Fun fact is that Savcı was able to take his family out of the Empire (some actually suggest he also was able to leave but later was found and killed). He had a son, Murad who lived in the Hungarian Kingdom, hungarian sources list at least one female family member (a daughter) and also another son, Orhan. About Orhan we don't really have information about his life, only that he died between 1488-1495. Honestly, for me it suggests that he was not Savci's son but more his grandson (knowing Savci was executed 1385).
The daughter (or granddaughter based on the previous calculations with Orhan) of Savcı became Christian and was called as Katalin. Mihály Szilágyi fought with László Hagymási for her. In the end Szilágyi won and married the woman in 1410. Erzsébet Szilágyi may was born from this marriage. But it is controversial... Anyway it seems like the Szilágyi family was related to the Ottomans. Katalin, Savcı's descendant was the one who died earliest among the three siblings.
Murad married a woman called Ágnes and he had a family with her, after he himself converted to Christianity. He surely had one son, who became a famous Hungarian warrior: Davud Çelebi (called David in Hungarian). He fought against the Ottomans at Rigómező along János Hunyadi (father of King Mátyás I). In 1451 he went to the Ottoman Empire with the support of Christians to fight for the throne. He died there before 1456. He had a son, Bayezid ho stayed in Hungary and was mentioned in several sources in the 1460s 70s.
Erzsébet Szilágyi, mother of King Mátyás I. Her family was probably related to Ottomans, however she was not related to Hüma Hatun.
So it seems like we should search for the sister of Hüma Hatun at the paternal side of King Mátyás I. The main problem here is that we know very little about the mother of János Hunyadi. There are several theories about his mother's identity:
- 1st possibility, János Hunyadi 's mother was Erzsébet Morzsinai. The author talks about it kinda long but it just makes it clear: Erzséber Morzsinai surely was not the mother of János. The author also only mentioned it because it is a well-known legend and so he wanted to clear it.
- 2nd possibility, János Hunyadi's mother was Ankó Barancskai. She is coming from a Romanian noble family and she MAY truly is János's mother. She surely had sisters, which seems good if we are searching for Hüma Hatun. Ankó should be born ~1390, which would make her too old for be the sister of Hüma Hatun. However, there is a letter from 1429, where her sisters are mentiond and she had a young still unmarried sister Márta, and of course we cannot rule out the presence of other sisters too, whom we may don't know about. Why Márta is important? She may was Hüma Hatun. Probably not, but her presence is important, because it is an avidence for their father still making babies constantly in the 1410s, 1420s and so the presence of much younger daughters compared to Ankó is confirmed. It is possible that one of these younger sisters was captured and taken to the Ottoman Empire.
- 3rd possibility, Hunyadi János's mother was Szapolyai X. Szapolyai was an important noble family just at the beggining at their raise during this period. In the mausoleum of János Hunyadi 's father, both the Hunyadi and Szapolyai family coat of arms are on the graves, suggesting a possible marriage or relationship. Though this doesn't mean that János's mother was a girl from the Szapolyai family, maybe they were simply relatives of the Szapolyai family. All in all I - and the author also - find this option, not the most possible. The coat of arms is not strong evidence for anything in this case.
- 4th possibility, János Hunyadi's mother was a Greek noblewoman. I don't even want to talk about it. It's just legend to make János Hunyadi look better with strong noble relations. Just nope.
All in all the only truly possible option for János Hunyadi’s mother is Barancskai Ankó, the Romanian (or Hungarian) noblewoman. So she was (let's say) János Hunyadi's mother and she had younger sisters, close in age to Hüma Hatun. Barancskai family lived in Transylvania and surely suffered from the Ottoman forces in the 1420s, so it's absolutely possible that some of the family members were killed and/or taken by ottomans. King Mátyás I in his letters says this grand-aunt was taken in the 1420s during a smaller raid (so not during war). There was one raid close to the place of Hunyadi's home in 1420 autumn. Maybe one of Ankó's sisters was taken away this time? It is possible that one of the sisters was captured and taken to the Ottoman Empire.
János Hunyadi, father of King Mátyás I. Probably it was his mother, who was related to Hüma Hatun, if this whole thing is true.
What do I think? Do I believe that Ankó's sister was Hüma Hatun? I dont know what to believe honestly, because:
- I think maybe it is possible, but not such a close relative (grand-aunt) was captured, just a far relative, and King Mátyás I said otherwise to make the relationship with Ottoman’s look closer and make political benefits. I mean okay it is not impossible to capture noble family members as they did with Sokollu too, but still... I don’t know.
- Hüma’s noble Hungarian origin may would explain why she and Murad II were not close and why Murad preferred his other son (until he did nto die) over Mehmed II. If Hüma was truly a noble woman, captured, force converted I think she would not be too nice to Murad II lol, especially if she was captured at not a too young age (so the brainswash was not perfect on her).
