The benevolent haseki (sultan’s
favourite woman) of Ottoman Sultan Selim II (B. 1525, Paros – D. December 6th,
1587, Istanbul). Her real name was Cecilia Venier-Baffo. She was the main wife
of Selim II and the mother of Murad III. In some of the Ottoman sources, she was
described as being a daughter of a Jewish family; on the other hand, some
historians suggest that she was from Venice. According to this claim, she was
the daughter, whose name was Rachel or Cecilia, of Violanta Baffo and her
husband Nicolò Venier, who was one of the lords of Paros Island of The
Cyclades, and brother of Sebastiano Venier, the duke of Venice. It is assumed
that she was brought to Istanbul around 1545, and bought in a slave market set
up in Pera, in order to be raised for the palace services, and after a while,
she was sent to the harem of the prince Selim, who was the governor of Manisa
at that time. In some Turkish and foreign sources, Nurbanu Sultan is confused
with Safiye Sultan, the haseki (favorite lady of the padishah among the
courtesans) of Murad III. During the reign of Selim II (1566-74), she attracted
attention with her characteristics such as her beauty and intelligence. After
Murad III came to the throne (1574),
she became the “sultana” and her prestige in the court increased. It was said
that the sultan respected her so much, and consulted her before taking
important decisions. Some historians admit that she had influence on
establishing peace in the relations between Turkey-Venice, and Egypt-Venice.
Nurbanu Sultan, who found herself in
the palace at a very young age, was trained like the other servants in the
palace. During one of these trainings, she caught the eye of Haseki Hürrem
Sultan (Roxelana), the wife of Süleyman the Magnificent, who was the sultan of
the time. This thin girl impressed Hürrem Sultan with her intelligence, and she
was sent to the Manisa Sanjak (T.N. district) for training. Hürrem Sultan had
the thought of marrying Nurbanu to one of her sons on her mind. Hürrem Sultan
was so certain about that girl’s future that she gave her the name “Afife
Nurbanu”. Afife means ‘virtuous’, and Nurbanu means ‘the queen who scatters the
light of God’.
Naturally, what Hürrem Sultan
thought came into reality; Nurbanu was married off to Hürrem Sultan’s son,
prince Selim. Selim attached himself to Nurbanu with a great love. The poems
which Selim wrote for Nurbanu are seen as the most beautiful examples of Divan
Literature. As Selim said for Nurbanu, “When
you pull ahead of me, the places you step on turn into a rose garden, and when
you look at me after I call you, it feels as if the time stops.”
When the prince Selim came to the
throne, Nurbanu Sultan assumed the title of “sultana” for the first time in
Ottoman history, and both during the reign of her husband and the reign of her
son, she had a great influence in the court.
In the coming years, many women came
into the life of Selim the Blond (Selim II), but none of them could impress him
as much as Nurbanu Sultan did. After the death of Selim II, the son of Selim
and Nurbanu, Murad, succeeded to the throne, and Nurbanu Sultan continued
living as the “sultana”. Thus, like Hürrem Sultan, she governed the state
behind the closed doors. In her old age, she struggled for dominance of the
harem with her son’s wife, Safiye Sultan. Safiye Sultan pointed out that “I saw Nurbanu in her mid-forties, and in
spite of her old age, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my
entire life.”
Nurbanu Sultan, who had a great
fortune, left a great number of pious foundations. The most important ones are the Eski Valide
Mosque and its complex, in Üsküdar, Toptaşı. This complex was put into service
in 1583. In order to yield money for this complex, she built the Yeşil Direkli Hamam (big Turkish bath) near
Cedid Valide Mosque, Çemberlitaş Hamamı (Çifte Hamam) in Divanyolu, and Havuzlu
Hamam in Langa. She had water collected with the name of Eski Valide Suyu, and
got that water drained from the fountains of Atik Valide Mosque and its
complex, and fountains near Semih Paşa,
Tunusbağı, At Pazarı and Körbakkal, and received the blessing of the
people.
During the reign of her son, Nurbanu Sultan died in 1583. After the funeral in which the sultan, grand vizier, and Shaykh al-Islām participated, she was buried in the mausoleum of Selim II with the funeral prayer performed in the Fatih Mosque.
REFERENCE: E. J. Brill / First Encyclopaedia of Islam (1913-36), Martijn Theodoor / Houtsma (1987), Yeni Rehber Ansiklopedisi (1993), Meydan Larousse Ansiklopedisi (1969-73), Godfrey Goodwin - Saqi Book / The Private World of Ottoman Women (s.128, 2001), Cultures in Colors / Valeria Heuberger - Geneviève Humbert - Geneviève Humbert-Knitel - Elisabeth Vyslonzil (s. 68, 2001), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Kadınlar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 6, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).