158 | A Princess Constructs Ottoman Dynastic Identity
women in Islamic history. The deed also enumerates the other buildings of the
complex in addition to the mosque: a madrasa (college), a guesthouse, a cara-
vansary, and an imaret that included a kitchen, pantry, and storage cellar. This
complex provided for travelers to and from Asia since it was located where boats
landed coming from the European side of the Bosphorus. This is where the ferry
crossing to Üsküdar still lands today.
The inscription over the main entrance identified Mihrimah as the patron
of the complex: “The foundation was laid for the construction of this strong-pil-
lared Friday mosque by the patroness of pious foundations and good deeds, the
pearl of the crown of the sultanate... the daughter of the sovereign of sovereigns
of the East and West,... Sultan Süleyman Khan.” This mosque had a dome
smaller than that of the mosque built as a memorial for her brother, Mehmed;
however, it far outshone any mosque built by any princess up to this time.
Mihrimah’s mosque of the 1540s proclaimed her status, favored daughter of Sü-
leyman and Hurrem and wife of the grand vizier, to all. Mihrimah’s name liter-
ally means “sun and moon,” and this mosque’s design declared that Mihrimah
was its patron because it filled the building with light, and the endowment deed
also used light images.
The next mosque complex bearing witness to Mihrimah’s architectural pa-
tronage is that for her brother-in-law, Sinan. Although Sinan Pasha had at least
one surviving daughter, he designated Mihrimah as the executor of his will and
entrusted his possessions to her. Mihrimah commissioned Mimar Sinan to build
a mosque for Sinan at Beşiktaş, which was completed in 1555–1556. This mosque
was built near the tomb of Hayreddin Pasha, linking Sinan’s identity to that of
the great admiral Hayreddin. Its plan resembled earlier Ottoman mosques built
in the fifteenth century at Edirne. The purpose behind this design was to cre-
ate a connection between this earlier period, supposedly characterized by gaza
on land, with the sixteenth-century gaza on the sea prosecuted by the Ottoman
navy. The mosque’s design allowed huge numbers of men to perform prayers
there before the departure of the fleet from Beşiktaş. It became the model for
other mosques that Mimar Sinan built for grand admirals.
Mihrimah was also closely involved in the construction of Rüstem Pasha’s
mosque, which was built after Rüstem’s death. Mihrimah was the executor of
Rüstem’s will, as well as Sinan’s, and she used her influence with Süleyman to
overcome any obstacles in the way of its construction, allowing the mosque to
occupy a much greater space, seventeen times larger, than the prayer hall that
it replaced. The ultimate result, a stunning mosque that outshone that of any
other grand vizier, owed much to the influence of Mihrimah, who—evidence
indicates—had a significant impact on the design and the actual progress of its
construction. Its dome was the largest of any mosque built for a grand vizier.