Editing Murad III (section)

==Family==
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===Consorts===
Murad is believed to have had [[Safiye Sultan (mother of Mehmed III)|Safiye Sultan]] as his only concubine for circa fifteen years. However, Safiye was opposed by Murad's mother, [[Nurbanu Sultan]], and by his sister, [[Ismihan Sultan]], and around 1580, she was exiled to the Old Palace on charges of having rendered the sultan impotent with a spell, after he had not succeeded or had not wanted to have sex with two concubines received by his sister. Furthermore, Nurbanu was concerned about the future of the dynasty, as she believed that Safiye's son alone, Mehmed, (two of three sons that Safiye gave to Murad were dead before 1580) were not enough to ensure the succession. After Safiye's exile, revoked only after Nurbanu's death on December 1583, Murad, to deny the rumor about his impotency, took a huge number of concubines and he had more than fifty known children, although according to sources the total number could exceed hundred.<ref name="peirce=">{{cite book | last=Peirce | first=Leslie P. |author-link=Leslie Peirce | title=The imperial harem : women and sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire | publication-place=New York | date=1993 | pages = 94–95, 259 | isbn=0-19-507673-7 | oclc=27811454}}</ref>

At time of his death in 1595, Murad had at least thirty-five concubines, amongs others:<ref name="altun" />
* [[Safiye Sultan (mother of Mehmed III)|Safiye Sultan]], an ethnic [[Albanians|Albanian]]. [[Haseki sultan|Haseki Sultan]] of Murad and [[Valide sultan]] of [[Mehmed III]];<ref>Mustafa Çağatay Uluçay, Padışahların kadınları ve kızları, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1980, pp. 42-6</ref>
* Şemsiruhsar Hatun, mother of Rukiye Sultan. She commissioned Koranic readings of prayers in the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Prophet's mosque]] in [[Medina]]. She died before 1623.<ref name="altun">{{cite book|first=Mustafa|last=Altun|title=Yüzyıl Dönümünde Bir Valide Sultan: Safiye Sultan'ın Hayatı ve Eserleri|year=2019|pages=20–21}}</ref>
* Mihriban Hatun;<ref name="altun" />
* Şahıhuban Hatun; she commissioned a school in Fatih, where she is buried<ref name="altun"/>
* Nazperver Hatun; she commissioned a mosque in Eyüp<ref name="altun" />
* Zerefşan Hatun<ref name="altun" />
*Fakriye Hatun<ref>Alderson, A.D.; ''The structure of the Ottoman Dynasty''</ref>
* A concubine who died in August 1591, along with their stillborn son and were interred together.<ref name="Internet">{{cite web | title=Tarih-i Selaniki 1-2 : Selânik Mustafa Efendi, d. 1600? : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive | website=Internet Archive | date=2023-03-25 | url=https://archive.org/details/selaniki-mustafa-efendi-tarih-i-selaniki-1 | access-date=2024-02-09 | page=251}}</ref>
*Fiveteen pregnant concubines were placed in sacks and tossed into the [[Sea of Marmara]], where they drowned, in 1595, by order of Mehmed III.<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite book | last=Jenkins | first=E. | title=The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 2, 1500-1799): A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas | publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-4766-0889-1 | page=124}}</ref> 
*A concubine seduced and made pregnant by Mehmed III when he was a prince. The act was a violation of the rules of the harem, so Mehmed’s grandmother, Nurbanu Sultan, ordered the girl to be drowned in order to protect her grandson.

After the death of Murad III many of his concubines who became childless when at his accession Mehmed had his half-brothers killed, and others who never had children by Murad, were remarried off to palace officials, such as door keepers, cavalry forces (''bölük halkı''), and sergeants (''çavus'').<ref name="Argit"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Pazan |first=İbrahim |date=2023-06-06 |title=A Comparison of Seyyid Lokman's Records of the Birth, Death and Wedding Dates of Members of Ottoman Dynasty (1566-1595) with the Records in Ottoman Chronicles |journal=Marmara Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi |publisher=Marmara University |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=245–271 |doi=10.16985/mtad.1120498 |issn=2148-6743 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Sons===
Murad III had at least 27 known sons.

On Murad's death in 1595 Mehmed III, his eldest son and new sultan, son of Safiye Sultan, executed the 19 half-brothers still alive and drowned seven pregnant concubines, fulfilling the [[Fratricide#Ottoman Empire|Law of Fraticide]].

