Mevhibe Kadın

Mevhibe Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: محبہ قادین‎; c. 1844 – c. 1936) was the first wife and chief consort of Sultan Murad V of the Ottoman Empire.

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Mevhibe, the title is Kadın, and there is no family name.
Mevhibe Kadın
Bornc. 1844
Tbilisi, Georgia
Diedc. 1936 (aged 91–92)
Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey
Burial
Ortaköy Cemetery
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1857; died 1904)​
Full name
Turkish: Mevhibe Kadın
Ottoman Turkish: محبہ قادین‎
HouseTarkhnishvili (by birth)
Ottoman (by marriage)
FatherAhmed Tarkhnishvili
ReligionSunni Islam

Early life

Mevhibe Kadın was born in about 1844[1] in Tbilisi, Georgia. She was a member of a Georgian noble family, Tarkhnishvili. Her father was Ahmed Bey Tarkhnishvili. She had a brother, Halil Bey who was in service in the stable of the palace. Halil Bey's daughter Gülter Hanım later married her step-son, Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin.[2]

In 1848-49,[3] Gürcü Hayreddin Pasha, the then governor of Trebizond Eyalet, presented her in the imperial harem. Here her name according to the custom of the Ottoman court was changed to Elâru.[1]

During the Crimean War, the women of the harem would recite the Quran, and Elâru would participate in it. After the completion of the recitation all of them would say "Amen". She was also a part of the music play, constituted by Şevkefza Kadın for Şehzade Murad, which involved a total of eight girls. But at that time Murad had little interest in music.[1]

Marriage

Elâru married Murad, during the reign of Sultan Abdulmejid I, when he was still a prince on 2 January 1857 in the Dolmabahçe Palace.[4][5] She was twelve years old,[1] while Murad was sixteen years old. She remained childless.[1] After Abdulmejid's death in 1861, and the accession of his brother Sultan Abdulaziz, Murad became the crown prince. The two lived in a mansion in Kurbağalıdere, which was allocated to him by Abdulaziz. They used to spend their winters in the crown princes apartments located in the Dolmabahçe Palace and the Nisbetiye Mansion.[6] In 1875, Murad renamed her Mevhibe.[1]

After Murad ascended the throne on 30 May 1876, after the deposition of Sultan Abdulaziz,[7] she was given the title of "Senior Consort". Everyone thought this most unusual, because Mevhibe had not given birth to any children whatsoever, and in the imperial practice and convention it was not the custom for a childless wife to hold the rank of Kadın. Murad demonstrated another unusual behavior in this matter a well. He simply insisted that this old love of his, with whom he had grown up since they were both young and who had entered the ranks of his wives when he was still a prince, should become his Senior Consort.[8][5]

Nonetheless, it was certainly true that Mevhibe possessed the talents and skills necessary to occupy the post of Senior Consort. First of all she was extremely beautiful. Beneath her incomparably graceful black eyebrows, her flashing kohl-tingled black eyes lent an irresistible enchantment to her clear white face warmed with a touch of gentle pink whenever she spoke. She was highly intelligent and perceptive. Anyone who met her or spoke with her could not help but fall under her bewitching spell.[8]

After reigning for three months, Murad was deposed on 30 August 1876,[9] due to mental instability and was imprisoned in the Çırağan Palace. Mevhibe also followed Murad into confinement.[10] Throughout their imprisonment, she remained completely loyal to her husband.[8] Her apartments were located on the Istanbul side of the palace.[11] At times Murad would move into her apartments.[11] She was also skilled in making clothes that she could have been considered an expert seamstress. Several times she even made clothes for Murad.[11] After Şevkefza Kadın's death in 1889, authority over the harem devolved to Mevhibe, a position appointed by Murad for life.[12]

She was widowed at Murad's death in 1904, after which her ordeal in the Çırağan Palace came to an end.[13] Upon his death, Mevhibe stated in her petition written addressing Sultan Abdul Hamid II that despite the doctors' examinations for days and nights for twenty-eight years thanks to Abdul Hamid's protection, mercy and affection, her husband died a natural death.[14]

Later years and death

After Murad's death, Mevhibe settled in the Tarlabaşı Palace. This palace once belonged to Zekiye Sultan, the eldest daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.[15] After the proclamation of the second constitution in 1908, she purchased a home in Şişli, and retreated there to live a life of seclusion.[16] At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Mevhibe as being the adjunct member of the family decided to stay in Istanbul. She died in 1936,[17] and was buried in a cemetery in Ortaköy.[18]

See also

References
  1. İrtem, Süleyman Kani (1 March 1934). "Saray ve Babıali'nin iç yüzü:Sultan Murad'ın baş kadını Mevhibe Hanım'ın anlattıkları". Akşam. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924. Profil. p. 98. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
  3. Toraman, Ömer. Trabzon Eyaletinde Yurtluk-Ocaklık Suretiyle Arazi Tasarrufuna Son Verilmesi (1847-1864). Uluslararası Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi. p. 60.
  4. Adra, Jamil (2005). Genealogy of the Imperial Ottoman Family 2005. p. 19.
  5. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 649.
  6. Satı 2020, p. 17.
  7. 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.
  8. Brookes 2010, p. 37.
  9. Williams, Augustus Warner; Gabriel, Mgrditch Simbad (1896). Bleeding Armedia: Its History and Horrors Under the Curse of Islam. Publishers union. p. 214.
  10. Brookes 2010, p. 64.
  11. Brokes 2010, p. 113.
  12. Brokes 2010, p. 5, 112.
  13. Brookes 2010, p. 17.
  14. Yanatma, Servet (2007). The Deaths and Funeral Ceremonies of Ottoman Sultans (From Sultan Mahmud II TO Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin). p. 40.
  15. Çavdar, Döndü (2015). Tanzimat'tan Cumhuriyet'e Mefruşat-ı Hümayun İdaresi (PhD Thesis). Selçuk University Institute of Social Sciences. p. 213.
  16. Brookes 2010, p. 37 and n. 19.
  17. Vâsıb, Ali; Osmanoğlu, Osman Selaheddin (2004). Bir şehzadenin hâtırâtı: vatan ve menfâda gördüklerim ve işittiklerim. YKY. p. 28. ISBN 978-9-750-80878-4.
  18. Satı 2020, p. 189.

Sources
  • 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.
  • Satı, İbrahim (2020). Sultan V.Murad'ın Hayatı ve Kısa Saltanatı (1840-1904).
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