Sultans of the Ottoman Empire and years of reign. Rulers of the Ottoman Empire

Suleiman I, the tenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, endowed his state with unprecedented power. The great conqueror also became famous as a wise author of laws, founder of new schools and initiator of the construction of architectural masterpieces.

In 1494 (according to some sources - in 1495) the Turkish Sultan Selim I and the daughter of the Crimean Khan Aisha Hafsa had a son who was destined to conquer half the world and transform his native country.

The future Sultan Suleiman I received a brilliant education for those times at the palace school in Istanbul, and spent his childhood and youth reading books and spiritual practices. From an early age, the young man was trained in administrative matters, appointed governor of three provinces, including the vassal Crimean Khanate. Even before ascending the throne, young Suleiman won the love and respect of the inhabitants of the Ottoman state.

Beginning of reign

Suleiman took the throne when he was barely 26 years old. A description of the appearance of the new ruler, written by the Venetian ambassador Bartolomeo Contarini, was included in the famous book in Turkey by the English Lord Kinross, “The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire”:

“Tall, strong, with a pleasant expression on his face. His neck is slightly longer than usual, his face is thin, and his nose is aquiline. The skin tends to be excessively pale. They say about him that he is a wise ruler, and all people hope for his good rule.”

And Suleiman initially lived up to expectations. He started with humane actions - he returned freedom to hundreds of chained prisoners from noble families of states captured by his father. This helped renew trade relations with the countries.

Europeans were especially happy about the innovations, hoping for long-term peace, but, as it turned out, it was too early. Balanced and fair at first glance, the ruler of Turkey nevertheless nurtured a dream of military glory.

Foreign policy

By the end of his reign, the military biography of Suleiman I included 13 major military campaigns, of which 10 were campaigns of conquest in Europe. And that's not counting small raids. The Ottoman Empire had never been more powerful: its lands stretched from Algeria to Iran, Egypt and almost to the doorstep of Vienna. At that time, the phrase “Turks at the gates” became a terrible horror story for Europeans, and the Ottoman ruler was compared to the Antichrist.

A year after ascending the throne, Suleiman went to the borders of Hungary. The Sabac fortress fell under the pressure of Turkish troops. Victories flowed like a cornucopia - the Ottomans established control over the Red Sea, took Algeria, Tunisia and the island of Rhodes, conquered Tabriz and Iraq.

The Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean also took a place on the rapidly growing map of the empire. Hungary, Slavonia, Transylvania, Bosnia and Herzegovina were subordinate to the Sultan. In 1529, the Turkish ruler took a swing at Austria, storming its capital with an army of 120 thousand soldiers. However, Vienna was helped to survive by an epidemic that killed a third of the Ottoman army. The siege had to be lifted.

Only Suleiman did not seriously encroach on Russian lands, considering Russia a remote province that was not worth the effort and money spent. The Ottomans occasionally launched raids on the possessions of the Moscow state; the Crimean Khan even reached the capital, but a large-scale campaign never happened.

By the end of the reign of the ambitious ruler, the Ottoman Empire had become the greatest and most powerful state in the history of the Muslim world. However, military measures depleted the treasury - according to estimates, the maintenance of an army of 200 thousand military personnel, which also included Janissary slaves, consumed two-thirds of the state budget in peacetime.

Domestic policy

It was not for nothing that Suleiman received the nickname the Magnificent: the ruler’s life was filled not only with military successes, the Sultan also succeeded in the internal affairs of the state. On his behalf, Judge Ibrahim from Aleppo updated the code of laws, which was in force until the twentieth century. Mutilation and the death penalty were reduced to a minimum, although criminals caught forging money and documents, bribery and perjury continued to lose their right hand.

The wise ruler of the state, where representatives of different religions coexisted, considered it necessary to weaken the pressure of Sharia and attempted to create secular laws. But some of the reforms never took root due to constant wars.

The education system also changed for the better: primary schools began to appear one after another, and graduates, if desired, continued to receive knowledge in colleges, which were located within the eight main mosques.

