Mahidevran Sultan

According to one version, Mahidevran was of Circassian origin ^{[4] [5] [6]} ; according to some reports, she belonged to the noble princely Besleevsky family of the Kanukovs and was the sister of the elder prince Maashuk Kanukov ^{[7] [8]} . There are also versions of the Albanian ^{[6] [9]} , Montenegrin ^[10] and Abkhazian ^[11] origin of Mahidevran. In various harem documents her father appears Abdurrahman and Abdyulmennan ^[12] ; in the documents concerning the turbuh shehzade Mustafa in Bursa, a certain Abdullah is recorded by the father of Mahidevran ^[13] .

Mahidevran was one of seventeen Suleiman's concubines during his tenure as Sanjakbey Manisa ; at that time, she did not belong to the Shekhzadeh’s main concubines and, like the other two Suleiman’s favorites, received only 4 acce per day (the three main concubines received one more accent). In 1515 she gave birth to her first son - Mustafa ^[6] .

In 1520, Sultan Selim I died; Suleiman became a sultan and with his family moved to Istanbul. A year later, two sons of Suleiman, nine-year-old Mahmud and two-year-old Murad, died of smallpox; the death of the sons of the sultan made Makhidevran the mother of the only heir to the throne and, according to tradition, brought her the title of main wife (bash-kadyn) ^{[14] [15]} , who was the second woman in the harem after the valid-sultan ^[16]

In the harem, Mahidevran had an influential rival Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan , who was the favorite of the Sultan ^[14] . In 1521 Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to her first son, shehzade Mehmed ; in 1522 shehzadeh Abdullah was born, whose mother historians consider both Mahidevran and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. In 1524 Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to another son, shehzadeh Selim , and a year later Abdullah died; Mahidevran lost the position of mother of the only heir to the throne. Suleiman was equally respectful of both concubines, but by 1526 he completely turned his attention to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska ^[3] . Ultimately, as Ambassador Pietro Bragadin reported, the only joy Mahidevran was her son Mustafa ^[14] .

The more sons gave birth to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, the more influence she gained on the Sultan. The mother of the sultan, Aisha Hafsa Sultan , tried to suppress the rivalry between the two concubines of her son ^[17] , but did not succeed. According to the reports of the Venetian ambassador Bernardo Navajiero for 1533, the struggle between the women resulted in a fight in which Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was the injured party; the result of the fight was the separation of Mahidevran from the Sultan ^[18] . In 1533, Mahidevran with her son left for Manisa and shortly afterwards Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska became the lawful wife of the Sultan ^[19] ; Mahidevran herself lost the status of the main wife.

According to the Ottoman tradition, all shehzadeh had to undergo training in managing the country, holding the post of governor ( sanjak bei ) in one of the provinces; the eldest son and heir to the throne most often became the governor of Manisa; the duties of the heir’s mother included escorting his son to the province and managing his harem. Mustafa left for Manisa with his mother in 1533 after a ceremony ^[20] . In 1540, one of the Venetian diplomats described the shehzade’s court and the role at his mother’s court: “this amazing and brilliant courtyard [was] no less than [his father’s] courtyard” and “his mother, who was with him, instructed how to achieve love of the people ” ^[14] . In 1541, due to negotiations between shehzade Mustafa and the Austrian ambassador Suleiman, he finally alienated his son from him and transferred him to the post of governor of Amasya, putting in Manisa the eldest son Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, shehzade Mehmed ; Amasya was further from the capital, which reduced the chances of the son of Mahidevran to take the throne in the event of the death of the Sultan. Shehzade Mehmed died in 1544 and Mahidevran hoped that Mustafa would return to Manisa, but the sultan sent another son Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska there, shehzade Selim . Another son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, Shehzade Bayazid , was sent first to Konya , and then to Kutahya , who were also closer to Istanbul than Amasya. In a situation where two of the three candidates for the throne were sons of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan, Mustafa’s life was in danger: in 1553 Navajero wrote that “Mustafa’s mother makes a lot of efforts to avoid poisoning her son ... and he has unlimited respect and reverence for her” ^[14] .

Mustafa was very popular among the people. When he was nine years old, the Venetian ambassador wrote: “he has exceptional talent, he will be a warrior, who is so loved by the Janissaries, and will perform great feats” ^[3] . In 1553, when Mustafa was 38 years old, Navajiero wrote that “it is impossible to describe how much he is loved and also desired as the heir to the throne” ^[3] . Rumors and speculations of the time said that by the end of Suleiman I’s reign, the struggle for the throne between his sons became obvious; in addition, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and her son-in-law, the great vizier Rustem Pasha , set the sultan against Mustafa, accusing him of conspiring against the sultan and organizing unrest to overthrow Suleiman I. In 1553, during the war against the Persians, Mustafa was executed on charges of conspiracy; a few days later, the seven-year-old son of Mustafa, Mehmed, was also executed. ^[21] It is not known whether Mustafa really intended to overthrow the Sultan or whether he was slandered ^[3] .

Until the very end of his son’s life, Mahidevran tried to protect him from political enemies and most likely organized and supported an extensive network of informants for this purpose ^[14] . Ambassador Trevisano wrote in 1554 that on the day of the execution of his son, Mahidevran sent Mustafa a warning that his father wanted to kill him, but Mustafa ignored the warning of his mother and friends ^[3] .

Several years after the execution of his son and grandson, the life of Mahidevran was very difficult. Together with the widow of her son, Mahidevran was sent to Bursa , where Mustafa was buried. Being the mother of the disgraced shehzade, Mahidevran was deprived of all payments and was forced to sell everything that had any material value in order to provide herself and her daughter-in-law with housing. The situation changed only after the death of Suleiman, when his only son, Selim II, was on the throne at that time. Selim paid all the debts of Mahidevran, bought a house for her in Bursa and appointed a widow's pension. Having a stable and sufficient income, Mahidevran was able to organize a fund to maintain her son’s mausoleum ^[3] .

Mahidevran Sultan died on February 3, 1580/1581 , having survived Suleiman, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and all their children. She was buried in the Muradiye Mosque in Bursa in the mausoleum of the shekhzad Mustafa ^[3] .

Some historians are inclined to believe that Makhidevran bore the title “Sultan” ^[22] , another part to the fact that she bore the unofficial title “ Kadyn ” ^{[23] [24] [25] [26]} . According to Leslie, Pearce Mahidevran wore the title “ Khatun ”, since until the marriage between Suleiman I and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and subsequently the creation of the title “ Haseki-Sultan ”, all the concubines of the Sultans wore the title “Khatun” ^[27] .

Mahidevran was the mother of several shehzadehs, including Mustafa (1515-1553), Abdullah (he died in infancy, his mother is also considered to be Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska ^[28] ) ^[22] and, probably, Ahmed. Also supposedly the daughter of Mahidevran was Razie Sultan ^[29] .

Makhidevran is one of the characters in the novel by Pavel Zagrebelny Roksolan, as well as several television series:

• Roksolana (Ukraine, 1996-2003); The role was played by Natalia Goncharova.
• “ Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska Sultan ” (Turkey, 2003); the role was played by Hatice Aslan ^[30] .
• “The Magnificent Century ” (Turkey, 2011-2014); the role was played by Nur Fettahoglu (in adulthood) ^[31] .

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