She married Lütfi Pasha[5] in around 1523.[6] He was a historian, and author, and entered the palace through the child levy. After 1512, he served as a governor in Anatolian and the Balkan provinces, actively participating in the initial siege of Vienna in 1529. His career continued to ascend as he received promotions, overseeing the beylerbeyliks of Karaman, Anatolia, and Rumelia from 1533 onwards. By 1536-37, Lütfi Pasha had become a vizier, ultimately reaching the zenith of his career in 1539 when he assumed the prestigious role of grand vizier.[7] The two together had a daughter and three sons.[3][8]
In 1541,[9] she initiated a divorce from Lütfi Pasha, due to his involvement in a disturbing incident concerning the cruel treatment of a prostitute, which involved the mutilation of her genitals as punishment. Historian Mustafa Ali's account highlights that when Şah objected, Lütfi insisted on persisting with such punishments for prostitutes and resorted to physically assaulting the princess when she expressed her displeasure. Responding to Şah's plea, Suleiman granted her the divorce she sought and relieved Lütfi Pasha of his position as grand vizier, effectively concluding his official career.[10] Opting not to remarry, Şah chose to return to the royal palace, adhering to the customary residence for a princess following the dissolution of her marriage.[10] According to some sources she later remarried to Merkez Efendi.[11]
In 1555, she endowed a tekke in Eyüp,[12] followed in 1556, by a mosque in her name name also in Eyüp.[13] In 1564, she endowed a school in Fatih.[2] She died in 1572[14] and was buried in her own mausoleum, inside her mosque in Eyüp. Buried beside her are her daughter, Esmehan, and granddaughters, Neslihan and Vasfihan.[3][15]
Issue
From her marriage to Lütfi, Şah had a daughter and three sons:[16][3][8]
Esmehan Hanımsultan (c. 1524 – 1556). She married Hüseyn Pasha and had two daughters:
Neslihan Hanim (born in 1546), married with issue;
Vasfihan Hanim (1549 - 1570), married with Küçük Ömer Ağa and had a son, Ahmed Bey.
Sultanzade Ahmed Bey
Sultanzade Abdi Bey
Sultanzade Mahmud Bey
In popular culture
In the 2003 TV miniseries Hürrem Sultan, Şah Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Yeliz Doğramacılar.[17]
^ abGökbilgin, M.T. (1952). XV.-XVI. asırlarda Edirne ve Paşa livâsı: vakıflar, mülkler, mukataalar. İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi yayınları. Üçler Basımevi. p. 498.
^Turan, Ebru (2009). "The Marriage of Ibrahim Pasha (ca. 1495-1536): The Rise of Sultan Süleyman's Favorite to the Grand Vizierate and the Politics of the Elites in the Early Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Empire". Turcica. 41: 3–36. doi:10.2143/TURC.41.0.2049287.
^Gök, Ilhan (2014). Atatürk Kitaplığı M.C. O.71 numaralı 909-933/1503-1527 tarihli İn'amat defteri (transkripsiyon-değerlendirme). p. 1464.
^Somel, S.A. (2010). The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire. A to Z guides. Scarecrow Press. p. 167. ISBN978-0-8108-7579-1.
^ abHaskan, M.N. (2008). Eyüp Sultan tarihi. Eyüp Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları. p. 535. ISBN978-975-6087-04-6.
^Peirce, L. (2003). Morality Tales: Law and Gender in the Ottoman Court of Aintab. University of California Press. p. 140. ISBN978-0-520-92697-4.
^ abPeirce, L.P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Studies in Middle Eastern history. Oxford University Press. pp. 67, 201–202. ISBN978-0-19-508677-5.
^Esin, Emel (1977). Merkez Efendi ile Şah Sultan Hakkında Bir Haşiye, Volume 19. Istanbul University. p. 73.
^Lifchez, R.; Algar, A.E. (1992). The Dervish Lodge: Architecture, Art, and Sufism in Ottoman Turkey. California Series on Social Choice and Political Economy. University of California Press. p. 50. ISBN978-0-520-07060-8.
^Dördüncü Eyüpsultan Sempozyumu. Eyüpsultan Belediyesi kültür yayınları. Eyüp Belediyesi Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü. 2000. p. 182.
^Cipa, H.E. (2017). The Making of Selim: Succession, Legitimacy, and Memory in the Early Modern Ottoman World. Indiana University Press. p. 341. ISBN978-0-253-02435-0.