Fehime Sultan

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Fehime Sultan
Fehime Sultan c. 1912
Born(1875-07-02)2 July 1875
Dolmabahçe Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
(now Istanbul, Turkey)
Died15 September 1929(1929-09-15) (aged 54)
Nice, France
Burial
Cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria
Spouses
  • Ali Galib Pasha
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1901; div. 1911)​
  • Mahmud Behçet Bey
    ​
    (m. 1911)​
DynastyOttoman
FatherMurad V
MotherMeyliservet Kadın
ReligionSunni Islam

Fehime Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: فہیمه سلطان, "intelligent"; 2 July 1875 – 15 September 1929) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Murad V and his fourth consort Meyliservet Kadın.

Early life[edit]

Fehime Sultan was born on 2 July 1875 in the Dolmabahçe Palace. Her father was Murad V, son of Abdulmejid I and Şevkefza Kadın, and her mother was Meyliservet Kadın.[1][2] She was the fifth child, and second daughter born to her father and the only child of her mother. Her birth was kept secret until his father became sultan, the Ottoman princes being forbidden to have children at the time.[3]

After Murad's accession the throne on 30 May 1876, after the deposition of his uncle Sultan Abdulaziz,[4] his family settled in Dolmabahçe Palace. His reign lasted for three months before he was deposed on 30 August 1876[5] due to mental instability and subsequently imprisoned in Çırağan Palace. Fehime and her mother accompanied him into confinement.[1][2][6]

Life in confinement[edit]

At the time of her family's confinement, Fehime Sultan was one year old and grew up without experiencing any other way of life.[7] She received her education in the palace. Like her father, she was interested in the arts and music, learning to play the piano and composing songs.[8] According to Filizten Hanım, who did not favor her, Fehime had a simple, haughty, and proud personality, believing herself to be terribly important. Filizten noted that Fehime was not particularly attractive but fancied herself so and desired others to share this view. She loved receiving praise. Despite being literate in both Turkish and French, she showed little interest in reading books and instead spent much of her time looking in the mirror. Filizten often compared her unfavorably to her older sister Hatice, whom she admired for being beautiful, intelligent, cheerful, and of high quality. Fehime lost her mother around the age of 16 due to a brief illness exacerbated by an accident. At her death, Meyliservet entrusted Fehime to her father's care.[9]

First marriage[edit]

As years passed,[when?] Fehime's elder sister, Hatice Sultan, began expressing a desire to marry. Her complaints eventually reached their father, Murad V, with the assistance of her mother and the older kalfas. Murad V conveyed her concerns to Abdul Hamid II, who felt obligated to find husbands for both Hatice and Fehime Sultan. However, he imposed one condition: once they left the palace, they would not be allowed to return.[10]

The princesses were asked about their preferences, and both chose to leave Çırağan Palace and get married. Abdul Hamid II arranged for the two princesses to be brought to Yıldız Palace. He ordered the complete renovation of one villa in Ortaköy and the construction of a new villa. Once these were fully furnished, photographs were taken and sent to Murad V. Fehime, who had never left the palace, was frightened when she saw the carriage and horses sent for their transportation.

Fehime Sultan Yalı in a contemporary photograph from the Abdul Hamid Archives

In October 1898,[11] Fehime and her sister Hatice Sultan met with the German empress Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein during her visit to Istanbul with her husband, German Emperor Wilhelm II.[12] At that time, the sisters were living at Yıldız Palace. To avoid hurting their feelings, Abdul Hamid II included them in the ceremony alongside his own daughters when introducing them to the Empress.[13]

In 1901, Abdul Hamid II arranged the marriages of Fehime Sultan, her sister Hatice Sultan, and Emine Sultan, daughter of Sultan Abdülaziz,[14] to men of similar station and character. Fehime Sultan's husband was granted the rank of "Ali Galib Pasha".[15] The marriage took place on 3 September 1901 in the Yıldız Palace.[16] The couple was given a palace in Ortaköy as their residence. The marriage was unhappy, and Fehime remained childless, despite her husband's efforts to make her happy and his expenditure to fulfill her wishes.[17] Within certain circles, she was nicknamed "Kelebek Sultan" (Butterfly Princess) due to her distinctive art and expensive clothing styles.[18]

Second marriage[edit]

In 1909, following the scandal and divorce of her sister Hatice Sultan, Fehime Sultan obtained permission to divorce. Later that year, she met Mahmud Behçet Bey, who was five years younger than her, in an Istanbul garden, and they fell in love. They married in 1910 and remained happily married for 14 years, though they had no children.[19]

Beginning in late 1920, the Ankara government established two intelligence organizations in Istanbul: the Müdafaa-i Milliye Grubu (National Defense Group), also known as the Mim Mim group, which consisted of remnants from the Karakol or Teşkilatı group, effectively suppressed during the second British occupation of the Ottoman capital, and the Felah group, a new and separate organization. The Felah group was tasked with monitoring former Unionists, smuggling arms and people, and gathering information.[20] Fehime and her cousin, Naime Sultan, daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, were active members of the organization.[21] Fehime provided valuable information to the underground network. She harbored resentment towards her uncle, Sultan Mehmed VI, who closely monitored the children of Sultan Murad. Fehime was deeply committed to constitutionalism and patriotism. In 1911, she composed a piano sonata titled "Pour La Constitution".[22][23]

