Gevherhan Hatun (daughter of Mehmed the Conqueror)

Gevherhan Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: کوھرخان خاتون "Gem of the Khan") was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Mehmed the Conqueror (reign 1444–46 and 1451–81) and Gülbahar Hatun. She was the sister of Sultan Bayezid II (reign 1481–1512).

Gevherhan Hatun
The tomb of Gevherhan Hatun is located inside the Gülbahar Hatun Mausoleum, Fatih, Istanbul.
Born	c. 1446 Edirne, Ottoman Empire
Died	1514(1514-00-00) (aged 67–68) Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Gülbahar Hatun Mausoleum, Fatih, Istanbul
Spouse	Ughurlu Muhammad ​ ​ (m. 1474; died 1477)​ Hadım Sinan Pasha?
Issue	Ahmad Beg
House	Ottoman (by birth) Aq Qoyunlu (by marriage)
Father	Mehmed the Conqueror
Mother	Gülbahar Hatun
Religion	Sunni Islam

Early life

Gevherhan Hatun was the daughter of Sultan Mehmed II known as "The Conqueror", and his concubine Gülbahar Hatun. She was the full sister of Sultan Bayezid II.^[1][2]

Marriage

In 1474, Gevherhan married Ughurlu Muhammad, a son of Aq Qoyunlu ruler, Uzun Hassan.^[3] Ughurlu Muhammad had rebelled against his father and sought refuge by the Ottomans.^[4] Her father welcomed him and got him married to Gevherhan.^[5]

Gevherhan's marriage to Ughurlu Muhammad was the only exception, which actually proved the rule. Ughurlu Muhammad being an exile from his own land and refugee at the Ottoman court, the Aq Qoyunlu prince might be considered a kind of adjunct member of the Ottoman royal household.^[6]

Mehmed installed his new son-in-law in the frontier province of Sivas and promised to supply him with arms and men, with which he would assert his claim to his patrimony at the proper moment.^[7] Ughurlu Muhammad was killed in the rebellion he attempted against his father in 1477.^[5][7]

Of this marriage, Göde Ahmed was born. Because of his father's death, Mehmed had his grandson brought to Istanbul.^[5] Ahmed married his uncle Sultan Bayezid II's daughter Aynışah Sultan in 1489.^[8]

After that date, there is no news of Gevherhan, although, according to some sources, she remarried to Sinan Pasha, an important statesman under Bayezid II who is said to be married to the sultan's sister.^[9]

It is possible that he was Gevherhan's second husband or that he was married to one of Bayezid's half-sisters (Bayezid doesn't appear to have any other full sisters) and the source doesn't mention the difference between full sister and half-sister.^[10]

Death

When she died around 1514, she was buried beside her mother in her mausoleum located in Fatih Mosque, Istanbul.^[11]

In popular culture

In the 2013 Turkish series Fatih, Gevherhan Hatun is played by Turkish actress Hande Soral.^[12]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Gevherhan Hatun (daughter of Mehmed the Conqueror)
16. Bayezid I 8. Mehmed I 17. Devlet Hatun 4. Murad II 9. Emine Hatun 2. Mehmed the Conqueror 5. Hüma Hatun 1. Gevherhan Hatun 3. Gülbahar Hatun

References

1. Uluçay 2011, p. 39, 42.
2. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 178.
3. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 179.
4. Ottoman Women in Public Space. BRILL. May 19, 2016. p. 231. ISBN 978-9-004-31662-1.
5. Tarih arastirmalari dergisi, Volumes 21-23. Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi. 2003. p. 206.
6. Leslie P. Peirce (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 303-4 n. 51. ISBN 978-0-195-08677-5.
7. Woods, John E. (1999). The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire. University of Utah Press. pp. 122, 187. ISBN 978-0-874-80565-9.
8. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 193.
9. Hammer-Purgstall, 1836 , p. 339.
10. Hammer-Purgstall, 1836 , p. 339.
11. Uluçay 2011, p. 42.
12. Fatih (TV Mini-Series 2013), retrieved 2019-04-17

Sources

• Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara, Ötüken.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.