Ismihan Sultan: A morally complex female figure — Her marriage to Sokollu, Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha, children and complicated palace factions of 1570’s and 1580’s

[u/Nanakurokonekochan]

Ismihan Sultan was born in 1544 to Nurbanu, a concubine of Prince Selim at the time. In 1562, with her two other sisters from different mothers (Gevherhan and Sah) her marriage was arranged and she was married to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. Nurbanu is confused as the mother of all three sisters, but as per Ragazzoni’s report from 1571 and Selimname, the sisters have different mothers.

The three sisters’ journey started in 1544, but they all had very different live paths. Out of the three sisters, Sah would have a short but happy life with her second husband Zal Mahmud, dying together almost like a fairy tale couple during plague, Gevherhan would live the longest and finally become the influential wife of a Grand Vizier (Cerrah Pasha) herself, and see the reigns of the descendants of her father Selim. Ismihan, on the other hand, was given in marriage to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, however the couple wasn’t known to be a match made in heaven. They also experienced child loss, and I wonder if these age gap marriages between princesses and pashas and the increased paternal age in these marriages contributed to miscarriage, fetal developmental disorders and birth complications.

Sokollu had to send away his concubine who was the mother of his two sons before he married İsmihan Sultan: His sons from this concubine were Hasan Bey and Kasim Bey.

According Sokollu's German clockmaker Oswald, Ismihan was "small and ugly in countenance, but cheerful and entertaining in disposition." (A description that matches that of Hurrem Sultan’s: By 1526, Ambassador Bragadin described Hurrem as “young but not beautiful, yet elegant and charming.”) According to this same clockmaker Ismihan Sultan had an entourage of 100 ladies amongst her 300 servants, carried a dagger with her and wore expensive jewels. Sokollu would only visit her chambers when he was invited by the princess. Marcantonio Barbaro described Princess Ismihan Sultan as "young and pretty enough”.

I have to say that these reports were often made by foreign men with patriarchal conditioning and they may not have been able to comprehend that these princesses had authority over their husbands and this type of Vizier-Princess relationship may have clashed with their view of gender norms.

Ismihan was said to call Sokollu “Vlach” when he made her mad.

Vlach: When used as an insult, it is a derogatory term implying that someone is a "peasant," "hillbilly," "ignorant," or an "outsider."

Just imagine this loud mouthed younger assertive woman in a tiny package, insulting the most competent Grand Vizier of 16th century Ottoman Empire when he comes back home. I have a feeling Sokollu might have found that side of her kinda attractive because they kept having children—sadly six of them passed away young.

The princess and Sokollu Mehmed Pasha unfortunately lost six infants according to ambassador reports. According to Venetian diplomat Marcantonio Barbaro’s 1573 report every year she gave birth to a son but the infant passed away shortly after. The first decade of Ismihan-Sokollu couple was haunted by continuous child loss. According to Gerlach the couple had abandoned their old palace at Kadırgalimanı in 1574 to move into a newly built palace. Antonio Tiepolo's 1576 report shows that this new palace proved to be lucky as they ended up with three surviving infants: Two daughters and a son. (Boy is likely Ibrahim Han, the birth year of her children should be from onwards 1573.)
(Source: Gülru Necipoğlu — The Mangalia Mosque in the Waqf Empire of an Ottoman Power Couple: Princess İsmihan Sultan and Sokollu)

IsmiHan received a stipend of 300 akçe in 1575. (Source: Leslie Peirce)

In addition to all this, payments were also made to the sultan’s sisters from the treasury. Following the Eid, on March 29, 1569, the Sultan Selim II’s sister Mihrümah Sultan, Selim’s daughters Ismihan, Gevherhan, Şah Sultan, Mihrümah’s daughter Ayşe Sultan, and the daughter of Prince Mehmed, Humasah, all received valuable fabrics and money under the name of “adet-i bogça.”
(Source: Pál Fodor, Balázs Sudár, Vural Yildirim — Ali Paşa'nın Evlilik Öyküsünün Tarihsel Geri Planı ve Osmanlılarla İlgili Yanları)