Thanks to the Sultan, the architectural heritage was replenished with masterpieces of art. According to the sketches of the favorite architect of the ruler, Sinan, three luxurious mosques were built - Selimiye, Shehzade and Suleymaniye (the second largest in the capital of Turkey), which became examples of the Ottoman style.

Suleiman was distinguished by his poetic talent, so he did not ignore literary creativity. During his reign, Ottoman poetry with Persian traditions was polished to perfection. At the same time, a new position appeared - rhythmic chronicler, it was occupied by poets who put current events into poems.

Personal life

Suleiman I, in addition to poetry, was fond of jewelry, was known as a skilled blacksmith, and even personally cast cannons for military campaigns.

It is unknown how many women were in the Sultan's harem. Historians only know about the official favorites who bore children to Suleiman. In 1511, Fulane became the first concubine of the 17-year-old heir to the throne. Her son Mahmud died of smallpox before he was 10 years old. The girl disappeared from the forefront of palace life almost immediately after the death of the child.

Gulfem Khatun, the second concubine, also gave the ruler a son, who was also not spared by the smallpox epidemic. The woman, excommunicated from the Sultan, remained his friend and adviser for half a century. In 1562, Gulfem was strangled by order of Suleiman.

The third favorite, Makhidevran Sultan, was close to acquiring the status of the official wife of the ruler. For 20 years she had great influence in the harem and in the palace, but she also failed to create a legal family with the Sultan. She left the capital of the empire with her son Mustafa, who was appointed governor of one of the provinces. Later, the heir to the throne was executed for allegedly planning to overthrow his father.

The list of women of Suleiman the Magnificent is headed by Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. A favorite of Slavic roots, a captive from Galicia, as she was called in Europe, charmed the ruler: the Sultan granted her freedom, and then took her as his legal wife - a religious marriage was concluded in 1534.

Roksolana received the nickname Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (“laughing”) for her cheerful disposition and smiling nature. The creator of the harem in the Topkapi Palace, the founder of charitable organizations inspired artists and writers, although she did not have an ideal appearance - her subjects valued intelligence and worldly cunning.

Roksolana skillfully manipulated her husband; on her orders, the Sultan got rid of sons born to other wives and became suspicious and cruel. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to a daughter, Mihrimah, and five sons.

Of these, after the death of his father, the state was headed by Selim, who, however, was not distinguished by the outstanding talent of an autocrat, loved to drink and take a walk. During the reign of Selim, the Ottoman Empire began to fade. Suleiman's love for Hurrem did not fade over the years; after the death of his wife, the Turkish ruler never walked down the aisle again.

Death

The Sultan, who brought powerful states to their knees, died, as he himself wished, in the war. This happened during the siege of the Hungarian fortress Szigetavr. 71-year-old Suleiman had been tormented by gout for a long time, the disease progressed, and even riding a horse was already difficult.

He died on the morning of September 6, 1566, not having lived a couple of hours before the decisive assault on the fortress. The doctors who treated the ruler were immediately killed so that information about the death would not reach the army, which, in the heat of disappointment, could rebel. Only after the heir to the throne, Selim, established power in Istanbul, did the soldiers learn about the death of the ruler.

According to legend, Suleiman sensed the approaching end and voiced his last will to the commander-in-chief. A request with a philosophical meaning is known to everyone today: the Sultan asked not to cover his hands during the funeral procession - everyone should see that the accumulated wealth remains in this world, and even Suleiman the Magnificent, the great ruler of the Ottoman Empire, leaves empty-handed.

Another legend is associated with the death of the Turkish ruler. Allegedly, the body was embalmed, and the removed internal organs were placed in a vessel made of gold and buried in the place of his death. Now there is a mausoleum and a mosque there. The remains of Suleiman rest in the cemetery of the Suleymaniye Mosque, which he built, near the Roksolana mausoleum.

Memory

Several feature films and documentaries tell about the life of Suleiman I. A striking adaptation of harem intrigues was the series “The Magnificent Century,” which was released in 2011. The role of the Ottoman ruler is played by, whose charisma is felt even from the photo.

