Ismihan Kaya Sultan (, "purity of the Khan" or "highness of the Khan" and "chastity"; 1633 – 28 February 1658) was an Ottoman princess. She was the daughter of Ottoman sultan Murad IV. The famed Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi noted a specific encounter with Kaya Sultan in his Book of Travels. An entire chapter of the book is dedicated to Kaya Sultan, from her pregnancy to her death. She was the most famous child of Murad IV and the favorite granddaughter of Kösem Sultan.
Early life
Kaya was born to Sultan Murad IV. The marriage of princesses for political ends has always been used by the sultans, and Kaya was no exception. In the early 1640s, Kösem Sultan triumphed over Kaya's mother (maybe Ayşe Sultan), a concubine of her recently deceased son Murad IV in a dispute over the marital fortunes of Kaya Sultan. Kaya Sultan mother wanted her to marry one of her own political friends, the previous sultan's Silahdar (sword-bearer), Mustafa Pasha. Apparently it was also the will of the late Murad IV, and the candidate was liked by Kaya, who declared she would marry no one but him, and Kaya's mother also tried to influence the new Sultan Ibrahim I to support her, but Kösem's nominee, Melek Ahmed, won out. At the age of 11 or 12, Kaya was married to Melek Ahmed Pasha, a future Ottoman Grand Vizier of Abkhazian origin, who was in his mid 40s. The year of their marriage is given as August 1644. However, Kaya was extremely hostile towards her husband, as evident on her wedding night when she stabbed him with a dagger, and declared she would exercise her right as imperial princess to never consummate the marriage. In addition to her distaste for her husband, she stated that she had received a prophecy that she would die if she had a daughter with her husband. Melek Ahmed accepted this, also because he could not do anything else by virtue of his wife's higher rank.
Married life
Despite the turbulent start, the marriage eventually turned out to be very happy. Melek Ahmed adored his wife and showered her with kindness and gifts, while Kaya discovered that she respected her husband and proved to be an excellent support to him, managing his assets and advising him on political matters, until his appointment as Grand Vizier. However, finally, after seven years, Kösem Sultan ordered both of them to complete the wedding. Kaya obeyed and soon became pregnant, giving birth to a daughter. This made her forget the dire predictions about childbirth.
Evliya Çelebi regarded Kaya Sultan as a prime example of the dynasty's beneficence. He also noted that among all the princesses and their husbands, none got on as well as Kaya and Melek.
Elviya describes her as "a racing lioness, a true daughter of Sultan Murad" and recounts how, in the latter stages of her pregnancy, she rushed to Uskudar in a carriage to rescue her husband, who she was told was the target of an assassination.
After the death of Kaya, Melek reportedly threw himself on her coffin and wept uncontrollably, a behavior strongly frowned upon by traditional Ottoman costum.
Exile
In 1647 Ibrahim I, sultan after the death of Kaya's father in 1640, who was mentally unstable, decided to legally marry his eighth Haseki, Hümaşah Sultan. Kaya, together with her aunts Ayşe Sultan, Fatma Sultan, and Hanzade Sultan had to suffer the humiliation of serving the bride as a handmaid, standing silently behind her, holding her jug, soap, basin and towel.
Despite this, Ibrahim was not satisfied and, accused of disrespecting his new wife, he exiled them to Edirne, confiscating their lands and jewels to give them to Hümaşah.
It is also reported that Ibrahim particularly hated Kaya.
Kaya returned with the others to Constantinople the following year, when Ibrahim was deposed and executed. His six-year-old son, Mehmed IV, ascended the throne, first under the regency of Kösem Sultan, grandmother of the new sultan, as well as Kaya, and then under Turhan Sultan, his own mother.