Nefise Hatun

Nefise Melek Sultan Hatun (نفیسہ خاتون; "precious" and "angel"; c. 1363 - after 1402) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Murad I of the Ottoman Empire. She was the wife of Alaeddin Ali Bey of Karaman, the ruler of Karamanids, the mother of the next Karamanid ruler, Mehmed II of Karaman and the first political active Ottoman princess known.

Life
Her father served her to try to calm Alaeddin Bey, the son and successor of Halil Bey, ruler of Karamanids. He therefore married her to him in 1378. After the marriage, Nefise became known as Sultan Hatun. In the early days of the reign of Murad, Alaeddin, tried to increase the embarrassment that the revolt of the landowners of Galatia had raised Murad, and to encourage the insurrection by a diversion powerful, excited the Warsaks to join the rebels' Angora; but the capture of the city and wedding of Nefise Hatun, Murad with Alaeddin, restored peace for some time. From that moment, the envious Alaeddin sought every opportunity to break the treaty which united the ruler of the Ottomans.

As seen, the union did not have the desired effect. Therefore, to resume hostilities with the participation of two of the sons of Murad I, Yakub Çelebi and Bayezid, therefore, brethren Nefise. Defeated, Alaeddin took refuge in Konya. To get out of this mess, he sent Nefise and their children to her father, to ask for forgiveness from the Sultan.

According to Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall:

"...Murad besieged the city for twelve days without having dared to storm, when Alaeddin, realizing the dangers of his position, decided to send his wife in the camp of the Ottomans. Sultan yielded to the entreaties of his daughter and agreed to grant peace to Alaeddin, under the condition that he would come and kiss his hand, in sign of submission. Prince Karamanie resigned himself to this humiliation which gave him possession of Konya and all its provinces, and from that moment peace was restored between the two sovereigns..."

Alphonse de Lamartine tells the scene with more details:

"...Iconic, besieged for twelve days, would yield to the onslaught of the Ottomans; the door opens, a procession emerges is the daughter of Murad, the wife of Alaeddin, followed by his children, who just crave his father's forgiveness of her husband. Murad, moved by the sight and the tears of his daughter, request another repair Alaeddin than coming to kiss his hand in token of vassalage, in front of Konya..."

In 1387 Nefise built the Theological College of Karaman.

Nefise tried to maintain peace between her husband and her brother Bayezid I, who became sultan upon Murad's death in 1389, but she failed: in 1397 her men faced each other in the Battle of Akçay and Alaeddin was killed, making Nefise a widow. Bayezid I ordered her to return to Bursa with her children. However, upon Bayezid's capture by Timur in 1402, she returned to Karaman, where her eldest son, Mehmed, became ruler.

Nefise died after 1402 to Karaman.

Issue
By her marriage, she at least had three sons:


 * Nasiraeddin Mehmed II of Karaman (1379-1423), who was Alaeddinʻs successor after his death;
 * Alaeddin Ali II (1381-1424); Karaman's ruler after his brother;
 * Oğuz Bey (probably died in infancy).