Hüma Hatun

Hatice Âlime (Halime) Hüma Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: هما خاتون‎, c. 1410 - September 1449) was the fourth wife of Ottoman Sultan Murad II and mother of Mehmed II.

Origins

She was a slave girl. Nothing is known of her family background, apart from the fact that an Ottoman inscription (vakfiye) describes her as Hātun binti Abdullah (Daughter of Abdullah); at that time, people who converted to Islam were given the name Abdullah meaning Servant of God, which is evidence of her non-Muslim origin. Her name, hüma, means "bird of paradise", after the Persian legend. There are two theories on her origin: She was an Italian named Stella; She was Serbian, some sources saying that she was a princess from the Principality of Zeta and a relative of Đurađ II Balšić.S. Runciman and Ilber Ortayli support that she was of Slavic descent.

Death

She died in September 1449 in Bursa.

Burial place

Her tomb is located at the site known as "Hatuniye Kümbedi" (Hatuniye Tomb) to the east of Muradiye Mosque. The quarter where her tomb lies has been known thus far as Hüma Hatun Quarter. Her name is not inscribed on the 1449 dated epitaph of the türbe, but she is praised as an excellent Muslim mother. In addition, her name is given as "Hüma Hatun", the mother of Mehmed II in Bursa Şer’iyye sicils (The notebooks number 31, 201 and 370).