Seniha Sultan

Seniha Sultan
Born 5 December 1851
Old Çırağan Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died 15 September 1931(1931-09-15) (aged 79)
Nice, France
Burial Sultan Selim Mosque, Damascus, Syria
Spouse Mehmud Celaleddin Pasha
Issue Sultanzade Sabahaddin Bey
Sultanzade Ahmed Lütfullah Bey
Dynasty Ottoman
Father Abdülmecid I
Mother Nalanıdil Hanım
Religion Sunni Islam

Seniha Sultan (5 December 1851 – 15 September 1931) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Abdulmejid I. She was the half-sister of Sultans Mehmed VI, Murad V, Abdul Hamid II and Mehmed V.

Early life

Seniha Sultan was born on 5 December 1851 at the Old Çırağan Palace as the daughter of Sultan Abdulmejid I.[1][2] Her mother was Nalanıdil Hanım,[3] the daughter of Prince Natıkhu Bey Çıpakue.[4] Both of her parents died when she was a child.[5]

Marriage

In 1876 Sultan Abdul Hamid II betrothed her to her cousin Asaf Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha,[6] the son of Grand Admiral Damat Gürcü Halil Rifat Pasha.[1] The marriage contract was concluded on 5 December 1876 at the Yildiz Palace. However, the wedding celebrations were delayed because of the death of her elder sister Behice Sultan. The wedding took place on 10 February 1877.[7] Together with Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha, they had two sons, Sultanzade Sabahaddin and Sultanzade Ahmed Lütfullâh Bey.[8] Sultanzade Sabahaddin Bey was an Ottoman sociologist and thinker.

In 1889, she met with the German Empress Augusta Victoria.[9]

Seniha Sultan’s husband was very critical of her brother Abdul Hamid's governance, never missing an occasion to speak out. Eventually he alhd enough of being followed and spied on, so in 1899, he took both of his sons fled to Eurupe, where four years later he died in Belgium and was buried in Paris. Her sons were able to return to Istanbul only in 1908, after the declaration of the second constitution.[5] For this reason she was not particularly welcome at the palace.[10]

Character

Seniha Sultan used to wear dresses of the most superb cloth, with her tiara on her head on formal occasions, and she also wore gowns with long trains in the European fashion spreading out behind her. In manner, she was entirely unconstrained. Often, as did her half-sister Mediha Sultan, she would burst into laughter, and she spoke rapidly and in a deep voice. When these two sisters were together chatting with Murad V, they would both laugh and try to amuse him and get him to smile as though they were in competition with one another.[11] Seniha Sultan had performers of religious music at her palace.[12]

Death

At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Seniha was the oldest living Ottoman princess, age seventy-one. Seniha Sultan died on 15 September 1931 at age seventy-eight in Nice, France and was buried at the Selimiye Mosque in Damascus.[6][13]

In the 2017 TV series Payitaht: Abdülhamid, Seniha Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Selen Öztürk.

References

  1. 1 2 Uluçay 2011, p. 227.
  2. ↑ Sakaoğlu 2009, p. 626.
  3. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 289.
  4. ↑ Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839–1924. Profil. p. 66. ISBN 978-975-996-109-1.
  5. 1 2 Bardakçı 2017, p. 120.
  6. 1 2 Brookes 2010, p. 290.
  7. ↑ Sakaoğlu 2009, p. 628.
  8. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 144.
  9. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 165.
  10. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 144 n. 12.
  11. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 142-44.
  12. ↑ Fanny Davis (1986). The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 157–8. ISBN 978-0-313-24811-5.
  13. ↑ Sakaoğlu 2009, p. 630.

Sources

  • The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
  • Mustafa Çağatay Uluçay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara, Ötüken.
  • Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.
  • Bardakçı, Murat (2017). Neslishah: The Last Ottoman Princess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-9-774-16837-6.
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