Hatice Mahfiruz Hatun or Mahfiruze Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: ماه فروز خاتون, "Glorious moon" or "Daytime moon" or "Turquoise Moon"; c. 1590 - c. 1610) was a consort of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–17) and the mother of his firstborn son, Sultan Osman II (r. 1618–22). She died before her son became sultan, so she never was Valide Sultan.

Biography

Due to the preeminence of Kösem Sultan during Ahmed's reign, there aren't many records about her life, but she may have been of Circassian origin, while in the past it was thought she could be Greek. She was Ahmed's first concubine, and on 3 November 1604 she gave birth to his firstborn, the future Osman II, making Ahmed I the youngest Ottoman sultan to have fathered a child. Despite this, she was not given the title of Haseki Sultan, which instead was given to Kösem, the most beloved consort of Ahmed and mother of the majority of his child, which deprived Mahfiruz of all power. However, she received the title of Başkadin (mother of the Sultan's eldest living son). She disappears from the harem records shortly after Osman was born. While it was initially believed that she was disgraced and exiled, it is now believed that she died between 1608 and 1613, and therefore she was never Valide Sultan, because her son ascended the throne only in 1618. Indeed, records indicate that, during Osman's reign, she was not in any of the Imperial Palaces, not even in the provinces, and that the duties and salary of the Valide Sultan were instead attributed to Osman's wet nurse, the Daye Hatun. Mahfiruze was buried in the Eyüp Cemetery, in a mausoleum built around 1610, which reinforces the theory that she died prematurely.

Issue

By Ahmed I, Mahfiruze had one son:

In popular culture

In the 2015 Turkish TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Mahfiruz is split into two different characters: Mahfiruz, played by Ceyda Olguner, who is expelled from the harem after clashing with Kösem; and Raşah (later renamed Mahfiruze) played by Dilara Aksüyek, mother of Osman II.

Annotations

Sources