Background
She was the daughter of Şeyhülislam Hacı Mehmed Esadullah Efendi, member of one of the most venerated ulema linages in Ottoman history.
She was the daughter of Şeyhülislam Hacı Mehmed Esadullah Efendi, member of one of the most venerated ulema linages in Ottoman history.
From the time the Ottomans endeavored to transform themselves from an outstanding family of ghazis, whose status vis-à-vis other prominent ghazi families was that of primus inter pares, into a ruling dynasty from which sovereignty emanated, one of the most fundamental notions that guided this ruling house was the prerequisite of avoiding consequential ties with the free aristocracy within the society. Her marriage appears to have taken place in February of 1622 only a few months before Nevizade Atai, compiler of a seventeenth century ulema biography, described Esad Efendi as "a second Edebali" because he was honored by the tie of marriage to the dynasty and foremost among the ulema. By the marriage of Akile Hatun to Osman II her father"s relations with the sultan cooled, in part at least because of the marriage.
However, Privy Purse account suggest that Akile never entered the harem of the imperial palace.
An incident related by the Venetian ambassador Simon Contarini in his 1612 suggests that the prospect of the daughter residing within the imperial harem may have been an important element in the unpopularity of the marriage.