Known sons of Murad III are:
* Sultan [[Mehmed III]] (26 May 1566, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 22 December 1603, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Mehmed III Mausoleum, [[Hagia Sophia]] Mosque, Constantinople), with Safiye Sultan, became the next sultan;
* Şehzade Selim (1567, Manisa Palace, Manisa - 25 May 1577, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople), with Safiye Sultan.
* Şehzade Mahmud (1568, Manisa Palace, Manisa – before 1580, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque), with Safiye Sultan.
* Şehzade ''Fülan'' (June 1582, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - June 1582, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople. buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque). Stillbirth.
* Şehzade Cihangir (February 1585, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - August 1585, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque); twin of Şehzade Süleyman. 
* Şehzade Süleyman (February 1585, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - 1585, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque); twin of Şehzade Cihangir. 
* Şehzade Abdüllah (1585, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Mustafa (1585, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, [[Hagia Sophia]] Mosque);
* Şehzade Abdürrahman (1585, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Bayezid (1586, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Hasan (1586, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - died 1591, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Cihangir (1587, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Yakub (1587, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Ahmed (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - before 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade ''Fülan'' (August 1591, stillbirth);
* Şehzade Alaeddin (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Davud (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Alemşah (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Ali (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Hüseyin (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Ishak (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Murad (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Osman (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - died 1587, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Yusuf (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Korkud (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Ömer (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* Şehzade Selim (?, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - murdered 28 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
In addition to these, a European braggart, [[Count Alexander of Montenegro|Alexander of Montenegro]], claimed to be the lost son of Murad III and Safiye Sultan, presenting himself with the name of Şehzade Yahya and claiming the throne for it. His claims were never proven and appear dubious to say the least.<ref name="tezca">{{cite book|first=Baki|last=Tezcan|title=Searching For Osman: A Reassessment Of The Deposition Of Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618-1622)|year=2001|pages=327–8 n. 17}}</ref>

===Daughters===
Murad had more than thirty daughters still alive at his death in 1595, of whom nineteen died of [[Plague (disease)|plague]] (or smallpox) in 1598.<ref>{{cite book|title=Disease and Empire: A History of Plague Epidemics in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire (1453–1600)|year=2008|pages=145|isbn=978-0-549-74445-0}}</ref><ref name="Argit">{{cite book | last=Argit | first=B.İ. | title=Life after the Harem: Female Palace Slaves, Patronage and the Imperial Ottoman Court | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-108-48836-5 | page=109}}</ref>

It is not known if and how many daughters may have died before him.

