Akile Hatun
Akile Hatun | |
|---|---|
 The burial place of "Akile Hatun" is located inside Eyüp Cemetery, Istanbul | |
| Born | Rukiye c. 1607 |
| Died | after 1630 |
| Resting place | Eyüp Cemetery, Istanbul |
| Spouse(s) | Osman II Gani-Zâde Nâdirî Efendi |
| Children | Şehzade Mustafa Zeynep Sultan |
| Parent | Şeyhülislam Hacı Mehmed Esadullah Efendi |
Akile Hatun (fully Devletlu İsmetlu Akile Hatun Hazretleri, c. 1607 - after 1630,[1] birth name Rukiye, other names Ukayle) was the wife of Ottoman Sultan Osman II. She was the daughter of the famous Şeyhülislam, Hacı Mehmed Esadullah Efendi and the mother of Şehzade Mustafa and Zeynep Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Biography
Akile Hatun was born in 1607 to Şeyhülislam Hacı Mehmed Esadullah Efendi, member of one of the most venerated ulema linages in Ottoman history.[2] Akile was of Albanian origin. From the time the Ottomans endeavored to transform themselves from an outstanding family of ghazis, whose status vis-à-vis other prominent ghazi families was that of primus inter pares, into a ruling dynasty from which sovereignty emanated, one of the most fundamental notions that guided this ruling house was the prerequisite of avoiding consequential ties with the free aristocracy within the society.[2] Şeyhülislam Esad Efendi was the son of esteemed Sadeddin Efendi, royal tutor, müfti, historian and founder of a veritable dynasty of prominent religious officials (two of his four sons and three of his grandsons held the post of müfti, while his other two sons held the post of chief justice).[3] Her marriage appears to have taken place in February of 1622 only a few months before Osman's death.[3] Acting as the sultan's proxy in the marriage was the prominent Jelveti sheikh Üsküdari Mahmud, among whose followers figured Esad Efendi.[3]
Nevizade Atai, compiler of a seventeenth century ulema biography, described Esad Efendi as "a second Edebali" because he was honored by the tie of marriage to the dynasty and foremost among the ulema.[3] By the marriage of Akile Hatun to Osman II her father's relations with the sultan cooled, in part at least because of the marriage.[3] Her marriage with Osman was a sharp break with the dynasty's tradition of avoiding legal alliances, especially with high born Muslim women and it contributed to the popular discontent that culminated in his deposition.[3]
The sight of Akile, a free born Muslim of exceptional pedigree, passing through the Babüssaade and into the harem must have seemed an inconceivable nightmare to an Ottoman.[2] However, Privy Purse account suggest that Akile never entered the harem of the imperial palace. Certainly this free born Muslim woman of great status would have been an anomaly in a household composed of slaves, and her presence disruptive of the harem's established hierarchies.[3] An incident related by the Venetian ambassador Simon Contarini in his 1612 suggests that the prospect of the daughter residing within the imperial harem may have been an important element in the unpopularity of the marriage.[3] According to some sources, after Osman's death in 1622 she married again to Ganizâde Nadiri Efendi in 1627. She was a residence in Istanbul and also died there.[3][4] She is buried along with her father in Eyüp Cemetery, Istanbul.
See also
Further reading
- Peirce, Leslie P., The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-19-508677-5 (paperback).
- Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları (Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications), 15th Ed., 2009, ISBN 978-975-269-299-2 (Hardcover).
References
- ^ "Turkey: The Imperial House of Osman". web.archive.org. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
- ^ a b c Gabriel Piterberg (2003). An Ottoman Tragedy: History and Historiography at Play. University of California Press. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-520-93005-6.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Leslie P. Peirce (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-195-08677-5.
- ^ Ahmed Akgündüz, Said Öztürk (2011). Ottoman History: Misperceptions and Truths. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-9-090-26108-9.