Hüma Hatun

Hüma Hatun
Hüma Hatun
	The sarcophagus of Hüma Hatun is located inside Muradiye Complex, in Bursa, Turkey
Valide Hatun of the Ottoman Sultanate
Tenure	August 1444 – September 1446
Predecessor	Emine Hatun
Successor	Emine Hatun
Born	c. 1410
Died	September 1449 (aged 38–39); Bursa, Ottoman Sultanate
Burial	Muradiye Complex, Bursa
Consort of	Murad II
Issue	Hatice Hatun ; Fatma Hatun ; Mehmed II

Hüma Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: هما خاتون, "bird of paradise/phoenix" c. 1410 – September 1449) was a concubine of Ottoman Sultan Murad II and the mother of Mehmed II.

Life

Although, some Turkish sources claim that she was of Turkic origin,^[3]^{[page needed]} Hüma Hatun was a slave girl of European origin.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] Nothing is known of her family background, apart from the fact that an Ottoman inscription (vakfiye) describes her as Hātun binti Abdullah (daughter of Abdullah); at that time, people who converted to Islam were given the name Abdullah meaning Servant of God,^[8] which is evidence of her non-Muslim origin.^[9] According to the tradition, she was of Italian and/or Jewish origin and her previous name may have been Stella or Esther.^[10] According to another view, she was of Greek or Slavic origin.^[11] Based on the fact that Mehmed II was fluent in the Serbian language, it was concluded that she may have been of South Slavic origin, most likely Serbian.^[12]^[13] Finally, it has also been claimed that she may have been Greek.^[5] Her name, hüma, means "bird of paradise/phoenix", after the Persian legend.

Hüma Hatun entered in Murad II's harem around 1424. By him she had firstly two daughters, Hatice Hatun in 1425 and Fatma Hatun in 1430,^[14] and finally, on 30 March 1432, she gave birth to her only son, the future Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. In 1438, Mehmed was circumcised along with his elder half-brother, Şehzade Alaeddin. When Mehmed was 11 years old, he was sent to Manisa as a prince governor. Hüma followed her son to Manisa. Her children's wet nurses were Hundi Hatun (d. 14 February 1486): usually styled Daye Hatun (lady governess), who became very wealthy and influential enough during the reign of Mehmed II, enough to fund several charitable foundations and commission prayers for her soul, and Gülbahar Hatun, called also Ebe Hatun (lady midwife), buried in her own türbe in the Muradiye Complex, Bursa.

In 1444, after the death of Mehmed's elder half-brother, Şehzade Alaeddin, who died in 1443, Mehmed was the only heir left to the throne. In that same year, Murad II abdicated the throne due to depression over the death of his son, Şehzade Alaeddin Ali Çelebi, and retreated to Manisa.^[15]

Her son Şehzade Mehmed succeeded the throne as Mehmed II. She held the Vâlide Hatun position for two years. In 1446, Murad took over the throne again, and Hüma and her son returned to Bursa. However, Mehmed succeeded the throne in 1451, after the death of his father, but she never became a Valide Hatun as she died before the accession. She was not alive to see the conquest of Constantinople, which became the capital of Ottoman Empire for nearly five centuries, before the Empire was abolished in 1922 and Turkey was officially declared as a republic.^[15]

Death

She died in September 1449 in Bursa, two years before her son's second accession to the throne. Her tomb is located at the site known as "Hatuniye Kümbedi" (Hatuniye Tomb) to the east of Muradiye Complex, which was built by her son Mehmed. The quarter where her tomb lies has been known thus far as Hüma Hatun Quarter.^[16]

Issue

By Murad II, Hüma Hatun had two daughters and a son:

Hatice Hatun (1425 – after 1470). She married Candaroğlu İsmail Kemaleddin Bey and had three sons: Hasan Bey (who married is cousin Kamerhan Hatun, daughter of Mehmed II, and had a daughter, Hanzade Hatun), Yahya Bey and Mahmud Bey. Her descendants were still alive during the reign of Abdulmejid I, in the 19th century. In August 1470, she remarried with Isa Bey.
Fatma Hatun (1430 – after 1464). She married Zaganos Pasha and had two sons: Hamza Bey and Ahmed Çelebi, who would become an important adviser to his cousin Bayezid II. Following her divorce in 1462, she married Mahmud Çelebi.
Mehmed II (1432–1481). Sultan of the Ottoman Empire after his father and conqueror of Constantinople in 1453.

In popular culture

Hüma Hatun was portrayed by Leyla Feray in the docuseries Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020).

