Mehmet, the first son of Kösem Sultan
419 years ago, exactly on this day, Sultan Ahmet I. and Kösem Sultan's (then still Mahpeyker Hatun) first child, Mehmet was born. The first son of the popular sultana was predicted to have a great life and there were those who expected that he would take over the position of Sultan of the Ottoman Empire after Ahmet's death, but life decided otherwise. This post aims to present the biography of the prince who lived barely 16 years.
His birth, question of his mother's identity
Sultan Ahmet ascended the throne in December 1603, barely 13 years old. His primary task was to prove that the maintenance of the Ottoman bloodline was in safe hands. His first son, Osman was born in November 1604, and a few months later, on March 8, 1605, Prince Mehmet was born. The identity of his mother was questionable for a long time, Mehmet's mother was called unknown for long, Murat, who was born only in 1612, was considered Kösem's first son. Today, however, we have evidence that clarifies that Mehmet's mother was Kösem. The first proof of this is that Kösem received the Haseki rank at the end of 1605 (or perhaps at the beginning of 1606, and she also chose a new name for herself, that's when Mahpeyker became Kösem), and this - based on the examples so far - presupposes the birth of a boy. The other proof for this is an ambassador's report from 1611, in which Simone Contarini explains that "the Sultan has two sons, one of them seven years old, the other six ... His youth and fertility, as well as the fact that he does not lack women, suggest that , that soon more boys will follow the first two." The two sons were then Osman and Mehmet, Prince Murat was not yet born.
The counter-arguments that Mehmet was not Kösem's son have now been overturned. In 1614, Della Valle recorded the second son of Sultan Ahmet as "Şehzade Mahmud", which some mistakenly identified with Prince Murat, who was born in 1612. Mahmud was certainly a misunderstood version of Mehmet, not Murat. Another counter-argument was the report of Ambassador Valier in 1615, who wrote that the Sultan would not allow the two older princes near Kösem because of her ambitions and that he knew that Kösem would only harm the two princes for the sake of her own children. Many have identified the two princes with Princes Osman and Mehmet, but it is more likely that Valier meant Mustafa, Ahmet's younger brother, and Osman. This is especially supported by one of Valier's earlier reports, where he clearly describes that "the Sultan has four sons, two by his living and two by his dead woman." Since Mahfiruze - Prince Osman's mother - died at the end of 1612, it is obvious that she is the dead woman. Mahfiruze's other son, Prince Bayezid was born in December 1612, Mahfiruze completely disappeared from the sources after giving birth, her name is no longer mentioned anywhere, this and much more makes it clear that she died long before Oman ascended the throne (for more on this see and translate: en-"A sosem volt Valide": Mahfiruze Hatun valódi élete). Kösem's second son, Murat was also born in 1612, before Bayezid.
His youth, his learning time
Not much is known about Mehmet's childhood. It is known that although they were educated and raised separately from Prince Osman, their teacher was the same Ömer Efendi, after whom Osman named his only known son, and who gave the young Sultan Osman such bad advice. The prince had common programs with Osman even after 1612, as Kösem Sultan regularly traveled to the Old Palace to meet Safiye Sultan, Ahmet's grandmother, and on these trips she regularly took Prince Mehmet with her, and occasionally Osman as well (until Sultan Ahmet did not forbid it).
Mehmet's first public appearance was shortly before his father's death in 1617. It was then that Sultan Ahmet's mosque complex was completed in its entirety, and he brought his two older sons, Osman and Mehmet with him to the opening. Ahmet passed away at the end of the year, which was followed by a chaotic period. The abolition of fratricide had long been a central theme in the Ottoman Empire, and although Ahmet himself was against it and did not execute his younger brother Mustafa when he ascended the throne, he never made a decision about who would succeed him on the throne after his death (although this was customary among Ottoman sultans, the sultan usually publicly named who he considered to be his heir, see Süleyman I. or Selim II.). The only chance to save the lives of Mehmet and his younger brothers was to change the order of inheritance forever. Kösem tried to convince Ahmet of this for years, presumably she had something to do with the fact that Prince Mustafa remained alive, but after Ahmet's death she was powerless in the matter, she did not have such a big influence at that time to interfere in such decisions. Not so for Hacı Mustafa ağa, the main black eunuch, closely allied with Kösem, who used his influence to convince the Divan and the Ulema to replace Ahmet with the oldest living prince, Mustafa, and to spare the lives of the other princes. This is how Mustafa I. came to the throne, and Mehmet and his brothers were locked up in the harem (Kafes). Therefore, it is not true that the abolition of fratricide was Kösem's work, even though she was indirectly involved.
Curse of Mehmet
Little is known about the short period when Mustafa firstly ascend the throne and reigned, because he was soon dethroned due to his mental illness and replaced by the barely 14-year-old Osman. Osman was very impressionable, and because of that, he often made mistakes. Osman was not popular, he had no supporters, he did not have a strong mother behind him to help him, so he was understandably afraid of Prince Mehmet (and in the future he probably would have feared his other brothers as well). Mehmet was only four months younger, but his mother was an extremely popular and influential woman. Until then, Kösem had never done anything against Osman and he himself tried to maintain a good relationship with her, he visited her regularly in the Old Palace. Over time, however, Osman's fears hardened. In the spring of 1621, he wanted to personally go on a campaign to increase his popularity (the Ottoman sultans had not personally led a campaign since Süleyman I.), but he was afraid to leave Mehmet in the capital, he was afraid that Kösem and Mehmet would plan a coup and seize the throne while he is at war. The logical step would have been for Osman to take Mehmet with him on the campaign because of this, but he resorted to a solution that put an end to his worries forever: during the preparations for the campaign, he killed his brother in January 1621.
Mehmet's death shook Istanbul, and poets of the time and later periods often wrote about this event with the greatest possible contempt for the Sultan. For example, the Ottoman poet and writer Naima openly condemned and called Osman a tyrant for "making an innocent prince, Mehmet Han a martyr for his own power." The fact that the poet used the term Han clearly indicates that Mehmet (presumably because of Kösem) was considered more worthy of the throne, the Han was the term of the sultans and was part of their names. According to legend, while Mehmet was fighting for his life with his executioners, he cursed Osman: "Osman! I will beseech Allah that your whole life and reign may be filled with terror and that your fate be the same as mine." And not only domestic, but also foreign observers deeply condemned and shocked the action of the young sultan. The English ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, called him a reckless, miserly and unpopular ruler in the eyes of his soldiers.
However, Osman's reign soon came to an end. A few days after Mehmet's death, a huge snowstorm hit Istanbul, killing thousands of people. People interpreted this as a punishment from Allah, so Osman's popularity sank in an amazing dynamic. After his unsuccessful campaign, the soldiers rebelled against him, which was later supported by the former Valide, Halime Sultan (and, according to many, Kösem Sultan as well). After his abdication, Sultan Osman was brutally executed and mutilated. It was a legend or a reality, but the curse of Prince Mehmet was confirmed without a doubt.
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