Fatma Sultan (daughter of Murad III)


Fatma Sultan was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan Murad III and Safiye Sultan, and sister of Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire.

Early life

Fatma Sultan was a daughter of Sultan Murad III, and his consort Safiye Sultan. She had two brothers, Sultan Mehmed III, and Şehzade Mahmud, and a sister, Ayşe Sultan.

Marriages

On 6 December 1593, Fatma, at Murad's behest, married Halil Pasha, Admiral of the Fleet. The wedding took place at the Old Palace, and was celebrated in a seven-day ceremony. The historian Mustafa Selaniki described the excitement of the crowds who turned out to watch the elaborate processional that carried Fatma, who was concealed behind a screen of red satin, to the palace of her new husband. Selaniki wrote that at the wedding of Fatma "skirtfulls of shiny new coins were distributed... those who did not receive any sighed with longing." According to the historian Hoca Sadeddin Efendi, her dowry was 300,000 ducats.
As part of the celebrations, the members of the Imperial Council were given a seven-day leave.
In 1595, Halil Pasha did not sail with the fleet. This was particularly because neither Safiye nor Fatma were willing to let him leave Istanbul. Their reluctance probably stemmed from the fact that Fatma was pregnant. She gave birth to a son in October 1595, which strengthened the new Sultan Mehmed's and Safiye's affection for Halil Pasha.
After Halil Pasha's death in 1603, she married Hızır Pasha in December 1604. He was then in charge of securing the passes on the Danube. In order to consummate his marriage, Hızır Pasha was immediately called back to the capital and given a seat in the imperial council with the rank of full vizier.

Death and legacy

When Fatma died, she was buried in her father's mausoleum, located at the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia Mosque, Istanbul, and recorded, among other things, as Halil Pasha's wife.
She owned a translation of "The Ascension of Propitious Stars and Sources of Sovereignty".