References

^ Alderson, A. D. (1982). The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. XXVI. ISBN 0-313-22522-2. OCLC 8115229.
^ Alderson, A. D. (1982). The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. XXVI. ISBN 0-313-22522-2. OCLC 8115229.
^ Ortaylı, İlber (2015). Türklerin tarihi: Anadolu'nun bozkırlarından Avrupa'nın içlerine (in Turkish). Timaş Yayınları. ISBN 978-605-08-2221-2.
^ Doukas (1 January 1975). Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks. Wayne State University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-8143-1540-8.
^ ^a ^b Hollmann, Joshua (2017). The religious concordance : Nicholas of Cusa and Christian-Muslim dialogue. Leiden. p. 116. ISBN 978-90-04-32677-4. OCLC 965535039. Mehmed's maternal ancestry is shrouded in mystery. Franz Babinger notes that his mother was a 'slave', which ensures that she was not of Turkish origin, and that she probably was of Greek descent (Franz Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and his Time, edited by William C. Hickman and translated by Ralph Manheim, Bollingen Series xcvi (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), 12).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Freely, John (28 February 2009). The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-85773-022-0. Nothing is known of Hüma Hatun's origins, other than the testimony of contemporary sources that she was a slave girl, which means that she would not have been Turkish, for by law Muslims could not be enslaved.
^ Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2007). Famous Ottoman Women. Avea. p. 49. ISBN 978-975-7104-77-3. The fact that Hüma's origins cannot be traced is a proof in itself that she was definitely not of Turkish origin but was a slave.
^ John Freely (2009). The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-857-73022-0.
^ Franz Babinger (1992). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.
^ Franz Babinger (1992). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton University Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.
^ Lowry, Heath W. (2003). The nature of the early Ottoman state. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 153. ISBN 1-4175-2407-3. OCLC 55896257.
^ Afyoncu, Erhan (2009). Truva'nın intikamı: Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve İstanbul'un fethi'nin bilinmeyen yönleri (in Turkish). Yeditepe Yayınevi. p. 150. ISBN 978-605-4052-11-0.
^ nn (2013). "(missing paper title)". In Li Tang; Dietmar W. Winkler (eds.). From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 308. ISBN 978-3-643-90329-7.
^ Alderson, A. D. (1982). The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. XXVI. ISBN 0-313-22522-2. OCLC 8115229.
^ ^a ^b "Hüma Hatun Biografi". somuncubaba.net. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
^ Ahmed Akgündüz; Said Öztürk (2011). Ottoman History: Misperceptions and Truths. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-9-090-26108-9.

External links

Ottoman royalty
Preceded by Devlet Hatun	Valide Hatun August 1444 ‒ September 1446	Succeeded by Gülbahar Hatun

[1] Alderson, A. D. (1982). The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. XXVI. ISBN 0-313-22522-2. OCLC 8115229.

[2] Alderson, A. D. (1982). The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. XXVI. ISBN 0-313-22522-2. OCLC 8115229.

[3] Ortaylı, İlber (2015). Türklerin tarihi: Anadolu'nun bozkırlarından Avrupa'nın içlerine (in Turkish). Timaş Yayınları. ISBN 978-605-08-2221-2.

[4] Doukas (1 January 1975). Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks. Wayne State University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-8143-1540-8.

[:0-5] Hollmann, Joshua (2017). The religious concordance : Nicholas of Cusa and Christian-Muslim dialogue. Leiden. p. 116. ISBN 978-90-04-32677-4. OCLC 965535039. Mehmed's maternal ancestry is shrouded in mystery. Franz Babinger notes that his mother was a 'slave', which ensures that she was not of Turkish origin, and that she probably was of Greek descent (Franz Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and his Time, edited by William C. Hickman and translated by Ralph Manheim, Bollingen Series xcvi (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), 12).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[6] Freely, John (28 February 2009). The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-85773-022-0. Nothing is known of Hüma Hatun's origins, other than the testimony of contemporary sources that she was a slave girl, which means that she would not have been Turkish, for by law Muslims could not be enslaved.

[7] Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2007). Famous Ottoman Women. Avea. p. 49. ISBN 978-975-7104-77-3. The fact that Hüma's origins cannot be traced is a proof in itself that she was definitely not of Turkish origin but was a slave.

[8] John Freely (2009). The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-857-73022-0.

[9] Franz Babinger (1992). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.

[10] Franz Babinger (1992). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton University Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.

[11] Lowry, Heath W. (2003). The nature of the early Ottoman state. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 153. ISBN 1-4175-2407-3. OCLC 55896257.

[12] Afyoncu, Erhan (2009). Truva'nın intikamı: Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve İstanbul'un fethi'nin bilinmeyen yönleri (in Turkish). Yeditepe Yayınevi. p. 150. ISBN 978-605-4052-11-0.

[13] (2013). "(missing paper title)". In Li Tang; Dietmar W. Winkler (eds.). From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 308. ISBN 978-3-643-90329-7.

[14] Alderson, A. D. (1982). The structure of the Ottoman dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. XXVI. ISBN 0-313-22522-2. OCLC 8115229.

[Hüma-15] "Hüma Hatun Biografi". somuncubaba.net. Retrieved 12 June 2020.

[16] Ahmed Akgündüz; Said Öztürk (2011). Ottoman History: Misperceptions and Truths. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-9-090-26108-9.

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