Göde Ahmed: The Grandson of Mehmed II and Uzun Hasan

The son of Fatih's greatest enemy fled his father and sought refuge with Fatih.

In the east, Fatih has only one rival left.

Uzun Hasan, ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu. At Otlukbeli, Ottoman cannons speak, and Uzun Hasan suffers a crushing defeat.

After the defeat, his eldest son, Uğurlu Mehmet, rebels against his own father.

The rebellion is put down. Uğurlu has only one place left to turn.

His father's greatest enemy. Fatih does not punish this prince, who fought against him at Otlukbeli.

He welcomes him into his palace and marries him to his daughter, Gevherhan Sultan and makes him governor of Sivas.

For Fatih, this son-in-law is a bargaining chip.

When Uzun Hasan dies, his own son- in- law will take the Aq Qoyunlu throne.

One winter's day, news reaches Sivas. Uzun Hasan is dead.

Uğurlu sets out at once to claim the throne.

He reaches Erzincan and is killed there.

Yet Uzun Hasan is still alive that day. In fact, he has only a few weeks left to live.

According to the sources, his death is the result of a plot devised by his stepmother, Selçuk Şah Begüm.

A small child is left behind. Ahmet. His father is Uzun Hasan's son, and his mother is Fatih's daughter.

In other words, the grandson shared by two enemies.

Fatih has him brought to Istanbul. The child grows up in the Ottoman palace.

Because he is short, they call him Göde Ahmet.

Then he marries his uncle Sultan Bayezid's daughter.

Twenty years later, the Akkoyunlu lords write to him.

They summon him to the throne. In 1497, Göde Ahmet sits on his grandfather Uzun Hasan's throne in Tabriz.

The reckoning Fatih couldn't settle with his son- in- law comes true through his grandson.

But Göde Ahmet tries to rule the Akkoyunlu like an Ottoman.

He abolishes some twenty taxes that have no place in Sharia, and takes back the lords' lands.

The beys rise up. He is killed near Isfahan that winter.

His reign doesn't even last a year. But the story doesn't end here.

Şah Ismail is the grandson born to Uzun Hasan's daughter.

Yavuz Sultan Selim is the grandson born to Fatih's son.

The two rulers who met at Çaldıran in 1514 were Göde Ahmet's cousins.

The grandsons carried on their grandfathers' war.

Göde Ahmet's mother, Gevherhan Sultan, still lies today in her mother's tomb, in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque.

Do you think Göde Ahmet was an Ottoman or an Akkoyunlu?

Two enemies were parted by war, while one child brought them together.