Gevherriz Hanım

Gevherriz Hanım[1] (Ottoman Turkish: کوھریز خانم‎; c. 1862 – c. 1949; meaning 'Jewel Pourer'[2]) was the sixth wife of Sultan Murad V of the Ottoman Empire.[1]

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Gevherriz, the title is Hanım, and there is no family name.
Gevherriz Hanım
Bornc. 1862
Sochi, Abkhazia
Diedc. 1949 (aged 86–87)
Istanbul, Turkey
Spouse
​
​
(died 1904)​
Full name
Turkish: Gevherriz Hanım
Ottoman Turkish: کوھریز خانم‎
HouseOttoman (by marriage)
FatherHalil Bey
ReligionSunni Islam

Early life

Gevherriz Hanım was born in about 1862,[3] in Sochi, Abkhazia. She was the daughter of Halil Bey, an Ubykh.[4]

She had been brought to Istanbul, where her father entrusted her to the imperial harem. Here her name according to the custom of the Ottoman court was changed to Gevherriz.[4]

Marriage

Gevherriz married Murad in 1870s before his accession to the throne.[5] She remained childless.[1] After Murad ascended the throne on 30 May 1876, after the deposition of his uncle Sultan Abdulaziz,[6] she was given the title of "Second Fortunate".[1] After reigning for three months, he was deposed on 30 August 1876,[7] due to mental instability and was imprisoned in the Çırağan Palace. Gevherriz also followed Murad into confinement.[5]

She spoke excellent French. She also taught French to young şehzades and sultans (Ottoman imperial princes and princesses).[5]

In her memoir, fellow consort, Filizten Hanım, reports that Gevherriz worked with Nakşifend Kalfa, the hazinedar Dilberengiz, the eunuch Hüseyin Ağa, and Hüsnü Bey (who had been Second Secretary of Murad) to allow for a British doctor to meet with Murad to ascertain Murad's mental fitness. When the doctor arrived, Gevherriz served as translator. It is not clear how true this story is, and it is possible the doctor was sent by freemasons rather than by the British.[8][9]

Widowhood and death

Gevherriz was widowed at Murad's death in 1904, after which her ordeal in the Çırağan Palace came to an end.[10] In widowhood, her stipend consisted of 1500 kuruş. However, later, during the reign of Sultan Mehmed V, it was reduced to only 500 kuruş.[1] After which her step-daughter, Hatice Sultan, wrote to Mehmet Cavit Bey, member of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP),[11] asking him to raise her stipend at least to 800 kuruş.[1]

At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Gevherriz as being the adjunct member of the family decided to stay in Istanbul, where she died in around 1949.[9]

See also

References
  1. Bardakçı 1998, p. 614.
  2. Akın, Esra (August 11, 2011). Mustafa Âli's Epic Deeds of Artists: A Critical Edition of the Earliest Ottoman Text about the Calligraphers and Painters of the Islamic World. BRILL. pp. 198 n. 221. ISBN 978-9-047-44107-6.
  3. Brookes 2010, p. 282.
  4. Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın Efendiler:1839–1924. Profil. p. 108. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
  5. Brookes 2010, p. 64.
  6. Roudometof, Victor (2001). Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 86–7. ISBN 978-0-313-31949-5.
  7. Williams, Augustus Warner; Gabriel, Mgrditch Simbad (1896). Bleeding Armedia: Its History and Horrors Under the Curse of Islam. Publishers union. p. 214.
  8. Brookes 2010, p. 68-72.
  9. Şehsuvaroğlu, Haluk Yusuf, Çırağanın meşhur kadın simaları, Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 120-Saraylar. Not: Gazetenin "Tarihten Sayfalar" köşesinde yayımlanmıştır.
  10. Brookes 2010, p. 17.
  11. Bardakçı 1998, p. 55.

Sources
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