Known daughters of Murad III are:
* [[Hümaşah Sultan (daughter of Murad III)|Hümaşah Sultan]] (Manisa, {{circa}} 1564 - Costantinople, 1625 {{rp|p=168}}); buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Safiye Sultan. Also called Hüma Sultan.<ref>{{cite book|first=Yusuf |last=Sarinay|title=82 Numaralı Mühimme Defteri'nin (H.1026-1027/1617-1618) Transkripsiyonu ve Değerlendirilmesi|publisher=T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü|year=2000|page=7}}</ref> She married Nişar Mustafazade Mehmed Pasha (died 1586). She may have then married [[Serdar Ferhad Pasha]] (d.1595) in 1591.<ref>{{cite book|first=Necdet|last=Sakaoğlu|title=Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler|publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık|year=2008|page=217}}</ref> She was lastly married in 1605 to Nakkaş Hasan Pasha (died 1622);{{sfn|Miović|2018|p=168}}<ref name="pecevi"/><ref name="tezcan"/><ref name="Great">{{cite book | author=Great Britain. Public Record Office | title=Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs: Existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice, and in Other Libraries of Northern Italy | publisher=H.M. Stationery Office | issue=v. 10 | year=1900 | page=442}}</ref><ref name="TDV">{{cite web | title=Nakkaş Hasan Paşa| website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi | url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/nakkas-hasan-pasa | language=tr | access-date=February 22, 2024}}</ref> 
* [[Ayşe Sultan (daughter of Murad III)|Ayşe Sultan]] (Manisa, {{Circa|1565}} - Costantinople, 15 May 1605, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Safiye Sultan. Married firstly on 20 May 1586, to [[Damat Ibrahim Pasha|Ibrahim Pasha]],<ref name="pecevi">{{cite book|first1=Ibrahim|last1=Peçevi|first2=Bekir Sıtkı|last2=Baykal|title=Peçevi Tarih, Volume 2|year=1982|publisher=Başbakanlık Matbaası|pages=3}}</ref> married secondly on 5 April 1602, to [[Yemişçi Hasan Pasha]], married thirdly on 29 June 1604, to Güzelce Mahmud Pasha.<ref name="tezcan">{{cite book|first=Baki|last=Tezcan|title=Searching For Osman: A Reassessment Of The Deposition Of Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618-1622)|year=2001|pages=328 n. 18}}</ref><ref name="ulucay">{{cite book|first=Mustafa Çağatay |last=Uluçay|title=Padişahların kadınları ve kızları|location=Ankara|publisher= Ötüken|year=2011|isbn=978-975-437-840-5}}</ref>
* [[Fatma Sultan (daughter of Murad III)|Fatma Sultan]] (Manisa, {{circa}} 1573 - Costantinople, 1620, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Safiye Sultan. Married first on 6 December 1593, to Halil Pasha,<ref name="pecevi"/><ref name="ulucay"/> married second December 1604, to Cafer Pasha;<ref name="tezcan"/> married third 1610 Hizir Pasha, married fourth [[Kuyucu Murad Pasha|Murad Pasha]].
* [[Mihrimah Sultan (daughter of Murad III)|Mihrimah Sultan]] (Costantinople, 1578/1579 - after 1625 ; buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque<ref name="Demircanlı"/>) - possibly with Safiye Sultan;<ref name="tezcan"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Uçtum |first=Nejat R. |title=Hürrem ve Mihrümah sultanların Polonya Kralı II. Zigsmund'a Yazdıkları Mektuplar |pages=707}}</ref>
* [[Fahriye Sultan]] (died in 1656, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque<ref name="Demircanlı">{{cite book | last=Demircanlı | first=Y.Y. | title=İstanbul mimarisi için kaynak olarak Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi | publisher=Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü | year=1989 | isbn=978-975-19-0121-7 | page=599}}</ref>), - possibly with Safiye Sultan, perhaps born after her return from exile in [[Eski Saray|Old Palace]]. Called also Fahri Sultan.<ref name="Kahya">{{cite thesis | last=Kahya | first=Ozan | title=11 numaralı İstanbul Mahkemesi defteri (H.1073) : tahlil ve metin | date=2011 | url=https://acikerisim.msgsu.edu.tr/xmlui/handle/20.500.14124/3808 | pages=219, 303–304}}</ref>{{sfn|Miović|2018|p=168}} She married firstly to Cuhadar Ahmed Pasha, Governor of Mosul, married secondly to Sofu Bayram Pasha, Governor of [[Bosnia Eyalet|Bosnia]] (died in 1633);,<ref name="ulucay" /><ref name="Ayvansarayî">{{cite book | last1=Ayvansarayî | first1=H.H. | last2=Derin | first2=F.Ç. | title=Vefeyât-ı selâtîn ve meşâhı̂r-i ricâl | publisher=Edebiyat Fakültesi Matbaası | series=Yayınlar (İstanbul Üniversitesi. Edebiyat Fakültesi) | year=1978 | page=45}}</ref><ref name="dumas">{{cite book |first=Juliette |last=Dumas |title=Les perles de nacre du sultanat: Les princesses ottomanes (mi-XVe – mi-XVIIIe siècle)|year=2013 |page=464}}</ref>{{rp|p=168}} married thirdly to Deli Dilaver Pasha (died 1668).{{rp|p=168}}<ref name="Cikar">{{cite book | last=Cikar | first=J. | title=Türkischer Biographischer Index | publisher=De Gruyter | year=2011 | isbn=978-3-11-096577-3 | page=290}}</ref>