The image created by the actor is recognized as the best embodiment of the Sultan's power in cinema. She plays the concubine and wife of the ruler; the actress with German-Turkish roots also managed to convey the main features of Hurrem - spontaneity and sincerity.

Books

• “Suleiman the Magnificent. The greatest sultan of the Ottoman Empire. 1520-1566", G. Lamb
• “Suleiman. Sultan of the East”, G. Lamb
• “Sultan Suleiman and Roksolana. Eternal love in letters, poems, documents...” Prose of the greats.
• Series of books “Magnificent Century”, N. Pavlishcheva
• "The Magnificent Age of Suleiman and Hürrem Sultan", P. J. Parker
• "The Greatness and Collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Lords of endless horizons", Goodwin Jason, Sharov M
• “Roksolana, Queen of the East”, O. Nazaruk
• "Harem", B. Small
• “The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire”, L. Kinross

Movies

• 1996 – “Roksolana”
• 2003 – “Hurrem Sultan”
• 2008 – “In search of truth. Roksolana: bloody path to the throne"
• 2011 – “Magnificent Century”

Architecture

• Hurrem Sultan Mosque
• Shehzade Mosque
• Selimiye Mosque

On April 27, 1494, the 10th ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent, was born, to whose reign one of the most popular Turkish TV series “The Magnificent Century” is dedicated. Its release on screens caused a mixed reaction from the public: ordinary viewers followed the twists and turns of the plot with interest, historians indignantly commented on the large number of deviations from the historical truth. What was Sultan Suleiman really like?


The main characters of the series *Magnificent Century*

The series is intended primarily for a female audience, so the central storyline in it was the relationship between the Sultan and the numerous inhabitants of the harem. A descendant of the 33rd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Murad V, Osman Salahaddin objects to this emphasis: “He ruled for 46 years. Over the years, he has covered almost 50 thousand kilometers on hikes. Not in a Mercedes, but on horseback. This took a lot of time. Therefore, the Sultan simply physically could not be in his harem so often.”

Francis I and Sultan Suleiman

Of course, the film did not initially claim to be a documentary historical film, so the share of fiction in it is really large. Consultant for the series, Doctor of Historical Sciences E. Afyonji explains: “We dug through a lot of sources. We translated the records of the Venetian, German, and French ambassadors who were visiting the Ottoman Empire at that time. In The Magnificent Century, events and personalities are taken from historical sources. However, due to lack of information, we had to figure out the padishah’s personal life ourselves.”

Sultan Suleiman receives the ruler of Transylvania, Janos II Zapolyai. Antique miniature

It was not by chance that Sultan Suleiman was called the Magnificent - he was the same figure as Peter I in Russia: he initiated many progressive reforms. Even in Europe they called him the Great. The empire during the time of Sultan Suleiman conquered vast territories.

Fragment of the engraving *Bath of the Turkish Sultan*

The series softened the true picture of the morals of that time: society is shown as more secular and less cruel than it really was. Suleiman was a tyrant, as G. Weber claims, neither kinship nor merit saved him from his suspicion and cruelty. At the same time, he fought against bribery and severely punished officials for abuses. At the same time, he patronized poets, artists, architects and wrote poetry himself.

On the left is A. Hikel. Roksolana and the Sultan, 1780. On the right – Halit Ergench as Sultan Suleiman and Meryem Uzerli as Hurrem

Of course, screen heroes look much more attractive than their historical prototypes. The surviving portraits of Sultan Suleiman depict a man with delicate facial features of the European type, who can hardly be called handsome. The same can be said about Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, known in Europe as Roksolana. The women's outfits in the series reflect European fashion rather than Ottoman fashion - there were no such deep necklines during the Magnificent Century.

Meryem Uzerli as Hurrem and traditional Ottoman outfit

Intrigues and squabbles between Hurrem and the third wife of Sultan Mahidevran, to which much attention is paid in the film, also took place in real life: if the heir to the throne, Mahidevran’s son Mustafa, had come to power, he would have killed Hurrem’s children to get rid of competitors. Therefore, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was ahead of her rival and did not hesitate to give the order to kill Mustafa.

