Şehsuvar Sultan ("intrepid heroine"; c. 1682 – 27 April 1756 ) was a consort to the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa II (r. 1695–1703) and Valide sultan to their son Osman III (r. 1754–1757).

Life

Şehsuvar Sultan was born in 1682, maybe in Russia. She became a slave concubine of Sultan Mustafa. Şehsuvar and Mustafa had one son, Osman III, born on 2 January 1699, in the Edirne Palace. In 1702, Mustafa II gave her two bracelets with rubies and diamonds. The Edirne event saw Mustafa dethroned, with his brother Ahmed III succeeding as the new Sultan (r. 1703–1730), and Şehsuvar was sent to the Old Palace, Istanbul. On the other hand, her son, Şehzade Osman was transferred to the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul together with the entire court. Sultan Mahmud I, Mustafa's first son and the older half-brother of Osman, succeeded as Sultan following Patrona Halil's orchestrated riot. Mahmud was then succeeded by his half-brother Osman, thus Şehsuvar became the new Valide sultan. Valide sultans were usually transported to Topkapı Palace by carriages. However, Şehsuvar was brought to the palace in a palanquin. The sultan, who had not seen his mother for many years, ordered his sword girding ceremony to be held a few days after the arrival of his mother to the palace. In 1755, Şehsuvar persuaded her son not to execute the grand vizier, Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha, who had been imprisoned in the Kız Kulesi. This proved to be an example of beneficent influence.

Death

Şehsuvar Sultan died on 27 April 1756 in the Topkapı Palace, and was buried in a separate mausoleum located at the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Çemberlitaş, Fatih, Istanbul.

Issue

Together with Mustafa, Şehsuvar had one son and a daughter:

Sources