- Mehmed refused to talk about his mother in general. Would it make sense for Mehmed II to keep his mother's Hungarian identity in secret? After their fail at Nándorfehérvár it would lol. This Nándorfehérvár thing was a military blockade of Belgrade that occurred July 4–22, 1456. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II rallied his resources to subjugate the Kingdom of Hungary. His immediate objective was the border fort of the town of Belgrade/Nándorfehérvár. János Hunyadi, the Count of Temes and captain-general of Hungary, who had fought many battles against the Turks in the previous two decades, prepared the defenses of the fortress. The siege escalated into a major battle, during which Hunyadi led a sudden counterattack that overran the Ottoman camp, ultimately compelling the wounded Mehmed II to lift the siege and retreat. The battle had significant consequences, as it stabilized the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary for more than half a century and thus considerably delayed the Ottoman advance in Europe.
- Mara Brankovic, wife of Murad II, step-mother of Mehmed II, was a Serbian princess. Serbs, and Hungarians back then (during Mara's father's reign) were fine. So wouldn't it make sense for Mara and Hüma to be close or at least have some compatriotic feelings toward each other? There is no evidence for such, which of course does not mean there was nothing like that. Maybe they truly have, I mean it would help us to understand why Mehmed and Mara were so close. I'm still not sure but it's not nonsense for sure.
Hüma Hatun (aka Leyla Feray) and Mara Hatun (aka Tuba Büyüküstün) from the mini-series of Rise of Empires: Ottoman.
So I got several asks about homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire on Tellonyme. There is one, to which i gave the fullest answer I know: “Do you have sources which are about Homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire? I mean for example when the Sultans had male slaves and sexual intercourse with them and how the Ottoman Empire in general treated homosexuality and if it was respected and accepted?”
First of all there is two very good works about the topic, which I trul recommend to someone who is deeply interested in this. One of them is article about it by Stephen O. Murray - Homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire. Its 17 pages long so not that much, if you are interested, read it. Secondly there is a whole doctoral thesis about the topic which I was not able to get yet, but here is the author and title maybe you can find it: Sodomy and human difference: Nailya Shamgunova- Sodomy and human difference: Anglophone conceptualisations of Ottoman male same-sex activity, c.1590-1700. (PS I requested the full-text pds but didnt get any access to it yet :( If anyone has it please share, Im curious how it is.)
But I will write a conclusion here also, so people who are not that deeply interested can find some information here.
We have to separate pederasty and normal homosexual relationships. The first article I suggested is mostly about pederasty because that's what was common. But what is pederasty? Pederasty or paederasty is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy. The meaning in a more general term is young boys (not officially kids but something like 12-20) + adult men (old men actually or high class officer) having sexual relationship. They based in on the ancient Roman and Greek traditions: One man can only find intellectual partner in anoher man (woman were only good for making babies....) and it went so far that "some poets maintained that only with a boy, one could have the best sexual experience." In ancient Greece it was totally common and normal among politicians and soldiers and then it became accepted in the Ottoman Empire too, especially after the conquest of Constantinapole. Ottomans took some of the Greek culture for example pederasty. Pederasty was was common among pashas/nobles/high class men and slave boys. They followed the ideology of ancient Romans: Homosexual behaviors at Rome were acceptable only within an inherently unequal relationship; male Roman citizens retained their masculinity as long as they took the active, penetrating role, and the appropriate male sexual partner was a prostitute or slave, who would nearly always be non-Roman.
Here is an example for pederasty among pashas: Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa was dedicated a very homoerotic poem by the poet Ahmed Nedim, one of the greatest of the Tulip Era. Nedim had very influential patrons from Ahmed III himself to İbrahim Paşa and the Lord High Admiral. This Nedim usually valued the beards of beloveds in poets. So even though Turkish (even modern and back then Ottoman Turkish) doesn't have female and male form for words - sometimes its hard to decide reading a poem as if its for same-sex or not - sometimes its crystal clear that they are talking about men. I mean probably they did not wrote poems of women’s beard. Here is one quote from Nedim: "compared to a beard, the eyelashes and waist of the beloved, as thin as a hair, have no value" and "only his beard has captured me." Sprouting a beard has typically been the point at which young males cease to be attractive in Muslim as in other pederastic poetic traditions. The beard is a sex-linked attribute. Similarly, given the total depilation practiced by Turkish women, Nedim's ardent exclamation in another poem "from hair to hair, 1 consider every part of your body kissable" can only be directed at an adult male.