An employee of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences S. Oreshkova draws attention to the fact that the harem is not shown exactly as it really was: “It is surprising that in the series Suleiman’s concubines and wives walk so freely. There was a garden next to the harem, and only eunuchs could be with them there! In addition, the series does not show that the harem in those days was not only a place where the Sultan’s wives with children, servants and concubines lived. At that time, the harem was partly like an institution for noble maidens - it contained many pupils who did not intend to become the ruler’s wife. They studied music, dance, poetry.” Therefore, it is not surprising that some girls dreamed of getting into the harem of the Sultan.

Fans of the series “The Magnificent Century” found real photos of the harem concubines.
As it turned out, the ladies bear little resemblance to the heroines of the popular series.

The heroine of the popular series and a portrait of her real prototype.

In February, fans of “The Magnificent Century” said goodbye to the Turkish series, which was broadcast in Russia for more than three years with very high ratings.

The hearts of housewives were captivated by the story of the Russian girl Alexandra, who in 1520 ended up in the harem of Sultan Suleiman. Subsequently, the woman became Suleiman's beloved wife. And then she converted to Islam, receiving the name Hurrem.

The Russian viewer was captivated not only by the twisted plot of “The Magnificent Century,” filled with intrigue and unexpected turns of events, but also by the very beautiful actresses.

Anis al-Doleh or "Spiritual Friend of the Power"

By the way, after the performer of the role of Hurrem Sultan, actress Meryem Uzerli, left The Magnificent Century due to pregnancy, many housewives stopped watching the film. Because, in their opinion, actress Vahide Gerdum, who replaced Uzerli in the series, does not have such a luxurious appearance as Meryem.

Although, if you look at the portraits of the real Hurrem Sultan, she also could not be called a beauty. According to historians, the Russian wife of Sultan Suleiman was distinguished more by her intelligence and worldly cunning than by her ideal appearance.

Meanwhile, bloggers found interesting photographs of the harem of the Iranian ruler Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar, who ruled from 1848 to 1896.

And this is the incomparable Ansiodolla (sitting)

Happy polygamist.

These photographs are interesting because you can see what the harem concubines actually looked like.

According to bloggers, the Shah loved to photograph his beloved wives, which is why these unique photographs have come down to us.

Researchers write that the Iranian Shah had about 100 wives in his harem.

Bloggers found photos of the Shah's favorite wives. Judging by the photographs, these women are far from ideal according to modern beauty criteria. And they don’t look at all like the heroines of the series “The Magnificent Century”, in which all the concubines of Sultan Suleiman are, as if by choice, beauties.

Many bloggers, having seen real photos of the harem, jokingly remarked that if the Shah’s beloved wives looked like this, then it’s scary to imagine what the unloved ones looked like...

Expert opinion: “Everyone has their own ideas about female beauty!”

I can say one thing: in these photographs we see the wives of the Shah,” Boris Vasilyevich Dolgov, candidate of historical sciences, senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told KP. - These are not men or hermaphrodites, as many thought when they saw these photos. It cannot be said that there were no such inhabitants in the harem. But these were isolated rare cases that were kept secret, since the Koran, like other religions, prohibits such things. Whether these women are beautiful or not, what difference does it make? There are no comrades for taste and color, as they say. I also don’t see anything surprising in the facial hair of the harem concubines. Small mustaches are characteristic of oriental women. If women deliberately drew on their mustaches, then the owner of this harem simply liked such ladies. I haven't heard of this fashion in other harems.

But fused eyebrows can safely be called an element of fashion of that time. As for the plumpness of the inhabitants of the harem, in the 18th and 19th centuries there were a lot of well-fed women. Moreover, plumpness was considered a sign of beauty. The women were specially fed tightly and were practically not allowed to move so that they would become as plump as the ladies in these photographs.

