Şehzade Bayezid (son of Ahmed I)

Not to be confused with Şehzade Bayezid.

Şehzade Bayezid (Ottoman Turkish: شهزاده بايزيد; November 1612 - 27 July 1635) was an Ottoman prince and son of Sultan Ahmed I.

Şehzade Bayezid
Born	November 1612 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (modern day Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	27 July 1635(1635-07-27) (aged 22)[1] Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Ahmed I Mausoleum, Sultan Ahmed Mosque
Father	Ahmed I
Religion	Sunni Islam

Life

He was born to Ahmed I and an unknown concubine. He was a few months younger than his half-brother Şehzade Murad (future sultan Murad IV). When Ahmed died on 22 November 1617, he was placed in the Kafes with his half brothers Mehmed, Murad, Selim, Suleiman, Kasim and Ibrahim in unknown period during the reign of his uncle sultan Mustafa I and half brother Osman II. After Mustafa was deposed and replaced by Osman, his half-brother Mehmed was executed under the orders of Osman one year before being murdered by his enemies, which brought Mustafa once again to the throne. After Mustafa was deposed for a second time, Bayezid's half-brother Murad was placed in the throne before him due to being older by a few months. However, on 27 July 1635, he was executed along with his half-brothers Suleiman and Selim. The orders were carried out by Murad, because he had reason to believe that the Janissaries were about to rebel to overthrow him.

Death

He was murdered under the orders of Murad, on 27 July 1635, in Topkapı Palace due to some rumors that Murad's enemies wanted Bayezid enthroned. He was buried in the Ahmed I Mausoleum, Sultan Ahmed Mosque.^[2][3]

In literature and popular culture

• Jean Racine wrote a play called Bajazet which was based on the life of Şehzade who was preferred on the throne over the existing sultan his brother Murad IV.^[4]
• Şehzade Bayezid is portrayed by Yiğit Uçan in the 2015 Turkish historical non-fiction TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem.^[5] In the series, he is the son of a fictional concubine named Gülbahar Sultan,^[6] and his death does not match the historical one, although he is still executed by Murad.

References

1. Türkischer Biographischer Index. 10 November 2011. ISBN 9783110965773.
2. Şefika Şule Erçetin (28 November 2016). Women Leaders in Chaotic Environments: Examinations of Leadership Using Complexity Theory. Springer. p. 77. ISBN 978-3-319-44758-2.
3. Mustafa Çağatay Uluçay (2011). Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları. Ötüken, Ankara. p. 78. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
4. "Bajazet | play by Racine".
5. Muhtesem Yüzyil: Kösem (TV Series 2015–2017), Yiğit Uçan: Sehzade Bayezid
6. In the series, all concubines who gave a child to a Sultan or to a Şehzade are entitled "Sultan". In historical reality, the title was reserved for Haseki Sultan, who for Ahmed was only Kösem Sultan. The other concubines were simply entitled "Hatun" (Woman, Mistress or lady).