Şehzade Kasım

Şehzade Kasım (Ottoman Turkish: شهزاده قاسم‎; 1614 – 17 February 1638) was an Ottoman prince and the son of Sultan Ahmed I and his Haseki Kösem Sultan.^[1][2] He was the brother of Murad IV and Ibrahim, and half-brother of Osman II.

Şehzade Kasım
The tomb of Şehzade Kasım is located inside the Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Born	1614 Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	17 February 1638(1638-02-17) (aged 23–24) Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople
Names Turkish: Şehzade Kasım bin Ahmed I Ottoman Turkish: شہزادہ قاسم
Dynasty	Ottoman
Father	Ahmed I
Mother	Kösem Sultan
Religion	Islam

Life

Şehzade Kasım was born in 1614 in Topkapı Palace to Ahmed I and Kösem Sultan. Following his father’s early death in 1617, he, along with his mother and brothers, were banished to the Old Palace (Eski Sarayı).

After Murad’s accession in 1623, Kasım was confined in the Kafes, which was the part of the Imperial Harem where possible successors to the throne were kept under a form of house-arrest and constant surveillance by the palace eunuchs.^[3][4]

Efforts to save Ibrahim from execution

According to the Turkish historian Necdet Sakaoğlu, during Murad IV’s chaotic reign, Kasım hid and protected his younger brother, Ibrahim, in secret parts of the palace by portraying him as innocent and incompetent.^[5]

Death

During the celebrations of the Ottoman victory at Erivan in 1635, his brothers Bayezid, Selim and Süleyman were executed, leaving Kasım as the heir apparent to the Ottoman throne.

On 17 February 1638, Kasım was terrified of arousing any suspicion that he had designs on the throne. Thus he was all humility when he presented himself before Murad to pay his respects and wish him success on his expedition to reconquer Baghdad.^[6] Murad accepted Kasım’s wishes, and then on that same day, Murad ordered his execution.^[2]

He was buried in Murad III's türbe, in the Hagia Sofia mosque.

The execution of Kasim was the last case of fratricide in the Ottoman dynasty, after which the Law of Fratricide fell into disuse and was definitively replaced by agnatic seniority as a law of succession.

In popular culture

In the television series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Kasım is played by Turkish actor Doğaç Yıldız.

References

1. Singh, Nagendra Kr (2000). International encyclopaedia of Islamic dynasties (reproduction of the article by M. Cavid Baysun "Kösem Walide or Kösem Sultan" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam vol V). Anmol Publications PVT. pp. 423–424. ISBN 81-261-0403-1. Through her beauty and intelligence, Kösem Walide was especially attractive to Ahmed I, and drew ahead of more senior wives in the palace. She bore the sultan four sons – Murad, Süleyman, Ibrahim and Kasim – and three daughters – 'Ayşe, Fatma and Djawharkhan. These daughters she subsequently used to consolidate her political influence by strategic marriages to different viziers.
2. Peirce, Leslie (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. p. 259]. ISBN 0-19-508677-5.
3. Klaus Kreiser: Der osmanische Staat 1300–1922. München 2001, S. 1.
4. John Freely: Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of Sultans in Istanbul (Tauris Parke Paperbacks) Paperback – December 30, 2016.
5. Sakaoglu, Necdet (2008). Bu Mulkun Kadin Sultanlari. Oglak. pp. 315–316. ISBN 978-9753297172.
6. Freely, John (2001). Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. p. 141. ISBN 978-1784535353.