Emsalinur Kadın

Emsalinur Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: امثال نور قادین‎; 2 January 1866 – c. 1950; after the Surname Law of 1934: Emsalinur Kaya) was the eighth wife of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.[1]

Emsalinur Kadın
Born	2 January 1866 Abkhazia
Died	c. 1950 (aged 84) Istanbul, Turkey
Burial	Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul
Spouse	Abdul Hamid II ​ ​ (m. 1885; died 1918)​
Issue	Şadiye Sultan
Full name Turkish: Emsalinur Kadın Ottoman Turkish: امثال نور قادین‎
House	Ottoman (by marriage)
Father	Ömer Bey
Mother	Selime Hanım
Religion	Sunni Islam

Early life

Emsalinur Kadın was born on 2 January 1866 in Abkhazia.[2] Her father was Ömer Bey, an Abkhazian,[3] and her mother was Selime Hanım. She had a younger sister named Tesrid Hanım eight years younger then her, who in 1894, married Şehzade Ibrahim Tevfik, son of Şehzade Burhaneddin, and grandson of Sultan Abdulmejid I.[2][4]

During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), her family settled in Sapanca. She was then taken to Istanbul, where her father entrusted her to the imperial harem together with her sister. Here her name according to the custom of the Ottoman court was changed to Emsalinur.[2]

Marriage

Emsalinur married Abdul Hamid on 20 November 1885 in the Yıldız Palace.[2] She was given the title of "Sixth Consort". On 30 November 1886, a year after the marriage, she gave birth to her only child, a daughter, Şadiye Sultan.[5]

In 1895, she was elevated to the title of "Fifth Consort". In 1900, Abdul Hamid presented a mansion in Nişantaşı.[2] In 1901, she was elevated to the title of "Fourth Consort".[3] In 1907 she commissioned a mosque in Kırkpınar, Sarpanca.[2]

On 27 April 1909, Abdul Hamid was deposed, and sent into exile in Thessaloniki.[6] Emsalinur didn't followed him, and so remained in Istanbul.[2] After Thessaloniki fell to Greece in 1912, Abdul Hamid returned to Istanbul, and settled in the Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died in 1918.[7]

Widowhood and death

In 1924, the Imperial family was sent into exile. Emsalinur followed her daughter to Paris. However, after a staying few years there, she returned to Istanbul,[2] and settled in her daughter's mansion located in Nişantaşı.[8]

In 1934, in accordance to the Surname Law, she took the surname "Kaya". After her mansion was sold by the ministry of finance,[2] Emsalinur settled in her granddaughter's mansion located in Erenköy known as "Galip Paşa Mansion".[8] However, after this mansion was also sold to Sabiha Gökçen, the world's first female fighter-pilot, in 1948, Emaslinur became homeless.[8]

The government had allocated her one hundred liras per month. And with this amount of money it became difficult for her to rent a house. Emsalinur Kadin died homeless in 1950, at the age of eighty-four,[8] and was buried in Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul.[2][9] Her daughter outlived her by twenty-five years, dying in 1977.[10]

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Şadiye Sultan	30 November 1886[11][12][13]	20 November 1977[11][12][13]	married twice, and had issue times, one daughter

See also

• Kadın (title)
• Ottoman Imperial Harem
• List of consorts of the Ottoman sultans

References

1. Uluçay 2011, p. 248.
2. Açba 2007, p. 137.
3. Çevrimli, Nilgün. Terms of Defining Women in Foundations from the Founder, Social Status, and Family Relation. p. 269. ...Sultan Abdülhamid Han hazretlerinin dördüncü kadını ve sultân-ı müşârun-ileyhin vâlide-i muhteremeleri devletlü ismetlü Emsalnur Kadınefendi hazretleri ibni′l-merhûm Ömer Efendi...H 1334 (M 1915).
4. Woronzow, Salome (September 20, 2016). Şehzade Zevceleri. Osmanlı Hanedanı Gelinleri 1850 - 1923. GRIN Verlag. p. 4. ISBN 978-3-668-30031-6.
5. The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. 2010. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
6. Hall, Richard C. (October 9, 2014). War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-1-610-69031-7.
7. Parry, Milman; Lord, Albert B. (1979). Serbocroation heroic songs, Volume 1. Harvard University Press. p. 371.
8. "Abdülhamid'in 82 yaşında evsiz ve parasız kalan hanımı, devletten bir evde 'bekçilik etme' izni istiyor!". Habertürk. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
9. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 682.
10. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 693.
11. Osmanoğlu 2000, p. 263.
12. Uluçay 2011, p. 256.
13. Brookes 2010, p. 289.

Sources

• Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839–1924. Profil. ISBN 978-975-996-109-1.
• 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.
• Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken. ISBN 978-975-437-840-5.
• Osmanoğlu, Ayşe (2000). Babam Sultan Abdülhamid. Mona Kitap Yayinlari. ISBN 978-6-050-81202-2.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları: Vâlide Sultanlar, Hâtunlar, Hasekiler, Kandınefendiler, Sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-6-051-71079-2.