Everyone probably saw the famous photo with an ugly, fat woman, supposedly the beloved wife of the Sultan, and many had the opinion that all the women there were like that, if this one was the beloved. And that's a lie. A harem is a variety of faces, bodies and images. However, see for yourself

This is the same photo that formed the opinion of many about harems. Now let's see if this is really so

These photos are circulating on the Internet with the caption “Harem”. In fact, these are photographs of male actors of the first state theater created by order of Shah Nasereddin (a great lover of European culture) at the Dar el-Funun Polytechnic School in 1890, who performed satirical plays only for the palace nobility.

The organizer of this theater was Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Naggashbashi, who is considered one of the founders of modern Iranian theater. Since women were prohibited from performing on stage, these roles were performed by men. The first women appeared on stage in Iran in 1917.

And here are real photos of women from the harems of the sultans of different periods. Ottoman odalisque, 1890

There are few photographs, because, firstly, men were prohibited from entering harems, and, secondly, photography was just beginning its development, but some photographs, paintings and other evidence have been preserved that only the most beautiful were selected for harems representatives of different nations.

Women in a harem, 1912

Woman in a harem with a hookah, Türkiye, 1916

Women from the harem going for a walk. Photo from the Museum of Peru (Istanbul)

Concubine, 1875

Gwashemasha Kadin Efendi, wife of Sultan Abdul Hamid II

Her mother, Geverin Nedak Seteney, together with her sister, was kidnapped by Turkish slave traders around 1865 in Circassia, shortly before devastated by Russian troops, and sold into slavery in the harem of Sultan Abdul Aziz I. On the way to Istanbul, Geverin's sister, not wanting to be slave, threw herself overboard and drowned.

Circassian women were especially popular in harems for their beauty and grace.

Painting by the French orientalist artist Jean-Leon Gerome “Circassian woman under a veil”, painted by him during a trip to Istanbul in 1875-76. The painting supposedly depicts Nedak Setenei, the mother of Gwashemash.

Gulfem Hatun (Ottoman: گلفام خاتون, Turkish: Gülfem Hatun) - second concubine of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman, mother of Shehzade Murad, Circassian

A very young Circassian woman in the Sultan’s harem

Khyurem Sultan, the same Roksolana (1502-1558) was his concubine-favorite, and then the main and legal wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent

Princess Durru Shewar (1914 - 2006) Princess of Berar and Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire, wife of Azam Yah, eldest son of the seventh and last Nizam of Hyderabad

And look not at children and members of the royal family. What a beauty! Durrüşehvar Sultan, daughter of the last caliph Abdulmecid Efendi and grandson of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz

Princess Begum Sahiba Nilufer Khanum Sultana Farhat

Nazime Sultan and Caliph Abdulmecid Sultan

Ayse Sultan (Osmanoglu) II. She is the daughter of Abdulhamit

Dürrüşehvar Sultan with his father and husband. 1931

And here are photos of real Turkish women (period 1850-1920). Not in a harem, however, but the Turks clearly had someone to choose from for a wife

