Gürcü Hatun
Encyclopedia
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
princess and favorite wife of Kaykhusraw II
Kaykhusraw II
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II was the sultan of the Seljuqs of Rûm from 1237 until his death in 1246. He ruled at the time of the Babai uprising and the Mongol invasion of Anatolia. He led the Seljuq army with its Christian allies at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243...
, Seljuk Sultan of Rum. After his death in 1246 she married the Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n strongman Pervane Mu‘in al-Din Suleyman
Pervâne
The Pervâne Mu‘in al-Din Suleyman was for a time a key player in Anatolian politics involving the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, the Mongol Ilkhanate and the Mamluks under Baybars.- Biography :...
. She was the mother of Kayqubad II
Kayqubad II
Kayqubad II was the youngest of the three sons of the Seljuq Sultan of Rûm Kaykhusraw II. As son of the sultan’s favorite wife, the Georgian princess Tamar, he was designated heir. He had a weak constitution and was likely seven years old at the time of his father’s death in 1246, being born ca...
and patron to Rumi. Her title Gürcü Hatun means "Georgian Lady"; her baptismal name was Tamar, a biblical name popular in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
.
Gürcü Hatun was born Princess Tamar (Tamara) to Queen Rusudan
Rusudan of Georgia
Queen Rusudan , from the Bagrationi dynasty, ruled Georgia in 1223–1245.- Life :Daughter of Queen Tamar of Georgia by David Soslan, she succeeded her brother George IV of Georgia on January 18, 1223. George’s untimely death marked the beginning of the end of the Georgian “golden age”...
of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Moghis ad-Din, son of the Seljuk sultan Tugrul II, whom Rusudan was forced to marry to secure peace and end constant invasions of Georgia by Seljuks.
Like most Georgians, Tamar initially remained an Eastern Orthodox Christian
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
but is known to have converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
at a later point, with no further information on how the conversion came about. It is said that the sun on the Seljuk coins of that time symbolizes Tamar, while the lion stands for the sultan himself. This emblem, known as shir-i hurshid (Lion and Sun), later became widespread in the Islamic world (though its origins date back to much earlier times). After the death of Kaykhusraw in 1246, the government of the sultanate was seized by the Pervane Mu‘in al-Din Suleyman
Pervâne
The Pervâne Mu‘in al-Din Suleyman was for a time a key player in Anatolian politics involving the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, the Mongol Ilkhanate and the Mamluks under Baybars.- Biography :...
who married Gürcü Hatun.
She is known to have patronized science and art, and to have been on friendly terms with the famous Sufi poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi in particular. She also sponsored the construction of the poet’s tomb
Mevlana Museum
The Mevlâna museum, located in Konya, Turkey, is the mausoleum of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Sufi mystic also known as Mevlâna or Rumi. It was also the dervish lodge of the Mevlevi order, better known as the whirling dervishes....
in Konya
Konya
Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...
.