Nazikeda Kadın (wife of Abdul Hamid II)

Nazikeda Kadın
Born c. 1848
Abkhazia
Died 11 April 1895(1895-04-11) (aged 46–47)
Yıldız Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial Imperial ladies mausoleum, New Mosque, Istanbul
Spouse Abdul Hamid II
Issue Ulviye Sultan
House Ottoman (by marriage)
Father Arzakan Tsanba
Mother Esma Klıç
Religion Sunni Islam

Nazikeda Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: نازك ادا قادین‎; c. 1848 – 11 April 1895), meaning 'One of delicate manners',[1] was the first wife of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.[2]

Early life

Nazikeda Kadın was born in 1848 in Abkhazia. She was a member of Abkhazian princely family, Tsanba. Her father was Prince Arzakan Bey Tsanba, and her mother was Princess Esma Hanım Klıç, an Abkhazian.[3]

She had been brought to Istanbul as a young child, where her father entrusted her to the household of the wife of grand vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha,[4][5] where her name according to Ottoman custom was changed to Nazikeda. Here she learned the court protocol, and to play the piano.[6]

In 1858, when Cemile Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdulmejid I, married Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha, the son of Fethi Ahmed Pasha, the groom's mother took Nazikeda, and presented her to Cemile.[7][8] Pleased by the well-bred manners of Nazikeda, Cemile made her a personal attendant who always accompanied her mistress.[5]

Marriage

One day, when Abdul Hamid was in his twenties, he visited his younger sister Cemile Sultan at her palace at Kandilli. Here he saw Nazikeda, and fell in love with her. He asked his sister to give him Nazikeda in marriage. In fact, Cemile also noticed that this young girl had pleased her brother, and she immediately presented her to him.[9][10] The marriage took place in 1867 in the Dolmabahçe Palace. In 1868, a year after the marriage, she gave birth to her only daughter, Ulviye Sultan.[11]

On 5 October 1875,[12] when Ulviye was seven, she was burned to death playing with matches, while Nazikeda, who tried to save her, also suffered severe burns.[13] In his reflections, Abdul Hamid referred three times to the death of his first child. He considered it the first traumatic experience of his life curiously not mentioning the death of his mother when he was eleven or the death of his father when he was fourteen.[14]

After Abdul Hamid's accession to the throne on 31 August 1876,[15] she was given the title of "Baş Kadın".[10] According to Leyla Saz, she was in every way worthy of this position both with respect to her lofty spirit and because of her beauty.[9] The imperial family settled in Yıldız Palace.[16] She held the second highest position in the imperial harem after Perestu Kadın.[2]

Nazikeda never forgot her first mistress. Deeply grateful for the training, she obtained the Sultan's permission to invite Âli Pasha's wife to the palace. When according to the protocol the old lady bowed before her, Nazikeda persuaded her to sit beside her.[5]

After the death of Peyveste Hanım's father, Nazikeda's paternal cousin Meryem Hanım presented her widowed mother Hesna Hanım and her sisters to Nazikeda.[17] She won over Hesna, and adopted her daughters.[18] Peyveste married Abdul Hamid in 1893,[19] and became mother of Şehzade Abdurrahim Hayri in 1894.[20]

Death

Nazikeda Kadın died on 11 April 1895 in the Yıldız Palace,[21] and was buried in the mausoleum of imperial ladies in Yeni Mosque in Istanbul.[10][11][22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Saz 1994, p. 69 n. 6.
  2. 1 2 Açba 2004, p. 24.
  3. ↑ Açba 2007, p. 119.
  4. ↑ Uluçay 2011, p. 244-5.
  5. 1 2 3 Tugay 1963, p. 301.
  6. ↑ Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 670.
  7. ↑ Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 670-1.
  8. ↑ Açba 2011, p. 245.
  9. 1 2 Saz 1994, p. 64.
  10. 1 2 3 Uluçay 2011, p. 245.
  11. 1 2 Brookes 2010, p. 286.
  12. ↑ Uluçay 2011, p. 253.
  13. ↑ Freely, John (July 1, 2001). Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul. Penguin. p. 287.
  14. ↑ International Journal of Turkish Studies, Volume 13. University of Wisconsin. 2007. p. 180.
  15. ↑ Clare, Israel Smith (1885). Illustrated Universal History: Being a Clear and Concise History of All Nations. P. W. Ziegler & Company. p. 549.
  16. ↑ Oriental Gardens: An Illustrated History. Chronicle Books. 1992. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-811-80132-4.
  17. ↑ Açba 2004, p. 24-5.
  18. ↑ Açba 2004, p. 25.
  19. ↑ Açba 2007, p. 144.
  20. ↑ Bey, Mehmet Sürreya (1969). Osmanlı devletinde kim kimdi, Volume 1. Küğ Yayını. p. 125.
  21. ↑ Açba 2007, p. 120.
  22. ↑ Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 671.

Sources

  • Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
  • Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924. Profil. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
  • Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları: Vâlide Sultanlar, Hâtunlar, Hasekiler, Kandınefendiler, Sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-6-051-71079-2.
  • Leylâ Saz, Leïla (Hanoum) (1994). The Imperial Harem of the Sultans: Daily Life at the Çırağan Palace During the 19th Century : Memoirs of Leyla (Saz) Hanımefendi. Peva Publications. ISBN 978-975-7239-00-0.
  • The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
  • Tugay, Emine Foat (1963). Three Centuries: Family Chronicles of Turkey and Egypt. Oxford University Press.
  • Açba, Leyla (2004). Bir Çerkes prensesinin harem hatıraları. L & M. ISBN 978-9-756-49131-7.

Further reading

  • Osmanoğlu, Ayşe (2000). Babam Sultan Abdülhamid. Mona Kitap Yayinlari. ISBN 978-6-050-81202-2.
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