And we even know cases when a Damat (husband of sultan’s daughter) was gay: There were simply homosexual people also, there are known cases when in the harem girls became lovers (maybe they were just lonely though not lesbians) and there are pashas who were well knownly gay like the first husband of Fatma Sultan (Süleyman I's sister). We all know the story about it, but if you don’t here it is: Yavuz Selim I married Fatma Sultan in 1516 to the governor of Antalya, Mustafa Pasha. The marriage was not happy at all. Fatma begged her father in a letter to let her return home because “I have fallen into the hands of someone who treats me worse than a dog. Since coming here, I have not had a single hour of happiness, I have donned none of my robes. I have risen from the dead like a widow…. My sultan, dear father, let me wear cloth of coarse wool instead of the cloth of rudeness, let me eat barley bread, just let me live in your shadow". As it turned out, Fatma’s husband was homosexual and showed more interest into men and boys than into Fatma, so of course no child was born out of the marriage. In any case, they eventually divorced. Anyway, homosexuality of the pasha was so normal that Selim I didn’t bet an eye to the pasha’s behavior and while he let Fatma to divorce him (or maybe she only could divorce when Süleyman asceded it’s not clear), the pasha kept his position and title.
And pederasty was common in the Janissaries as well... Among the Janissaries it was something like back in the days in Sparta: young boys became men if they became lover of older soldiers.
And what about Sultans? Even Mehmed II kept the young son of Greek/Byzantine noble, Lucas Notaras in his palace for sex. Lukas Notaras was executed after the conquest along his son-in-laws, uncles, male cousins and his sons. Only his 14 years old handsome son, Jakob was spared and taken to the palace of Mehmed. He stayed there until 1460 when he managed to escape and left to Italy. In Italy he was reunited with his sisters who left Contantinapole before the conquest. It is also said that Mehmed was in love with a Romanian noble (Radu). A Byzantine chronicler, Laonikos Chalkokondyles, said that Mehmed and Radu III the Beautiful (brother of Vlad the Impaler) were lovers and spent “days and nights together”. According to him, Mehmed once tried to kiss him against his will so Radu wounded his thigh and climbed up on a tree to hide from the sultan’s wrath. We don’t know what happened next but the chronicler recorded that the prince was again high in favour. Very possibly Mehmed II was both gay and using pederasty especially knowing his relationship with his female consorts.
And were there any other sultans to be gay or perform pederasty beside Mehmed II? There is a story of Evliya about Murad IV. The point of Evliya’s story is that they talked to the sultan about a beautiful person, Handan, who the sultan loves and who Evliya says is really charming also. According to the story, the sultan asked Handan to take a rose from his/her hair and give it to Evliya to cheer up the grumpy Evliya. There would be basically nothing special about the story if it all happened in a Western empire. However, knowing the customs of the Ottoman Empire, it becomes clear to us that Handan could not have been a woman, since a harem concubine could not be in the company of foreign men, especially not with uncovered hair. It also makes it difficult to accurately recognize Handan that the name ‘Handan’ is a unisex name and that there is no male or female gender in the Ottoman language so we cannot know if Evliya talks about a he or a she. Because of this, many people think that Handan was a eunuch or a young man. Also Murad IV: For example, in his description of his life at the palace page school, Evliya Çelebi wrote of his experience of replacing Musa Çelebi, according to Evliya a favourite of Murad IV, who was murdered by the sultan’s former tutor. The sultan composed several poems, varsağı, about his beloved Musa, including the following, which he subsequently regretted and banned from being performed in the sultan’s presence. The sultan wrote of Musa: “The mouth of the beloved hints at the hidden mystery. / When he begins to speak, he hints at the magic of eloquence.” In Evliya’s account the sultan refers to Musa as dilber and mahbub, words often interchangeably used to describe a male beloved. Evliya wrote directly that he was there to ‘replace’ Musa. Evliya pointedly never refers to himself as a dilber. Even if the relationship between the sultan and Musa was not sexual and if Evliya’s role at court did not go beyond that of a boon companion, this episode still shows Evliya’s unease at even hinting at being in the position of a ‘beloved’.
In the brothels there were feminine gay prostitutes also they were called köçek and were not simple prostitutes but more than that. A köçek would begin training around the age of seven or eight and would be considered accomplished after about six years of study and practice. A dancer's career would last as long as he was beardless and retained his youthful appearance. They were recruited from among the ranks of the non-Muslim subject nations of the empire, such as Jews, Romani, Greeks. They performed to a particular genre of music known as köçekçe, which was performed in the form of suites in a given melody and so the boy danced. These boys often wearing heavy makeup, would curl their hair and wear it in long tresses under a small black or red velvet hat decorated with coins, jewels and gold. Their usual garb consisted of a tiny red embroidered velvet jacket with a gold-embroidered silk shirt, shalvar (baggy trousers), a long skirt and a gilt belt, knotted at the back. They were said to be "sensuous, attractive, effeminate", and their dancing "sexually provocative". Dancers minced and gyrated their hips in slow vertical and horizontal figure eights, rhythmically snapping their fingers and making suggestive gestures. Often acrobatics, tumbling and mock wrestling were part of the act. The köçeks were sexually exploited, often by the highest bidder. Some of these dancing boys became extremely famous and were the cause of many jealous fights, especially among Janissaries in the taverns. When they boys lost their looks and their beards began to grow they abandoned their dancing and became drummers and trainers to the dancing boys... A group of these dancing boys was attached to the Palace.
