Gülfem Hatun
| Gülfem Hatun گلفام خاتون | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1497 |
| Died |
c. 1561/1562 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
| Burial | Gülfem Hatun Mosque, Istanbul |
| Spouse | Suleiman the Magnificent |
| Issue | Şehzade Murad |
| Religion | Islam |
Gülfem Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: گلفام خاتون; c. 1497 – c. 1561/1562) was a concubine of Suleiman the Magnificent and allegedly the mother of Şehzade Murad.
Biography
Her origin is undetermined. The Ottoman inscription (vakfiye) describes her as Hātun binti Abdullah ("daughter of Abdullah") but on her tomb in Üsküdar she is described as Hātun binti Abdurrahman ("daughter of Abdurrahman") which means that her father was possibly a Christian who converted to Islam.[1][2][3] Some claim that she was Sicilian or Polish and originally named Rosalina (thus referred to as Sicilyalı Rosalina or Polonyalı Rozalina).[4][5][6]
Yılmaz Öztuna, an Ottoman historian, writes that she was married to Sultan Suleiman in 1511 but gives no indication of origin.[7]
According to Leslie P. Peirce, Gülfem was perhaps the harem stewardess (the highest ranking administrative post), and during Suleiman's reign she was receiving 150 aspers a day and enjoyed a considerable status in Suleiman's harem.[8]
According to some interpretations, she was the mother of Şehzade Murad (b. 1519 but died in October 1521 because of smallpox); however this is challenged by Peirce on the grounds that she is never mentioned as such in the historical sources and that she is not mentioned as a concubine in a list of Suleiman's concubines while he was in Manisa.[9]
Gülfem Hatun Mosque
In 1543 Gülfem, established the financial ground work to built a "timber frame mosque"[10] now known as "Gülfem Hatun Mosque" in Gülfem Hatun Neighborhood, Üsküdar district, Istanbul province built in the second half of the 16th century. Its construction was completed after her death in 1561 or 1562 and was buried here. There are madrassa, tomb and Ottoman elementary-primary school next to Gülfem Hatun Mosque. This complex or külliye burned out in a fire in 1850, together with the whole neighborhood. Nine years after this fire the mosque and Ottoman elementary-primary school was restored by the public in 1868–69. But the madrassa and the tomb were not restored. So sepulcher of Gülfem Hatun was pulled down and only her tomb reached our day. It was intended for the use of women and opened to men only in recent times.
Legend about Gülfem Hatun's death
According to a legend, Gülfem desired to build a mosque in Üsküdar, however she did not have enough money to complete the mosque and she took a loan from a few other women in the harem. Many of the concubines refused this because they were jealous of her being close to the sultan, only one woman who took advantage of her weakness said that she would give her the money if she allowed to go to the Sultan herself, instead of Gülfem. Gülfem accepted her offer and allowed her to go to the sultan instead. This angered Suleiman and ordered his guards Gülfem Hatun had to be executed, when it was her turn to share his bed and she failed to turn up. The next morning the dead body of a woman, Gülfem Hatun left the palace. Afterwards he completed construction of the mosque which she had begun.[11][12]
Depictions in literature and popular culture
In the 2003 TV miniseries, Hürrem Sultan, Gülfem was played by Turkish actress Yasemin Kozanoğlu. In the 2011 TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Gülfem Hatun is played by Turkish actress Selen Öztürk.
See also
Further reading
- Peirce, Leslie (1993). "Wives and Concubines: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries". The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508677-5.
- Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları (Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications), 15th Ed., 2009, ISBN 978-975-269-299-2 (Hardcover).
References
- ↑ Papers: Uskudar Symposium II: 23 - 25 May 2003. Üsküdar Municipality. 2004.
- ↑ Osmanlı para vakıfları: Kanûnı̂ dönemi Üsküdar örneği. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi. 2003. ISBN 978-975-16-1538-1.
- ↑ Yüzyıllar boyunca Üsküdar, Volume 1. Üsküdar Belediyesi. 2001.
- ↑ Padişah anaları: resimli belgesel tarih romanı. Öz Yayınları. 1977.
- ↑ Üsküdar Sempozyumu IV, 3-5 Kasım 2006: Bildiriler. Üsküdar Belediyesi. 2007. ISBN 978-9944-5807-3-1.
- ↑ Türk sinema tarihi. İnkılâp. 2008. ISBN 978-975-10-2958-4.
- ↑ Kanûnı̂ Sultan Süleyman. T.C. Kültür Bakanlıǧı Kütüphane Basımevi. 1989. ISBN 978-975-17-0374-3.
- ↑ Peirce 1993, p. 133.
- ↑ Peirce 1993, p. 302.
- ↑ Helen Ostovich, Mary V. Silcox, Graham Roebuck, The Mysterious and the Foreign in Early Modern England, pg.65
- ↑ Pars Tuğlacı, Türkiyeʼde kadın, Volume 3
- ↑ http://tune.pk/video/2588340/the-tragic-death-of-gulfem-hatun