WOMEN OF SULTAN SULEYMAN It is not known how many women there were in the life of Sultan Suleiman I, but his relationships with some of them are provable. Suleiman's first woman was the Montenegrin Mukrime (Mukarrem), whom Valide Hafsa introduced to him in Caffa in 1508/09. Mukrime was born in Shokdra in 1496 (or 1494), she was the daughter of Prince Stefan (Staniš) Černoević of the Montenegrin royal family of Crnojević (Černoević) and an Albanian princess; it was given to the Sultan's court in 1507 as a tribute. Stefan Chernoevich converted to Islam after the conquest of Montenegro by the Turks (around 1507) and called himself Iskender. Selim I gave him one of his daughters as a wife and gained control of Montenegro. Thanks to his family connection with the sultan's dynasty, Stefan Cernoević (Iskender) remained governor of Montenegro until his death in 1530. Mukrime gave birth to three children: Neslihan (1510) and Meryem (1511) were born in Kaffa: both girls died during the smallpox epidemic in 1512. Seven years later, Mukrime gave birth to a son, Murad, in Sarukhan - he also died of smallpox in 1521 in the summer palace of Edirne. As a childless sultana, Mukrime remained in the shadows until 1534. After the death of her mother-in-law Hafsa, she was expelled from Istanbul along with two other women of Suleiman - Gulbahar and Mahidevran. Suleiman gave Mukrima a mansion in Edirne and she remained there until his death in 1555. Suleiman's second wife was the Albanian Gülbahar Melekcihan (also called Kadriye), who became the Sultan's concubine around 1511 in Caffa. She is often mistakenly identified with Makhidevran. Gulbahar came from an Albanian noble family and, thanks to family ties with the Ottoman dynasty, became a servant of Hafsa. It is unknown how many children she bore to Suleiman: there must have been at least two. Being a childless concubine, after Roksolana appeared in the harem, she lost her influence, and in 1534 she was expelled from Istanbul along with Mukrime and Makhidevran. She first lived in a mansion in Edirne, then in a manor near Arnavutkoy near the capital, and died there in 1559 at the age of 63. Suleiman's third wife, Makhidevran (one of the Sultan's most famous wives), was the daughter of the Circassian prince Idar. She was born in Taman in 1498; her mother, Princess Nazkan-Begum, was the daughter of the Crimean Tatar ruler Mengli 1st Giray. Mahidevran met Suleiman in the winter of 1511 in Kaffa, where she was visiting her mother. Suleiman married Mahidevran a little later, on January 5, 1512 in Kaffa. At the end of the same year she gave birth to her first child, Sehzade Mahmud, in 1515 - Sehzade Mustafa, in 1518 - Sehzade Ahmed, in 1521 - Fatma Sultan and, finally, in 1525 - Raziy Sultan: at this time Mahidevran already was not Suleiman’s first favorite, since the Slavic slave Hurrem became his favorite concubine. It was assumed that Makhidevran was also named Gulbahar, but the certificate of payment to her was not given a second name. In historical documents Mahidevran is mentioned as Valide-i Şehzade-Sultan Mustafa Mahidevran Hatun. From the documentation of expenses (1521) it is clear that Gülbahar Hatun, mother of the deceased Shehzade Abdullah (orig.: Gülbahar Hatun mader-i mürdü Şehzade Sultan Abdullah), spent 120 akçe on her stables. Another document from 1532 states that 400 akche were granted to the brother of Gulbahar Khatun - Tahir aga from Ohrit. (orig.: padişah-ı mülkü alem Sultan Suleyman Han Hazretlerinin halile-i muhteremeleri Gülbahar Hatunun karındaşı Ohritli Tahir Ağa’nın şahsi hükmüne atayayı seniyyeden 400 Akça ihsan edildi). A letter dated 1554 states: “Gulbahar Kadriye, daughter of Hasan Bey and highly respected wife of Suleiman, Shah of the World, asks from her native state the sum of 90 aspers.” (orig. Gülbahar Kadriye binti Hasan Bey, harem-i muhtereme-i Cıhan-ı Şehinşah-ı Cihan-ı Suleyman Han, hane-i ahalisi içün 90 Asper mercuu eyler). This important document shows that Gulbahar's middle name was Kadriye. This proves that Mahidevran and Gulbahar are two completely different women. In a document from 1531, Gulbahar is referred to as Melekcihan (orig. Padişah-ı mülk Sultan Suleyman Han harem-i Arnavut nesebinden Kadriye Melekcihan Hatun). Around 1517 or 1518, a woman named Kumru Khatun appears in the harem, who is said to have