A Woman Between the Karamanid and the Ottoman: İlaldi Hatun

Abstract

İlaldı Hatun was the daughter of Mehmed I, the Ottoman ruler. She was born and raised in the Ottoman palace, then married to the Karamanid ruler İbrahim Bey. In other words, she was married into the Karamanids palace, leaving the Ottoman palace. The main reason for this marriage was politics. Marriages between the members of principalities referred to alliance between them and being subjected to the strong one. Despite this, there could be disagreements. İlaldı Hatun is the story of a woman who had hovered between war and peace. Because she became a mediator after the war between the Karamanid ruler İbrahim Bey and the Ottoman ruler Murad II. In addition, İlaldı Hatun was a philanthropist. Because she established a foundation to train huffath (memorizers of the Quran). Although the foundation has existed until the 19th century, it was abolished because of losing its importance. However, even the existence of her waqf in the historical records reveals many unknowns in terms of history as mentioned below.