Şehzade Korkut

Şehzade Korkut (1467–1513) was an Ottoman prince who was a short time regent for the Ottoman throne.

Early years

He was born in Amasya (in Turkey) in 1467. His father was Beyazıt II and his wife Nigar Hatun. He might be a full brother of sultan Selim I. When his grandfather Mehmet II died in 1481, he was the oldest Ottoman prince residing in Istanbul. As such, he served as the regent for the throne for 18 days until his father Beyazıt II arrived in İstanbul.

As a governor

According to Ottoman tradition, all princes (Turkish: şehzade) were required to work as provincial (sanjak) governors (sanjak-bey) as a part of their training. In 1491, Korkut was appointed as the governor of Saruhan sanjak (Manisa in modern Turkey). In 1502, he was appointed as the governor of Teke (Antalya in modern Turkey), a port on Mediterranean coast. Antalya was much farther from Istanbul than Manisa, and Korkut interpreted this appointment as a sign of disfavor by his father, the sultan. He asked for his former seat; upon refusal in 1509, he escaped to Egypt under the pretext of pilgrimage. Egypt was under Mamluk rule, and he was welcomed by the Mamluk sultans. His father considered this a sign of negligence on Korkut's part, but pardoned him, and Korkut returned Ottoman lands.^[1][2] During his voyage to back home, the Knights Hospitalier attacked his ship and attempted to capture him, but Korkut managed to escape from the knights and return home safely.

Beginning of the interregnum

Beyazıt was now old and ailing. Korkut decided to move to Manisa to be closer to the capital. During this travel, a part of his treasury was raided by the rebels of Şahkulu. Later, he secretly traveled to Istanbul to have a role in the coming interregnum between his siblings. However, he found almost no supporters in the capital. He met with his brother Selim, who convinced him to return to his sanjak. Korkut then gave up all of his claims to the throne and took no part in the civil war between his two brothers (Şehzade Ahmet and Selim I).

Death

Selim I became the new sultan in 1512. Korkut readily accepted his brother's reign. Nevertheless, distrustful Selim decided to test his loyalty by sending him fake letters from various bureaucrats of the empire that attempted to encourage him to take part in a rebellion against Selim. Feeling that Korkut was preparing to revolt, Selim had Korkut executed in 1513 near Emet (around Kütahya in Turkey). He was buried in Bursa.

References

1. ↑ .Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt II, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 220-227
2. ↑ Joseph von Hammer:Osmanlı Tarihi cilt I (condensation: Mehmet Ata-Abdülkadir Karahan), Milliyet yayınları, İstanbul. pp 243