been Suleiman's concubine. In a document from 1518, Kumru Khatun is mentioned among the influential ladies of the harem. But since 1533 her name has not been found in any historical documents, perhaps she died or was exiled. A certain Kumru Memdukha Khatun (died in 1561) was a servant of Mukrime Khatun. Presumably these two Kumru Khatuns are identical. Hurrem, whose real name was Alexandra Lisowska, was the daughter of a peasant from Ruthenia and was born in 1505 in eastern Poland. When she was very young, she was kidnapped by Cossacks and sold to the court of the Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai. She remained there for a short time, and then was sent along with other slaves to the Sultan's court. As soon as she arrived in the imperial harem, she became the Sultan's mistress. In the autumn of 1520 she was already pregnant with her first child, and in early 1521 she gave birth to Şehzade Mehmed. Over the next five years, she was constantly pregnant and gave birth every year: at the end of 1521 Mihrimah Sultan was born, in 1523 - Abdullah, in 1524 - Selim, and in 1525 - Bayezid. Six years passed after the birth of Bayezid, and she again gave birth to a son, Cihangir (in December 1530). The boy probably suffered from scoliosis, which progressed throughout his life and caused severe pain. With this group of children, Hurrem strengthened her position at court and replaced her rival Mahidevran, becoming the first favorite of the Sultan. A fight began between the two women over the future of their sons. Mahidevran lost this war because Hurrem, with the help of her daughter Mihrimah and son-in-law Rustem Pasha, convinced the Sultan that Mahidevran's son, Prince Mustafa, was a traitor. Suleiman executed Mustafa. After the assassination of Prince Mustafa on October 6, 1553 in Aktepe near Konya, the path to the throne was clear for Hurrem's sons, but she did not live to see her son Selim II become the 11th Ottoman Sultan. She died after a short illness on April 15, 1558 in Istanbul. Suleiman fell into a deep depression and allegedly mourned his beloved wife until his death. Little is known about Suleiman's last women. They say that while Hurrem was still alive, he took two concubines, with whom he had children. Around 1555, he chose Merziban Khatun, an Albanian, as his concubine, and around 1557, Meleksime Khatun, a Bosnian from Mostar. The power-hungry Venetian wife of the heir Selim, Nurbanu, did not tolerate rivals in the palace, especially since Suleiman had a son with Meleksime Khatun, and the boy could be considered as a contender for the throne. Shortly after the execution of Bayezid and his sons in 1561, the little prince died unexpectedly at the age of about seven, and his mother Meleksime, as well as Merziban, were forced to leave the palace. Apparently, Suleiman did not object, because since 1564 Meleksime lived in Edirne, and Merziban lived in Kizilagac. From 6 women, Suleiman had 22 children: From Mukrime Khatun: 1. Meryem (1510 - 1512) 2. Neslihan (1511 - 1512) 3. Murad (1519 - 1521) Gulbahar Khatun: 1. daughter - name unknown (1511 - 1520) 2. Abdullah (1520 - 1521) died of smallpox 3. Hafiza (1521 - about 1560) died a widow, the name of her husband is unknown. Mahidevran Khatun: 1. Mahmud (1512 – 1521) died of smallpox 2. Mustafa (1515 – 1553) 3. Ahmed (1518 – after 1534) date of death unknown, possibly around 1540 or later. It is unknown whether Prince Ahmed died of natural causes; murder is possible. 4. Fatma (1520 - 1572) was married to Gazi Hoxha Mehmed Pasha (died 1548). Mehmed Pasha was the son of Ghazi Yahya Pasha and Princess Shahzadi (daughter of Sultan Bayezid II). 5. Raziye (1525 – 1556) died a widow, the name of her husband is unknown. Hurrem Haseki Sultan: 1. Mehmed (1521 - 1543) 2. Mihrimah (1522 - 1578) 3. Abdullah (1523 - 1523) died in infancy 4. Selim II (1524 - 1574) 5. Bayazid (1525 - 1561) 6. Cihangir (1531 – 1553) Merziban Khatun: 1. Hatice (c. 1555 – after 1575) died in youth 2. son, whose name is unknown (ca. 1556 – c. 1563) this prince may have been killed. Meleksime Khatun: 1. Orhan? (about 1556 - 1562) in other sources he is called Mehmed. However, Sehzade Bayezid also had a son named Orhan, who was killed in Bursa around 1562. Confusion is quite possible. 2. Shahikhuban (1560 - about 1595) presumably she was married and had children.