Ismihan Sultan was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Selim II and Nurbanu Sultan.
Background
She was the granddaughter of Suleiman the Magnificent (reign 1520-1566) and his favourite consort and legal wife Hürrem Sultan, sister of Sultan Murad III (reign 1574-1595) and aunt of Sultan Mehmed III (reign 1595-1603). Ismihan or Esmahan was born in 1544 at Manisa to Selim II and his favourite legal wife Nurbanu Sultan. She was the most powerful daughter of Selim II because she was married to the Grand Vizir.
Career
In contrast, strong alliances were made for the daughters of Selim, the prince who would succeed Suleiman: Emahan married Sokollu Mehmed, Gevherhan the admiral Piyalen, and Şah the chief falconer Hasan Agha. On 1 August 1562 Suleiman celebrated the triple wedding of his heir Selim"s daughters Esmahan, Gevherhan and Şah to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Piyale Pasha and Hasan Agha respectively. After the death of the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, the princess"s first choice for a new husband, Ösdemiroğlu Osman Pasha was not interesting.
Her next choice was Kalaylıkoz Ali Pasha, the governor of Buda, who agreed to the marriage, but when the imperial order came demanding his divorce, his wife"s sorrow and suffering were said to have caused the city to revolt.
Her marriage to Ali Pasha took place in 1584. She died on 7 August 1585, and was buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque.
She is famous for having built the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque.