In the life of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, there were several iconic women, relations with whom influenced his fate and the further development of the Ottoman Empire. One of these women was Mahidevran.
She was born around 1500 and, according to various sources, was of Albanian, Montenegrin or Circassian origin. But, recently, historians are more and more inclined to the version that Makhidevran belonged to the noble princely Besleney family of Kanukovs and was the sister of Prince Maashuk Kanukov. An interesting fact is that Prince Maashuk Kanukov was in the service of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and received the name Ivan at baptism.
It is also proven that she had two sisters: Akile and Belkis. In various harem documents, Abdurrahman or Abdullah appears as her father.
Mahidevran was one of the seventeen concubines of Suleiman during his tenure as sanjakbey of Manisa. How exactly she got into the harem is unknown. Perhaps it was presented as a gift to the young shehzade from the Kanukov family for political reasons, or maybe she was simply captured during the next raid of the Turks.
In Manisa, Mahidevran was not the main favorite of the Sultan and received a low salary of 4 Akçe per day. The birth of Mustafa's son raised her status, but 2 concubines were still the most important: Fulane - the mother of the eldest heir Mahmud and Gulfem - the mother of the second heir Murad.
Suleiman became sultan in 1520 and moved to Istanbul with his family.
A year later, Suleiman's two eldest sons, Mahmud and Murad, died of smallpox.
The death of the sultan's sons made Mahidevran the mother of the sole heir to the throne and, according to tradition, brought her the title of chief wife (bash-kadyn), who was the second woman in the harem after the valid sultan.
Mahidevran was considered one of the most beautiful women of the harem, refined and graceful.
Her life was cloudless until an influential rival appeared on her way - Hurrem, who was destined to take the place of the main woman in the heart of Suleiman the Magnificent. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska managed to give the Sultan four sons and one daughter in a short time.
Mahidevran lost her position as the mother of the sole heir to the throne.
Some archival sources provide information that Mahidevran also had a daughter, Razie, but historians have yet to prove the veracity of these sources.
The more sons Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska gave birth to, the more influence she had on the Sultan. Suleiman's mother Hafsa Sultan tried to suppress the rivalry between her son's two concubines, but was not successful. According to the reports of the Venetian ambassador Bernardo Navagero in 1533, the struggle between the women turned into a fight, in which Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was the injured party. The result of the fight was the distance of Mahidevran from the Sultan, and her son Mustafa became her only joy.
According to the Ottoman tradition, all shehzades had to be trained in governing the country, holding the post of governor in one of the provinces, and the duties of the mother of the heir included accompanying her son and managing his harem.
Mustafa left for Manisa with his mother in 1533 after a solemn ceremony. One of the Venetian diplomats described Shehzade's court and his mother's role at the court as follows: "this amazing and brilliant court was no less than the court of his father" and "his mother, who was with him, instructed how to achieve the love of the people."
In 1541, due to negotiations between Shehzade Mustafa and the Austrian ambassador, Suleiman alienated his son from himself and transferred him to the post of governor of Amasya, planting Hurrem's eldest son, Shehzade Mehmed, in Manisa.
After 3 years, Shekhzade Mehmed dies, and Mahidevran hoped that the Sultan would return Mustafa to Manisa. However, the Sultan sent there another son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska - shehzade Selim. Another son of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, Shekhzade Bayazid, was sent to Kutahya.
According to the laws of those times, it was not the eldest son who became the sultan, but the most influential among them.
Amasya was further from the capital than Manisa and Kutahya, and Mustafa's chances of taking the throne in the event of the death of his father were less than those of his brothers.
In a situation where two of the three contenders for the throne were the sons of Hürrem Sultan, Mustafa's life was in danger.
In 1553, during the war against the Persians, Mustafa was executed on charges of treason, and a few days later, Mustafa's seven-year-old son, Mehmed, was also executed.
Mahidevran died on February 3, 1581, outliving Suleiman, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska and all their children.
She was buried in Bursa in the Muradiye complex in the mausoleum of her son Shehzade Mustafa.