# Halime Sultan (حلیمه سلطان)
**Halime Sultan** (حلیمه سلطان) was a consort of Sultan Mehmed III and the mother of [Mustafa I](https://www.edgepedia.org/mustafa-i), whom she served as valide sultan (queen mother) during his two reigns, 1617 to 1618 and 1622 to 1623[1](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf) • [2](https://ttk.gov.tr/osmanli-padisahlari/). During her son's reigns she acted as his regent and, in the assessment of one modern study, the de facto co-ruler of the empire, though her periods in power were short and her historical record is thin[3](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position | Consort (concubine) of Mehmed III; valide sultan to Mustafa I[1](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf) |
| Son's reigns | Mustafa I ruled 1617–1618 and again 1622–1623[2](https://ttk.gov.tr/osmanli-padisahlari/) |
| Political role | Acted as Mustafa's regent and de facto co-ruler during his reigns[3](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf) |
| Court rivalry | Her rivalry with Kösem Sultan dominated the court during Mustafa's time[3](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf) |
| Tenure length | Like Handan Sultan and Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan, she held the valide role for roughly two years, too short to play a major political role[1](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf) |
| Historiography | She has long remained anonymous in historiography, and primary sources for the era are limited[4](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/E24F7B274DCC4322849D32BCC61A0FF7) |
## Identity and sources
Halime Sultan entered the harem of [Mehmed III](https://www.edgepedia.org/mehmed-iii) as a concubine and bore him sons, including Mustafa, who was born around 1600 or earlier[1](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf). Günhan Börekçi, a historian of the early seventeenth-century Ottoman court (Doç. Dr. at [Central European University](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-european-university), Budapest), notes that she was the mother of Mustafa I but "has long remained anonymous in historiography," and that the limited number and scope of available Ottoman primary sources present a serious obstacle for any scholar trying to establish what a regent actually did at court in this crisis-ridden era[4](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/E24F7B274DCC4322849D32BCC61A0FF7).
## Prince Mahmud and the succession crisis of 1603
Halime's elder son [Şehzade Mahmud](https://www.edgepedia.org/sehzade-mahmud-son-of-mehmed-iii) was executed on suspicion of plotting to seize the throne. According to contemporary sources summarized by Börekçi, the tragic end of Mahmud was triggered when Halime Sultan asked a Sufi sheikh to tell her son's fortune[4](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/E24F7B274DCC4322849D32BCC61A0FF7). The execution paved the way for Prince Ahmed to succeed his father as [Ahmed I](https://www.edgepedia.org/ahmed-i), and it suddenly brought the male line of the [Ottoman dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ottoman-dynasty) to the brink of extinction, leaving Mustafa as the dynasty's remaining male representative[4](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/E24F7B274DCC4322849D32BCC61A0FF7). This dynastic near-extinction is the background to Mustafa's later accession: when Ahmed I died in 1617, the throne passed for the first time to a brother rather than a son, and Mustafa became sultan[1](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf).
## Valide sultan and regent
Mustafa's first reign lasted from 1617 to 1618, and his second from 1622 to 1623[2](https://ttk.gov.tr/osmanli-padisahlari/). Because of Mustafa's mental disability, Halime held power in his place; one modern study describes Mustafa as a puppet in his mother's hands and states that as his mother she acted as his regent and the de facto co-ruler of the empire[3](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf).
**Rivalry with Kösem.** The rivalry between Halime Sultan and [Kösem Sultan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kosem-sultan), the favored consort of the late Ahmed I and mother of the future sultans [Murad IV](https://www.edgepedia.org/murad-iv) and Ibrahim, dominated the court during Mustafa's time[3](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf). Mustafa's second reign was chaotic: five grand viziers served during its sixteen months, a constant and destabilizing turnover of high officials[3](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf).
**A short tenure.** In the sequence of queen mothers after [Safiye Sultan](https://www.edgepedia.org/safiye-sultan), Halime followed Handan Sultan and preceded Mahfiruz Hatice Sultan. A Ukrainian study of the harem's political role groups the three together: each played the valide role for about two years, and none played an important role in the political life of the empire because of these short tenures[1](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf). This places Halime in the early, transitional phase of the period historians call the [Sultanate of Women](https://www.edgepedia.org/sultanate-of-women), before Kösem Sultan's four decades of dominance[5](https://www.know-your-history.com/articles/kosem-sultan).
## The name "Halime" and its namesakes
The name Halime attaches to several distinct figures, and the historical Halime Sultan is the least documented of them. A widely known Halime Sultan in popular culture is the wife of Ertuğrul Gazi and mother of [Osman I](https://www.edgepedia.org/osman-i), but this name does not appear in early Ottoman sources: the fifteenth-century chronicles of Âşıkpaşazâde and Neşrî construct the dynasty's lineage only through men and never name Ertuğrul's wife, and no reliable historical record connects the name to the thirteenth century[6](https://www.osmanlitarihi.net/kurulus-donemi/onemli-sahsiyetler/halime-sultan). A tomb attributed to Halime Hatun stands in the garden of Ertuğrul Gazi's grave at [Söğüt](https://www.edgepedia.org/sogut); it was added in the late nineteenth century by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and the figure is variously called "Hayme Ana" and "Khaimah" in later legends[7](https://atlasislamica.com/tomb-of-halime-hatun/). A further namesake is Halîme bint Ebî Züeyb of the Banu Sa'd, the [wet nurse](https://www.edgepedia.org/wet-nurse) of the Prophet Muhammad, honored in Islamic tradition[8](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/halime).
## References
1. [Halime Sultan and the valide sultans after Mehmed III, Zaporizhzhia National University eprints](https://eprints.zu.edu.ua/43964/1/1.pdf)
2. [Osmanlı Padişahları, Türk Tarih Kurumu](https://ttk.gov.tr/osmanli-padisahlari/)
3. [Mustafa I's Reign and the Ottoman Empire](https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/docs/Mustafa%20I%27s%20Reign%20and%20Ottoman%20Empire-1.pdf)
4. [Günhan Börekçi, "İnkırâzın Eşiğinde Bir Hanedan: III. Mehmed, I. Ahmed, I. Mustafa ve 17. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Siyasi Krizi"](https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/E24F7B274DCC4322849D32BCC61A0FF7)
5. [Kösem Sultan, Islamic Heritage Encyclopaedia](https://www.know-your-history.com/articles/kosem-sultan)
6. [Halime Sultan (Ertuğrul Gazi'nin Eşi), Osmanlı Tarihi](https://www.osmanlitarihi.net/kurulus-donemi/onemli-sahsiyetler/halime-sultan)
7. [Tomb of Halime Hatun, AtlasIslamica](https://atlasislamica.com/tomb-of-halime-hatun/)
8. [Asri Çubukçu, "HALÎME", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/halime)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Royal consorts and dynastic families › Queens and empresses consort › Medieval and early modern consorts*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license