Did pederasty thing changed with time? Yes it did, and here I wan’t to go back tö köçeks. When the köçeks danced, men would go wild, breaking their glasses, shouting themselves voiceless, or fighting and sometimes killing each other vying for the opportunity to rape, molest, or otherwise force the children into sexual servitude. In 1805, there were approximately 600 köçek dancers working in the taverns of the Turkish capital and these situations with wild men went to general. They were outlawed in 1837 due to fighting among audience members over the dancers. With the suppression of harem culture under Sultan Abdulaziz (1861–1876) and Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876–1908), köçek dance and music lost the support of its imperial patrons and gradually disappeared.
After the law? Everything changed? Kinda yes. In a much-quoted document submitted to Abdülhamid II, sultan from 1876 to 1909, the historian and statesman Ahmed Cevdet Pasha wrote:Woman-lovers have increased in number, while boy-beloveds have decreased. It is as if the People of Lot have been swallowed by the earth. The love and affinity that were, in Istanbul, notoriously and customarily directed towards young men have now been redirected towards girls, in accordance with the state of nature. The decline in pederasty was, of course, salutary. However, the change also heralded the advent of Western-influenced heteronormativity in Ottoman society, and of the repression it inevitably entails.
So all in all its hard to separate pederasty, prostitutes and normal homosexual relationships from each other as sometimes the border was very thin. In general it seems like that people did not really care about normal homosexuality it was a private thing. “[...]This does not mean that adult homosexual and homoerotic relationships were unheard-of or even that they were universally condemned. However, they were part of the private life of individuals and, like sexual relations with one's spouse, were not appropriate subjects for art or polite public conversation.”
Süleyman II also didnt have any children but he has consorts and so I made a tree for him also. Ahmed II’s family is quite bigger. Ahmed II was the last sultan to gave Haseki Sultan title to any of his consorts. After his time, this title was abolished.
Family of Mustafa I and Osman II. So I was like “I dont make trees for these sultans because it would be too short”, however in the end I decided to make it, because I included all sultans so far, so I must include them as well!
Family of Murad IV. Its terrible to see how many of his sons just died as infant. Evliya said that all his sons were born with poor health, so I guess it was some kind of genetical disorder, because otherwise we cannot explain the death of this much young baby. Seems like his daughters were not involved as they mostly reached adulthood or at elast died as kids (which was unfortunatelly normal back then). Handan Sultan, Sultan Ahmed I and Murad IV themselves also had poor health and died young, probably Murad inherited it from Handan and Ahmed and for some reason in his case it went through and reached his sons also? I dont know but it is interesting... We know that there are genetical disorders which effect only boys.
Some new information about Fatma: "There is no clear information in the sources about the date of Fatma Sultan's death, it is generally stated that she died after her marriage to Kozbekçi Yusuf Pasha. The cause of her death is unknown. The date on which the jewels to be sold in her estate were recorded is shown as March 1671" (...) "Considering that the inheritance was recorded after the funeral and burial procedures, it is seen that the collection of the estate took time."So she possibly died in very late 1670 or early 1671 we can be fine with that. Based on this new study she left money, inheritance to:
- Haseki Sultan, who back then was Emetullah Rabia Gülnüş
- Fatma Hanimsultan, who was her step-daughter and so the daughter of Esmehan Kaya Sultan --> this is interesting as Fatma Sultan and Melek Ahmed (father of Fatma Hanimsultan) were not in the best relationship... But at the same times Fatma the older cared for Fatma the younger. At this point i must mention something. We usually consider the marriage of Esmehan Kaya and Melek Ahmed a close and lovely one because of Evliya. Evliya praised the two of them, but at the same time Evliya and Melek Ahmed were relatives, sooooo maybe this whole Melek Ahmed and Esmehan thing was not so lovely? Maybe Fatma disliked Melek Ahmed with a reason? Or maybe she just blamed him for the death of Esmehan Kaya? The article mentions only two sons of Fatma: Hüseyin and Ömer. It says that Hüseyin was born from her marriage to Kaptan-ı Derya Canpoladzade Mustafa Pasha; Ömer was born from her marriage to Koca Yusuf Pasha. But we know another son of Fatma, Süleyman Bey also from Canpolzade Pasha; and one son from her very first marriage, Hasan, who died as a baby.Also it is clear that Fatma Sultan married her third husband Koca Yusuf Pasha not in 1656 but ~1637/8.
