Abstract:

It is known that many sultans of Ottoman dynasty got married with foreign women. The ones like Yıldırım Bâyezid who were married to Devlet Khatun, the daughter of the Germiyan Ruler who was also a Turk himself, were substantial number. After providing the security in full sense in Anatolia, where it settled, the Ottoman Empire started to seek alliance with other Principalities here. One of them is Germiyans who are bewared of Karamans. Germiyan Ruler Süleyman Shah thought to get Murad I’s support by marrying his daughter to Murad I’s son Yıldırım Bâyezid. Sultan Murad Hudavendigâr, by marrying his son Bâyezid to Devlet Khatun who is the daughter of Süleyman Shah and Maulana descendant Mutahhara Khatun, entered into friendly relationships with this Principality. There is a wealth of information available about the outgoing and coming messengers before the wedding, the wedding gifts sent, the bride’s dowry and Kütahya, Tavşanlı, Emet and Simav regions, given as bride’s dowry. However, according to some historians Çelebi Mehmed is not the son of Devlet Khatun, daughter of Germiyan Ruler Süleyman Shah, but son of a freed concubine. This case needs to be investigated and clarified. Murad Hudavendigar signed some diplomatic treaties with statesmen whom he invited to the wedding. In this way, the wedding turned into an interstate summit. When Devlet Khatun died she was buried in the tomb, built with its original architecture in Meydancık District in Bursa, and her son Çelebi Mehmed made some donations for this tomb. In this paper, by compiling from chronicles about her tomb and archive documents, the information about the Ottoman-Germiyans relations, began with Devlet Khatun, her life, her children and her tomb in Bursa will be presented.

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