* Rukiye Sultan (buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Şemsiruhsar Hatun.<ref name="ulucay"/><ref name="altun" /><ref name="pecevi"/><ref name="tezcan"/><ref name="The Cambridge History of Turkey">{{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=Kate |title=The Cambridge History of Turkey |last2=Faroqhi |first2=Suraiya N. |last3=Kasaba |first3=Reşat |date=2 November 2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-62095-6 |pages=412}}</ref>
* Mihriban Sultan (buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque)<ref name="ulucay"/> married in 1613;<ref name="pecevi"/>
* Hatice Sultan (1583 - 1648,{{rp|p=168}} buried in [[Şehzade Mosque]]<ref name="Turkey">{{cite book | author=Turkey. Kültür Bakanlığı | title=Dünden bugüne İstanbul ansiklopedisi | publisher=Kültür Bakanlığı | issue=v. 4 | year=1993 | isbn=978-975-7306-04-7 | page=20}}</ref>), was married in 1598 to [[Sokolluzade Lala Mehmed Pasha]] and had two sons and a daughter.<ref>Bayrak, 1998, p. 43.</ref> She participated in the reparation of the minarets of Bayezid Veli Mosque inside Kerch Fortress in 1599.<ref>Öztuna, 1977. Başlangıcından zamanımıza kadar Büyük Türkiye tarihi, p. 125.</ref> After widowed, in 1613 she married Gürşci Mehmed Pasha of Kefe, governor of Bosnia.<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi"/><ref name="dumas"/>{{rp|p=168}}
*Fethiye Sultan (buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque).
* Beyhan Sultan (died {{floruit}} 1648<ref name="miovic">{{cite journal |last=Miović |first=Vesna |date=2018-05-02 |title=Per favore della Soltana: moćne osmanske žene i dubrovački diplomati |journal=Anali Zavoda za Povijesne Znanosti Hrvatske Akademije Znanosti i Umjetnosti u Dubrovniku |language=hr |volume=56 |issue=56/1 |pages=147–197 |doi=10.21857/mwo1vczp2y |issn=1330-0598 |doi-access=free}}</ref>), married in 1613 to Vizier Kurşuncuzade Mustafa Pasha;<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi"/><ref name="dumas">{{cite book |first=Juliette |last=Dumas |title=Les perles de nacre du sultanat: Les princesses ottomanes (mi-XVe – mi-XVIIIe siècle)|year=2013 |page=464}}</ref><ref name=miovic/>{{rp|p=168}}
* Sehime Sultan,<ref name="Kahya">{{cite thesis | last=Kahya | first=Ozan | title=11 numaralı İstanbul Mahkemesi defteri (H.1073) : tahlil ve metin | date=2011 | url=https://acikerisim.msgsu.edu.tr/xmlui/handle/20.500.14124/3808 | pages=219, 303–304}}</ref> married in 1613 to Topal Mehmed Pasha, formerly a Kapucıbaşı;<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi"/><ref name="pecevi"/><ref name="dumas"/><ref name=miovic/>{{rp|p=168}}
* A daughter married to Davud Pasha;<ref name="pecevi">{{cite book|first1=Ibrahim|last1=Peçevi|first2=Bekir Sıtkı|last2=Baykal|title=Peçevi Tarih, Volume 2|year=1982|publisher=Başbakanlık Matbaası|pages=3}}</ref>
* A daughter married in 1613 to Kücük Mirahur Mehmed Agha;<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi">{{cite book | last1=Efendi | first1=A. | last2=Yılmazer | first2=Z. | title=Topçular Katibi ʻAbdülkādir (Kadrı) Efendi Tarihi: metin ve tahlıl | publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi | series=Publications de la Société d'histoire turque | issue=v. 1 | year=2003 | isbn=978-975-16-1585-5 | url= https://www.scribd.com/document/378549786/1592-1644-Topcular-Katibi-Abdulkadir-Efendi-Tarihi | page=624}}</ref>
* A daughter married in 1613 to Mirahur-i Evvel Muslu Agha;<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi"/>
* A daughter married in 1613 to Bostancıbaşı Hasan Agha;<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi"/>
* A daughter married in 1613 to Cığalazade Mehmed Bey (son of [[Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha]] and [[Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan#Daughters|Safiye Hanimsultan]]);<ref name="tezcan" /><ref name="Efendi"/>
*Nineteen daughters, died of plague in 1598; 
* A daughter who died young on 29 July 1585.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Pazan | first=İbrahim | title=A Comparison of Seyyid Lokman's Records of the Birth, Death and Wedding Dates of Members of Ottoman Dynasty (1566-1595) with the Records in Ottoman Chronicles | journal=Marmara Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi | publisher=Marmara University | volume=10 | issue=1 | date=2023-06-06 | issn=2148-6743 | doi=10.16985/mtad.1120498 | pages=245–271| doi-access=free }}</ref>