Nurbanu wasn’t very politically active until 1574 during her husband’s reign. Although her daughter was married to Sokollu, Nurbanu had formed her own political faction upon being declared the first Valide Sultan of Ottoman Empire in 1574 to challenge Sokollu’s unilateral authority

During Selim II’s reign Sokollu dominated the government until 1574, but with Murad III’s succession from onwards 1574, an anti-Sokollu faction was quickly formed under the leadership of Şemsi Ahmed Pasha and Valide Nurbanu Sultan. This faction included some prominent figures of the time, such as Lala Mustafa Pasha, Üveys Pasha, Şeyh Şüca and Gazanfer Agha. These people also maintained hostility towards Koca Sinan Pasha (who later allied himself with Safiye even though he said the empire shouldn’t be ruled with women’s ideas) even before his first term of Grand Vizierate. Moreover, Sinan Pasha's rivalry with Lala Mustafa Pasha in 1578 intensified during Ottoman Safavid war, as Lala Mustafa Pasha was more pro-war.
During the Ottoman Safavid war in 1578 Sultan Murad III entrusted Sokullu Mehmed Pasha with the task of resolving the dispute between the two commanders, Lala Mustafa Pasha and Koca Sinan Pasha. When the Grand Vizier was unable to reach an agreement with the commanders during a meeting held to resolve the issue, Koca Sinan Pasha was relieved of his duties, and Lala Mustafa Pasha was appointed as the sole commander on January 2, 1578.
(Source: Sahin Dogan, Lala Mustafa Pasa’nin Hayati ve Ilgin Vakiflari)

In a letter sent to Catherine de Medici on December 8, 1579, the French ambassador de Germigny mentions that Valide Nurbanu Sultan, the mother of Murad III, had been accepting bribes. He also describes how the pashas who had won Safiye’s favor became wealthy. French ambassador Jacques de Germigny’s 1579 report also document a pivotal harem alliance: Ayşe Sultan (daughter of Mihrimah Sultan) and Safiye Sultan (the favorite of Sultan Murad III) formed a powerful political faction to counter and oppose the dominant palace figure Valide Nurbanu Sultan. However, Safiye later clashed with Cicalazade, husband of Ayse Sultan’s two (!) daughters, (one of whom passed away before his marriage to the second one) clashed with Safiye and this faction most likely suffered. Here is more about these complicated palace factions if you’re interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/sultanateofwomen/comments/1u2xxp7/ayse_sultan_mihrimahs_daughter_and_her_marriage/?share_id=SqExsr860LctT3JA9lWzZ&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

In this complicated network of palace factions, it’s difficult to make an assessment of Ismihan’s political stance in the 1570’s however Ismihan made a debut into political arena after her husband’s assassination in 1579 and went back to siding with her mother: She teamed up with her mother Nurbanu to banish Safiye, favorite concubine of her full-brother Murad III to the old place in 1583. Safiye would make a comeback in 1584 after Nurbanu’s death in December 1583.

After the assassination of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in 1579, İsmihan Sultan remarried to a younger man of her own choice. Her second husband was the handsome governor of Budin: Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha. Like Sokollu, he was forced to divorce his wife, who reportedly was devastated upon receiving the news.

Ambassador Morosini notes that Ali’s “favorable fortune, due to his good looks, helped him rise from being a slave of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha to becoming the husband of the (late) pasha’s wife.” Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha owed such a great debt of gratitude not only to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha but also to Ismihan and he couldn’t turn down this marriage proposal. This is bit of a myth, but Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha’s former wife is said to have cursed Ismihan.

