Handan Sultan

Common card · No. 255103

Handan Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: خندان سلطان; c. 1570 – 9 November 1605) was a consort of Ottoman sultan Mehmed III. As the mother of Ahmed I, she served as valide sultan and de facto regent from 1603 until her death in 1605. She was a politically influential woman during her tenure, and is remembered as one of the prominent figures during the era known as the Sultanate of Women, living in the Ottoman Empire as a courtier during the reigns of three sultans: Murad III, Mehmed III and Ahmed I. After entering the Ottoman Imperial Harem—probably in 1583—she became one of the two known consorts of then-Prince Mehmed; she succeeded in having her third son, Ahmed, named heir to the throne after her husband's accession as Sultan Mehmed III in 1595, through an alliance with her mother-in-law Safiye Sultan. Initially overshadowed by her mother-in-law and kept away from politics, she acquired power and influence after Mehmed III's death in 1603, and the ascension of her son, now Sultan Ahmed I. As...

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