Şehzade Cihangir


Şehzade Cihangir was an Ottoman prince. He was the sixth and youngest child of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sultan.

Life

Şehzade Cihangir was born on 9 December 1531 at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. From birth, he had many health issues and developed a humped back, which kept him out of the competition for the throne and made him very sensitive and impressionable. However, he was the subject of attention from his parents and was very well-educated. He never participated in any campaigns or wars, and never ruled a province.

Death

On 6 October 1553, during his father's Persian campaign, on which he accompanied him, Cihangir's elder half-brother and heir apparent to the throne, Şehzade Mustafa, was executed on the orders of his father. Afterwards, Cihangir's health deteriorated. About a month later, on 27 November 1553, he died of grief inside his tent at the military camp in Konya. After his death, his body was taken to Istanbul where he was buried alongside his older brother Şehzade Mehmed in the Şehzade Mosque.
The Istanbul neighborhood of Cihangir was named after Şehzade Cihangir when his father had Mimar Sinan build a wooden mosque there in 1559 to commemorate his death. The area, which overlooks the Bosphorous, was one of Cihangir's favorite places. The neighborhood's name comes from this mosque.

In popular culture

In the television series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Cihangir is played by Turkish actor Tolga Sarıtaş.