Şehsuvar Sultan

Şehsuvar Sultân
Burial Place of Şehsuvar Sultan, Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul
Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure	13 December 1754 – 16 April 1756
Predecessor	Ayşe Hanım Sultan
Successor	Mihrişah Sultan
Born	Maria 1682
Died	16 April 1756 (aged 74) Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Burial	27 April 1756 Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul
Spouse	Mustafa II
Issue	Osman III
Religion	Islam, previously Orthodox Christian

Şehsuvar Sultan (1682–16 April 1756) was the consort (kadinefendi) to the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa II (r. 1695–1703) and Valide Sultan to their son Osman III (r. 1754–1757). Her resting place is located inside the Nuruosmaniye Mosque in Istanbul.

A Serb noblewoman, her given name was Maria (Turkish: Mari). She was born in 1682. She became the second concubine of Sultan Mustafa II (r. 1695–1703), after first concubine Saliha Sultan (born Elisaveta, a Greek), who was the mother of Mahmud I (r. 1730-1754). The women of the Ottoman sultan lived in the Imperial Harem, one of the most important elements of the Ottoman court. According to Ottoman tradition, she was given an Arabic name. Şehsuvar and Mustafa II had one son, Osman III, born on January 2, 1699.

The Edirne event saw Mustafa II dethroned, with his brother Ahmed III succeeding as the new Sultan (r. 1703–1730). Mahmud I, Mustafa II's first son and the older half-brother of Osman III, succeeded as Sultan following Patrona Halil's orchestrated riot. Mahmud I was then succeeded by his half-brother Osman III, thus Şehsuvar became the new Valide sultan.

She died on 16 April and was buried in the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, on 27 April 1756. The mosque had been finished during the rule of Osman III, who buried his mother (Şehsuvar) in a separate türbe (tomb).