Hümaşah Sultan (daughter of Şehzade Mehmed)

Hümaşah was born in Manisa, where her father served as sanjakbey. She was his only child. Following his death in 1543, she was taken under the care of her grandmother and moved to Istanbul.[1]

Like her cousin Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan, she was reportedly beloved by their grandfather, with whom she kept correspondence.[2] Hümaşah, her cousin, and her aunt Mihrimah Sultan would all imitate the communication style ushered in by her grandmother Hurrem, whose letters to the Sultan are known for their colourfulness, charm, and smoothness.[3]

She is regarded by historian Mustafa Çağatay Uluçay as amongst the most influential women of Suleiman's reign.[4] It was she who, in 1563, gifted her cousin Şehzade Murad (future Sultan Murad III) with a concubine that would go on to be Safiye Sultan.[5][6]

In 1566, Hümaşah Sultan married Ferhad Pasha,[7] when he was serving as the third vizier. He had previously been second Kapıcıbaşı. In 1553, he became the Agha of the Janissaries. In 1557-8, he was made the governor of Kastamonu Sanjak, and in 1564, he was made the third vizier, before he married Hümaşah.[1]

Their palace was located in the precincts of the Old Palace.[8] She was widowed at his death on 6 February 1575.[1]

Six months after the death of Ferhad Pasha, Hümaşah married Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha.[9][6] She was widowed at his death on 7 August 1580. After his death, Hümaşah married the governor of Shahrizor Eyalet, Mehmed Pasha, the brother of the grand vizier Damat Ibrahim Pasha. He died in August 1592.[9]

Upon her death, she was buried alongside her father and uncle, Şehzade Cihangir, in Şehzade Mosque.[10]

The princess' marriage to Ferhad Pasha produced four sons and two daughters, including:

• Sultanzade Hasan Bey;
• Sultanzade Mustafa Pasha;
• Sultanzade Osman Bey;
• Sultanzade Ibrahim Pasha;
• Fatma Sultan;[11]
• Hatice Sultan;[12]

With Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha, she had one son:

• Sultanzade Abdülbaki Bey;[9]

• Allahverdi, Reyhan Şahin (2016). An Orphan Sultan: Foundations of Şehzade Mehmed’s Daughter Hümasah Sultan.
• Necipoğlu, Gülru (2005). The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-253-9.
• Pedani, M. P. (2000). "Safiye's Household and Venetian Diplomacy". Turcica. 32: 9. doi:10.2143/TURC.32.0.460.
• Peirce, Leslie Penn (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Studies in Middle Eastern History. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507673-8.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.
• Tezcan, Hülya (2006). Osmanlı çocukları: şehzadeler ve hanım sultanların yaşlamarı ve giysileri. Istanbul: Aygaz Yayınları. ISBN 978-9-759-83723-5.
• Uluçay, M.Cağatay (1956). Harem'den mektuplar I. Vakit matbaasi. ISBN 978-9-75-437833-7.