Following the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Fehime and her husband initially settled in Vienna, Austria, before relocating to Nice, France. In Nice, Mahmud Behçet Bey borrowed money from Fehime under the pretext of opening a shop. He began selling Turkish-style ice cream in front of a grocery store on Rue de Congrés but eventually fled, leaving her in financial hardship. Despite having other family members in Nice, including Abdülmejid II, they declined to assist her, partly due to internal family discord. This discord stemmed from disagreements surrounding the death of Sultan Abdülaziz, with some descendants suspecting foul play orchestrated by the "Mejids" branch of the family. Additionally, some family members disapproved of Fehime's political beliefs, which they attributed to the downfall of the Sultanate and their subsequent exile. Fehime relied on the assistance of a few loyal eunuchs, who provided her with meager resources for sustenance and shelter. [19][23]

Death[edit]

The grave of Fehime Sultan (left)

Fehime died of tuberculosis[19] on 15 September 1929, at the age of fifty-four and was buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria.[2][23][24][25]

Honours[edit]

Styles of
Fehime Sultan
Reference styleHer Imperial Highness
Spoken styleYour Imperial Highness

Legacy[edit]

Dresses attributed to her are preserved in the Topkapı Palace.[27]

In popular culture and literature[edit]

  • In the 2017 TV series Payitaht: Abdülhamid, Fehime Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Elif Özkul.[28]
  • Fehime Sultan is a character in Ayşe Osmanoğlu's historical novel The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus (2020).[29]

Ancestry[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Uluçay 2011, p. 242.
  2. ^ a b c Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 663.
  3. ^ Adra, Jamil (2005). Genealogy of the Imperial Ottoman Family 2005. p. 21.
  4. ^ Roudometof, Victor (2001). Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-313-31949-5.
  5. ^ Williams, Augustus Warner; Gabriel, Mgrditch Simbad (1896). Bleeding Armedia: Its History and Horrors Under the Curse of Islam. Publishers union. p. 214.
  6. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 64.
  7. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 99.
  8. ^ Beşiroğlu, Şehvar. "Türk Müzik Geleneğinde Kadınlardan Kadınca Müzik..." Türk Müzik Geleneğinde Kadınlardan Kadınca Müzik... Musiki Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  9. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 109.
  10. ^ Brookes 2010, pp. 109–110.
  11. ^ Hidden, Alexander W. (1912). The Ottoman Dynasty: A History of the Sultans of Turkey from the Earliest Authentic Record to the Present Time, with Notes on the Manners and Customs of the People. N. W. Hidden. p. 417.
  12. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 165 n. 29.
  13. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 166.
  14. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 159.
  15. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 117 n. 88.
  16. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 115 n. 87.
  17. ^ Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 664.
  18. ^ Mourad, Kenizé (1991). Saraydan sürgüne. İsis. p. 6. ISBN 978-9-754-28021-0.
  19. ^ a b c Ekinci, Ekrem. "BİR TAS ÇORBA UĞRUNA: FEHİME SULTAN'IN ACIKLI SONU". Ekrem Buğra Ekinci (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  20. ^ Stanford Jay Shaw (2000). From Empire to Republic: The Turkish War of National Liberation, 1918-1923 : a Documentary Study. Turkish Historical Society. p. 1046. ISBN 978-975-16-1228-1.
  21. ^ Suna Kili'ye armağan: cumhuriyete adanan bir yaşam. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yayınları. 1998. p. 333. ISBN 978-9-755-18124-0.
  22. ^ Criss, N B (January 1, 1999). Istanbul Under Allied Occupation, 1918-1923. BRILL. p. 120. ISBN 978-9-004-11259-9.
  23. ^ a b c Kalkan, Ersin (27 July 2002). "Ortaköy tarihten temizlendi sultanların kemikleri sızlıyor". Hürriyet. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  24. ^ "Sultan V. Murad Han". www.enfal.de. Enfal.de sitesi, Hasırcızade tarihi. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  25. ^ Brookes 2010, p. 281.
  26. ^ a b Yılmaz Öztuna (1978). Başlangıcından zamanımıza kadar büyük Türkiye tarihi: Türkiye'nin siyasî, medenî, kültür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi. Ötüken Yayınevi. p. 165.
  27. ^ Scarce, Jennifer M. (2003). Women's Costume of the Near and Middle East. Psychology Press. pp. 83–86. ISBN 978-0-700-71560-2.
  28. ^ Payitaht: Abdülhamid (TV Series 2017– ), retrieved 2019-02-02
  29. ^ Her Imperial Highness Princess Fehime Sultan, 2020-01-10, retrieved 2020-11-05

Sources[edit]

  • Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010). The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
  • Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.
  • Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara: Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
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