[1][2] Esma Sultan spend her time in her childhood by reading books, musical instruments and games, her mother, Sineperver, was most likely to manage these entertainments in her apartment.

[6] In 1792, when Esma was fourteen, her cousin Selim III arranged her marriage to Küçük Hüseyin Pasha, who was captain of the seas.

[8] Following that, he besieged the Vidin Castle, due to lack of soldiers and intense cold, resentment grew against Hüseyin and other statesmen, and Pasvantoğlu was pardoned.

[16] On 2 July 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte landed in Egypt in order to take over during the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Hüseyin Pasha and the navy sailed to the Mediterranean, and on 27 June 1801, the Ottomans decisively defeated the French with the help of the British Navy and signed the peace treaty with France.

One of the sons of French king Louis-Philippe I and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, on a visit, was fascinated by the princess.

However, Julia Pardoe, an English writer who was her guest, implied that, even if Esma and her maids did not realize it, their concept of "European style" was rather caricatured in relation to reality.

[22] She lived with luxury in her magnificent villa in Istanbul, but still her life passed in sadness because she could not have the one thing she wished for most; a child.

After reaching satisfactory terms with the mother and father, she adopted Rahime Perestu, one year of age.

[24] All the kalfas in Esma Sultan's villa behaved toward this child as though she were a daughter of an Ottoman imperial princess, and indeed her disposition and manners were so lovely that they became devoted to her.

Along with her mother, she played a vital role in Kabakçı revolt, which had the aim of overthrowing Selim from the throne.

[14] On the eve of Mustafa's execution on 16 November 1808, the Janissaries gathered in front of Mahmud's palace and threatened to have him dethroned and place Esma Sultan on the throne.

[19][14][30] Following these events, she and her half-sister Hibetullah Sultan were kept under close surveillance by Mahmud, and they both were forbade to have communications with the outsiders.

[15] She exercised great influence over her brother Mahmud during his reign of 31 years; she became his chief advisor and was consulted regularly on state matters.

[15] Esma Sultan, bought many farms around Istanbul, built palaces in Eyüp, Maçka, and Tirnakçı and Kuruçeşme mansions in Boğaziçi.

She owned a palace in Divanyolu, kiosks in Çamlıca, Maçka and Eyüp and a waterfront mansion in Kuruçeşme at Bosporus.

[35] As the guest of Esma Sultan, Miss Julia Pardoe, who went to Tirnakçı, gave detailed information about the mansion.

[32][35][38] Following her death, her properties and wealth were bequeathed to her niece Adile Sultan, and later her daughter Hayriye Hanımsultan.