Emetullah Kadın

Emetullah Banu Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: امت اللہ کدین, lit. 'Allah's servant' and 'Queen'; also wrote as Ümmetullah; dead in 1740) was the chief consort (BaşKadin) of the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III. She was his favorite consort and the mother of his firstborn and favorite child, the princess Fatma Sultan.

Emetullah Kadın
BaşKadın
Reign	1703/1704 - 1 October 1730
Born	ante 1690
Died	1740 Eski Saray, Constantinople
Burial	Istanbul
Consort of	Ahmed III
Issue	Fatma Sultan
Names Emetullah Banu Kadın Efendi
Dynasty	Ottoman
Religion	Sunni Islam (converted)

Biography

Her origins are unknown. She was born before 1690 and entered in Ahmed III's harem when he was enthroned, in August 1703. In the harem, she was renamed Emetullah Banu and became Ahmed's first and favorite consort, with the title of BaşKadin (chief consort). Ahmed loved her more than his other consorts, and honoreted her with a mosque, a school and a fountain.^[1][2][3]

On 22 September 1704, Emetullah give birth the firstborn of Ahmed, a daughter, Fatma Sultan, who became Ahmed's favorite child. It is unknown if she had other children.^[1][2][3]

In 1730, the Tulip Era ended with the Patrona Halil's rebellion and Ahmed was dethroned and imprisoned, with his daughter Fatma and Fatma's husband, the Grand Vizir Ibrahim Pasha. Emetullah, with the other consorts, lost her property and jewels and was confinated in the Eski Saray, where she died in 1740. She was buried in Istanbul, near the tomb of Lala Mustafa Pasha or these of Neberf Kalfa, an harem's teacher, and Abdulganf, a muezzin.^[1][2][3]

Issue

By Ahmed III, Emetullah had at least a child, a daughter:^[1][2][3]

• Fatma Sultan (1704 - 1733). She was the firstborn and the favorite child of her father. She married twice and had two sons and two daughters with her second husband, the Grand Vizir Ibrahim Pasha. With him, She was the real power during the Tulip Era.

Charity

Emetullah was a benevolent and caring woman, very active in charity.

In 1707, Ahmed granted her the income from a bakery in Galata, an inn in Simkeşehan with over 150 rooms, and land on which over 30 shops stood. With the money, Emetullah financed a mosque, a mekteb and a fountain, providing education to 50 children and jobs to about 100 people. In 1728, Emetullah built three more fountains at Ayazma, Imrahor and Uskudar, earning the praise of the poet Ahmed Nedim.^[1][2][3]

Most of the structures were demolished in 1956, when a new road was built between Bayezid Square and Aksaray.^[1][2][3]

References

1. Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: valide sultanlar, hatunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak bilimsel kitaplar. İstanbul: Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-975-329-623-6.
2. Meḥmed S̱üreyyā; Kahraman, Seyit Ali (1996). Akbayar, Nuri (ed.). Sicill-i Osmanî. Eski Yazıdan Yeni Yazıya. Kültür Bakanlığı, Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı. İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları. p. 11. ISBN 978-975-333-038-1.
3. Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları (in Turkish). Ötüken. pp. 125–127. ISBN 978-975-437-840-5.