Aşub Sultan


Sâliha Dil-Âşûb صالحہ دل اشوب سلطان; died 3 January 1690) or simply Aşub Sultan was a consort of Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim and Valide Sultan to their son Suleiman II.

Life

She became the consort of Ibrahim and on 15 April 1642, gave birth to her only son, Şehzade Suleiman. During Ibrahim's reign her stipend consisted of 1,300 aspers a day. He also gifted the incomes of Bolu Sanjak to her. She was described as a simple-hearted woman of unruly character. She was deeply loved by Ibrahim, and was his favorite consort although she was not his legal wife.
After the deposition and death of Sultan Ibrahim in 1648, his eldest son, Mehmed IV ascended the throne, after which Aşub settled in the Old Palace. This brought her thirty-nine years of imprisonment in the Old Palace.
She was hoping that the conflict between Mehmed's mother, Turhan Sultan, her mother-in-law, Kösem Sultan would change her fortune in that she would become the Valide Sultan herself. Kösem was planning to kill her daughter-in-law and dethrone her grandson Sultan Mehmed with the help of some high officers in the yeniçeri corps, and to place Şehzade Suleiman, on the throne. However, Meleki Hatun warned Turhan who managed to strangle her mother-in-law with the help of the eunuchs in the Harem in 1651. Aşub herself was spared from execution since she was suspected in plotting against Turhan and her son, the Sultan.
In 1672-73, she created an endowment at Istanbul.
In 1687 Mehmed IV was deposed and the throne was overtaken by Suleiman II, the son of Aşub and she became the next Valide sultan. In July 1688, she followed her son to Edirne.

Death

She died in the Edirne Palace on 3 January 1690, having been ill and bedridden for an year. She was buried in the mausoleum of Suleiman the Magnificent in Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul.

Issue

Together with Ibrahim, Aşub had one son:
In the 2010 Turkish historical film Mahpeyker: Kösem Sultan, Aşub Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Gökcan Gökmen.
In the 2015 Turkish historical non-fiction TV series, Aşub Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Ece Güzel.