Ayşe Hafsa Sultan
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Ayşe Hafsa Sultan (1479-1534) was Ottoman sultan Selim I's wife and his successor Süleyman the Magnificent's mother. Especially during the period between her son's enthronement (1520) until her death, she was one of the most influential persons in the Empire, coming second only to the sovereign, a point remarked also by the ambassadors of European powers at the Ottoman court [1].
Ayşe Hafsa Sultan also had a large complex consisting of a mosque, a primary school, a college and a hospice built in Manisa, which was one of the traditional towns of residence for Ottoman crown princes (shahzade) in apprenticeship for future power. Having resided in the city with her son, who administered the surrounding region, between 1513 to 1520, she was also the initiator of "Mesir Festival", a local tradition still continued today.
Ayşe Hafsa Sultan was also the first imperial spouse to be called by the title "Sultan" and her period signalled the shifting status of the sultan's mother and her increased share in power [2].
There were half a dozen notable female figures in Ottoman history who were named "Hafsa". Among these, it is Ayşe Hafsa Sultan who is sometimes referred to as "Hafsa Sultan" in short. A namesake also of primary historical prominence and who had preceded Ayşe Hafsa Sultan by about two centuries, the wife of the sultan Bayezid I and the daughter of İsa Bey, the last Bey of Aydınoğlu, is generally referred to as "Hafsa Hatun" or "Hafsa Khatun".
[edit] References
- ^ Pietro Bragadin, Venetian Republic's ambassador in the early years of Süleyman's reign notes "a very beautiful woman of 48, for whom the sultan bears great reverence and love..." Leslie Peirce (1993). The Imperial Harem : Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire p. 62 ISBN 0195086775 (in English). Oxford University Press.
- ^ Amy Singer (2002). Constructing Ottoman beneficence: An imperial soup kitchen in Jerusalem p. 90 ISBN 0791453510 (in English). State University of New York Press.
