Ayşe Hafsa Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: حفصه سلطان; "womanly/the living one" and "young lioness"; 1479 – 19 March 1534), was a concubine of Selim I and the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent.

The traditional view holding that Hafsa Sultan was the daughter of Meñli I Giray (1445–1515), the khan of the Crimean Tatars for much of the period between 1466 and 1515, resting on seventeenth century western authors accounts, has been challenged in favor of a Christian slave origin based on Ottoman documentary evidence.

[6] The Ottomanist Alan Fisher, Leslie Peirce, and Feridun Emecen all see Hafsa as having been of slave origin and not the daughter of the Crimean Khan.

Several years before Selim's death, he is said to have tested his sons' loyalty by expressing a desire to retire from the sultanate and asking which of them sought to rule the empire.

Hafsa, possibly the first sultanic mother to consistently use this appellation, served as a crucial source of support for various individuals during these years, particularly women associated with the dynasty.

Examples include aiding the daughters of Prince Âlemşah after their mother's death and assisting a female member of Khayr Beg's harem.

[23][24] Suleiman had a deep affection for his mother, which is highlighted in Bragadin's 1526 report, describing her as a "a very beautiful woman of 48, for whom [the sultan] bears great reverence and love."

Following the Ottoman triumph at the battle of Mohács in 1526, Suleiman took special care to personally inform his mother of the victory through a letter, emphasizing the close bond and reverence he had for her.

[25] Shortly after Suleiman's ascension to the throne, Hafsa initiated the construction of an extensive mosque complex in Manisa,[26] surpassing any built by previous concubines.

[25] In the depiction of her funeral, royal chancellor and historian Celâlzâde Mustafa Çelebi paid tribute to her with an extensive series of commendations, likening her to revered Muslim women.

He compared her to Khadija, the first wife of Muhammad, as well as to Fatima and Aisha, highlighting her asceticism, righteous thoughts, and her active involvement in charitable foundations and virtuous deeds.