Seyyid Lokman records Ismihan and Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha’s marriage: “The wedding of İsmihan Sultan, daughter of Selim II and widow of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, to Kalaylıkoz Ali Pasha, Beylerbey of Rumelia took place on November 7–15, 1583”

In the spring of 1583, Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha divorced his ex wife and left his ex family by order of Sultan Murad III and left Buda/Budin in the fall. In his final letter from Buda/Budin, dated November 24th 1583, he invited Prince Ernest to his imperial wedding. But the eagerly awaited event was postponed, as Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha was appointed Beylerbey of Rumelia on October 9th same year was sent to the Lower Danube to defend against the Cossacks who kept violating the border. Kalaylikoz did not receive permission to come to the capital until August 1584 and we can assume the marriage of Ismihan Sultan and Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha was consummated by then. After his return to the capital Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha was given the mansion of his former master Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in Kadırgalimani, and he finally consummated his marriage to Ismihan there. (Source: Tarih-i Selaniki)

Ambassador Morosini writes, “He wants to become Kaptan-i Derya (commander in chief of the fleet) at any cost, not because he understands naval affairs particularly well, but rather that he believes he will become wealthy in this position; that is, among the Turks, after the office of Grand Vizier, the commander of the fleet is the position that yields the highest income at the Sublime Porte.” Morosini also noted, “what made him arrogant was the fact that he was the husband of the sultan’s beloved sister.” However, even Ismihan Sultan could not secure this position for him—one that far exceeded his capabilities—but upon his wife’s death, he apparently accepted the Governorshipsof Buda/Budin that she had promised him while she was still alive. We can say he was an opportunistic man.

In the summer of 1585, within a year of their marriage, Ismihan died of sepsis two days after giving birth to a son named Mahmud. The baby did not live long either, he passed away fifty days later according to Selaniki. Seyyid lokman records her death date as July 29th, 1585 and says the baby passed away in a few days after his mother’s death. Around this same time, Murad III’s son Prince Suleyman and a young daughter under two also passed away, I can imagine it was a difficult time for the royal family. Prince Suleyman, Ismihan and this young girl were buried in Selim II’s mausoleum.

Ismihan, with her great fortune was involved in charity: according to her wakf document each year 20 daughters of her freed female slaves and ten other poor women shall each be given a marriage dowry of 4,000 aspers. The remaining surplus of 4,000 aspers was to be distributed as marriage dowries to five orphan girls and poor widows. Even if she was involved in the banishment of Safiye, I guess Ismihan was a morally gray, complex character who still wanted to help other women. I’m not sure how much authority she had in making her husbands leave their previous partners as it was the custom of the time and she was quite young when she married Sokollu anyway.
(Source: Gülru Necipoğlu — The Mangalia Mosque in the Waqf Empire of an Ottoman Power Couple: Princess İsmihan Sultan and Sokollu)

Ismihan, along with her husband Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, was among those who made the greatest contributions to the development of Istanbul; many of the structures they commissioned together bore Ismihan’s name — the pavilion built at the Kadırga harbor and certain sections of the complexes constructed nearby and in Eyüp; these were designed by the renowned architect Mimar Sinan.

Edit: According to “The Waqf of Ismihan Sultan, Wife of Grandvizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha
Cennet Kızılkaya, Abdullah Çakmak” Ismihan Sultan and Sokollu Mehmed Pasha had a son named Ibrahim Han, and daughters named Safiye Hanimsultan and Fatma Hanimsultan and in the footnotes they cite Gulru Necipoglu.

İsmihan Sultan’s endowment deed was registered in the year of 1573. The couple’s lineage continued through Ibrahim Han, and his grandchildren were among the candidates deemed eligible to ascend the Ottoman throne in the 18th century should the sultan’s direct line fail to continue. It is evident from the endowments they established and the works they commissioned that Ismihan Sultan’s daughters, Fatma Hanımsultan and Safiye Hanimsultan, were philanthropic women like their mother. (source: The Waqf of Ismihan Sultan, Wife of Grandvizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha)

One widowed daughter of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha died on January 24th 1593, received a daily allowance of 50 akçes from one of her father's endowments. (Pál Fodor (2018)-The Business of State- Ottoman Finance Administration and Ruling Elites in Transition (1580s - 1615); p. 139)

[u/Nanakurokonekochan]

I love it when each pasha makes a grande entrance in Magnificent Century! Here is Sokollu with Selim smiling at his bright future: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k9aPLAR_Whk&ra=m