Gevherhan Sultan (daughter of Selim II)
| Gevherhan Sultan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 1544 Konya, Ottoman Empire |
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| Died | 1598 (aged 54–55) Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
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| Burial | Hagia Sophia Mosque, Istanbul | ||||
| Spouse | Piyale Pasha Boyalı Mehmed Pasha |
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| House | House of Osman | ||||
| Father | Selim II | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Gevherhan Sultan (ca. 1544–1580, Ottoman Turkish: گوھرخان سلطان) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Ottoman Sultan Selim II. She was the granddaughter of Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520–66) and his favourite consort and legal wife Hürrem Sultan, sister of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574–95) and aunt of Sultan Mehmed III (reign 1595–1603).
Biography
Gevherhan Sultan was one of the four daughters of Selim II and was one of the most powerful along with Ismihan Sultan.
In contrast, strong alliances were made for the daughters of Selim, the prince who would succeed Suleiman: Ismahan married Sokollu Mehmed, Gevherhan the admiral Piyale Pasha, and Şah the chief falconer Hasan Agha. On 1 August 1562, Suleiman celebrated the triple wedding of his heir, Selim's daughters Ismihan, Gevherhan and Şah to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Piyale Pasha and Hasan Agha respectively.
After the triple wedding, Mihrimah Sultan, Gevherhan's favorite and only blood aunt, pushed for a naval campaign against Malta, enlisting the help of her son-in-law, the grand vizier Semiz Ali Pasha, and promising to outfit four hundred ships at her own expanse. However, Suleiman and his son Selim did not wish for the campaign to take place so that the admiral, Piyale Pasha, might remain in Istanbul with his new wife, Gevherhan Sultan, and Princess Mihrimah eventually agreed with the sentiment. The state treasury covered the expenses for the imperial wedding and granted 10,000 florins as a wedding gift to the imperial son-in-law.
Two daughters – Ayşe and Fatma – were born from this marriage.
Piyale Pasha died in 1578 and Gevherhan Sultan is said to have married Boyalı Mehmed Pasha in 1579. From her properties she constituted a religious and charitable foundation with whose revenues built and maintained a high theological college (medrese) in the İstanbul neighbourhood of Caoğlu. She died in 1598 and is entombed in Selim II's mausoleum next to Hagia Sophia Mosque.
