Şehzade Mehmed (son of Ahmed I)

Şehzade Mehmed (Ottoman Turkish: شہزادہ محمد‎; 11 March 1605 – 12 January 1621) was an Ottoman prince, the second son of Sultan Ahmed I and his wife Kösem Sultan.[1]

Şehzade Mehmed
The sarcophagus of Şehzade Mehmed is located in the Ahmed I Mausoleum, Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
Born11 March 1605
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
(modern day Istanbul, Turkey)
Died12 January 1621(1621-01-12) (aged 15)
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial
Ahmed I Mausoleum, Blue Mosque, Istanbul
FatherAhmed I
MotherKösem Sultan
ReligionSunni Islam

Life

Şehzade Mehmed was born on 11 March 1605 in Istanbul. He was the second son of Sultan Ahmed I.[2] His mother was Kösem Sultan.[3] In January 1609, Mehmed began his education under the guardianship of Hace Ömer Efendi, together with his elder brother, Şehzade Osman (future Sultan Osman II).[4]

According to contemporary European observers, Mehmed's mother Kösem entertained ideas about his succession to the sultanate after the death of Ahmed. Nasuh Pasha, during his grand vizierate (1611-14), especially after his marriage to Ayşe Sultan, daughter of Ahmed and Kösem in 1612, became a close ally of his mother-in-law, who apparently thought that Nasuh Pasha could be of help in securing the succession of Mehmed.[3]

After his father's death in 1617, when Mehmed was twelve years old,[2] his uncle Sultan Mustafa I ascended the throne. However, he was soon deposed and replaced by Osman in 1618.[5]

Death

Osman had asked the Şeyhülislam Hocazade Esad Efendi for an affirmative legal opinion to execute his brother. However, Esad Efendi refused to issue legal opinion. The Chief Judge of Rumeli Kemaleddin Efendi instead affirmed the execution of the prince.[6] And so on 12 January 1621,[7][8] Mehmed was executed. When the executors were stretching rope in his neck he spoke:

"Osman, I wish your are not blessed on this throne "[9]

Twelve days following his death, a harsh snow fall in Istanbul which was considered as Allah’s message to Osman that he killed his brother.[9] Osman ordered Mehmed's execution before leaving the capital for the Polish campaign.[10][11]

He was buried beside his father in his mausoleum[12] located in Blue Mosque, Istanbul.[13]

In 2015 Turkish historical non-fiction TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Şehzade Mehmed is portrayed by Turkish Actor Burak Dakak.[14]

References
  1. Çiçek 2012, p. 24.
  2. Börekçi, Günhan (2010). Factions And Favorites At The Courts Of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) And His Immediate Predecessors (Thesis). Ohio State University. pp. 117, 142.
  3. Tezcan, Baki (2007). "The Debut of Kösem Sultan's Political Career". Turcica. Éditions Klincksieck. 39–40: 350–51, 356. doi:10.2143/TURC.40.0.2037143.
  4. Çiçek 2012, p. 21 n. 51.
  5. A ́goston, Ga ́bor; Masters, Bruce Alan (21 May 2010). Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Infobase Publishing. p. 409. ISBN 978-1-438-11025-7.
  6. Çiçek 2012, p. 32-33.
  7. Yılmaz, Coşkun (2008). Uluslararası Üsküdar Sempozyumu V, 1-5 Kasım 2007: bildiriler, Volume 2. Üsküdar Belediyesi. p. 493. ISBN 978-9-944-58075-5.
  8. Çiçek 2012, p. 32.
  9. Sakaoğlu 2015, p. 213.
  10. Gabriel Piterberg (2003). An Ottoman Tragedy: History and Historiography at Play. University of California Press. pp. 20, 21, 85, 89. ISBN 978-0-520-93005-6.
  11. Çiçek 2012, p. 33.
  12. Bey, Mehmet Süreyya; Aktan, Ali; Yuvalı, Abdülkadir; Keskin, Mustafa (1995). Tezkire-i meşâhir-i Osmaniyye. Sebil Yayınevi. p. 68. ISBN 978-9-757-48083-9.
  13. Çiçek 2012, p. 31.
  14. Muhtesem Yüzyil: Kösem (TV Series 2015–2017), Burak Dakak: Sehzade Mehmed, retrieved 2019-10-11

Sources
  • Çiçek, Fikri (2014). An examination of daily politics and factionalism at the Ottoman Imperial court in relation to the regicide of Osman II (r. 1618-22). Istanbul Şehir University.
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