Şivekar Sultan


Sivekar Sultan was the seventh haseki of Sultan Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire.

Life

She was from Armenian descent. According to some historians her name was Şeker Pare. Her real name was Maria, and she was the daughter of a wealthy Armenian merchant.
Şeker Pare was a plump woman. In 1644, Ibrahim appointed his servants to look for the "fattest woman" in Istanbul. Upon this order, they started to search for palace officials and eventually found an Armenian woman in Üsküdar. Şivekar became his consort. She was the given the title of seventh Haseki. She had a good relation with Cinci Hoca Pasha and with Hümaşah Sultan.
She was politically active during Ibrahim's last years. Ibrahim soon became mentally ill, and Şivekar helped sooth his tensions. She was among the strongest consorts of Ibrahim. She gave birth to a son, Şehzade Cihangir, in 1646, who died in infancy. In addition, all Damascus revenues were donated to Şivekar Sultan.
According to some historians, Şivekar was responsible for the death of all the members of Ibrahim I 's harem. Şivekar spread the gossip that one of the Sultan's concubines had been in an affair with an outsider of the palace. Ibrahim believed her and tortured many members of the harem to say a name, but to no avail. Ibrahim ordered that all his 280 concubines be put in sacks and thrown in the Bosporus. He only spared his Haseki Sultans. Only one concubine was saved by a passing ship. Kosem Sultan was furious when she knew about the incident, and summoned Şivekar to her rooms where she would have dinner with Kosem. Kosem killed Şivekar by poisoning her and told an inconsolable Ibrahim that Şivekar died of natural causes.
Şivekar Sultan founded some foundations and vakfs in her lifetime. she is buried inside Ibrahim I Mausoleum at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

In popular culture

In the 2015 Turkish historical non-fiction TV series , Şivekar Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Gümeç Alpay Aslan.