Bidar Kadın

Bidar Kadın was born on 5 May 1855 in Kobuleti, Georgia. She was a member of the Kabardian princely family, House of Talhosten (Kabardian: Талъостэн). Her father was Talhosten Prince Ibrahim Bey and, her mother was Princess Şahika İffet Hanım Lortkipanidze, a Georgian. She had two younger brothers named Hussein Pasha, and Mehmed Ziya Pasha (1860 – 1919), who were in service to Abdul Hamid.[2]

Bidar married Abdul Hamid on 2 September 1875 in the Dolmabahçe Palace, when he was still a prince.[3] In late 1875, or early 1876, she became pregnant with the couple's first child. After Abdul Hamid's accession to the throne following the deposition of his elder brother Sultan Murad V, on 31 August 1876,[4] she was given the title of "Fourth Consort".[5][1]

Bidar who was pregnant at that time, gave birth to her first child, a daughter, four days later on 3 September 1876. The child was named Naime Sultan,[6] whom Abdul Hamid called "my Accession daughter."[7] In 1877, Bidar and other members of the imperial family settled in the Yıldız Palace,[8] after Abdul Hamid moved there on 7 April 1877.[9] Here she gave birth to her second child, a son, named Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir, on 16 January 1878.[10] In 1879, she was elevated to "Third Consort".[5]

Bidar was noted of not wanting Abdul Hamid to have relations with other women, and this made her constantly jealous of the others.[11]

On 31 September 1889, she met with the German Empress Augusta Victoria in the harem of the Yıldız Palace, when the latter visited Istanbul with her husband Emperor Wilhelm II.[12] In 1895,[5] she was elevated to "Second Consort".[1] In October 1898,[13] she again met Empress Augusta Victoria in the grand salon of the Imperial Lodge of the Yıldız Palace, when the latter visited Istanbul for a second time with her husband.[14]

On 27 April 1909, Abdul Hamid was deposed, and sent into exile in Thessaloniki.[15] Her brother Mehmed Ziya Pasha followed him. She, however, remained in Istanbul, and settled in a mansion in Erenköy.[16] After Thessaloniki fell to Greece in 1912, Abdul Hamid returned to Istanbul, and settled in the Beylerbeyi Palace.[17]

Bidar Kadın died on 13 January 1918 in her mansion in Erenköy, a month before Abdul Hamid's own death. She was buried in the mausoleum of Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin, Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul.[1][18][19]

Together with Abdul Hamid, Bidar had two children:

• Naime Sultan (4 September 1876, Dolmabahçe Palace – 1945, Tirana, and buried there);
• Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir (16 January 1878, Dolmabahçe Palace – 16 March 1944, Sofia, and buried there);

• In the 2017 TV series Payitaht: Abdülhamid, Bidar Kadın is portrayed by Turkish actress Özlem Conker.[20]

• Ottoman Imperial Harem
• List of consorts of the Ottoman sultans

• Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
• Açba, Leyla (2004). Bir Çerkes prensesinin harem hatıraları. L & M. ISBN 978-9-756-49131-7.
• 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.
• The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.