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Gurcu Hatun, Radiant Sun & Lady Jacoba of the Seven Suns
Rumi and His Friends brings us stories of several women of deep spirit, as well as men, who gathered in the circles of remembrance around Mevlana. One of his closest friends and supporters was Gurcu Hatun, the Georgian wife of Kaykhusraw II, the Seljuk Sultan of Konya. Some of her story is incorporated into a forthcoming book of stories of our grandmothers, still in process, Tree of Grace: Troubadors, Patriots, Mystics, and Lovers; accompanying the story of Gurcu Hatun is the story of another grandmother of Spirit, Lady Jacoba, close friend of St. Francis. That chapter excerpt from the forthcoming book is included here in honor of the Urs (Wedding-night) of Hazrati Mevlana approaching on the 17th December and in remembrance of Beloved Mary giving birth to Jesus, the Christ (masîḥ, “the Anointed”), all such bringers of Light.
Excerpt from Tree of Grace: Troubadors, Patriots, Mystics, and Lovers, offered by Camille, Chapter 18:
Gurcu Hatun, the “Georgian Lady” [1227-1286], christened in her native land as “Tamar” Bagrationi, was only 13 when she was brought to Konya, in 1240, to marry the Seljuk Sultan, Kaykhusraw II, Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Kayqubād. Her betrothal, as were many in those eras, was a peace-keeping political alliance between her mother, the ruling Queen Rusudan of Georgia, and the young Seljuk Sultan, as they sought a balance of power in the face of Mongol aggression. Tamar was of the Bagratid dynasty, one of the oldest of royal lineages, reputed to be descendants of the Prophet David, and named in remembrance of his ancestral grandmother, “Tamar,” the “fertile palm.” Cultured and well-educated, though Eastern Orthodox Christian, Tamar soon won the heart of her Muslim husband. He fell deeply in love with her, and it seems that love was happily returned…
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