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Research Article (General Section)

No. 9 (2025): Dossier: "Mimesis in Philosophy and Literature"

Love, Duty and Sacrifice: The Letters of Pargalı İbrāḥīm to Muḥsine Hanım

DOI
https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1796290
Submitted
10.03.2025
Published
23.10.2025

Abstract

This paper examines eleven letters exchanged between Grand Vizier İbrāḥīm Pasha and his wife Muḥsine Hanım. The collection consists of ten letters from İbrāḥīm and one from his wife. The examination unfolds across three themes: political reporting, emotional support, and separation. The argument is put forward that, while the content of the letters is personal, they also serve a broader purpose. İbrāḥīm likely uses these letters to apprise his wife of military victories and to communicate with a broader audience, reflecting his dual role as a statesman and family man. The analysis demonstrates how these letters assert political legitimacy while concurrently strengthening emotional bonds, thus revealing the complex intersection of power, faith, and personal devotion in the life of a high-ranking Ottoman statesman. By foregrounding the emotional side of a Grand Vizier, this article contributes to the history of emotions in the early modern Ottoman world and offers a rare analysis of epistolary material that blends personal devotion with political self-fashioning.

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