Mehtab Kadınefendi

Mehtab Kadınefendi
Beşinci Kadın of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure	1852 - 25 June 1861
Predecessor	Bezmara Kadınefendi
Successor	Saliha Naciye Kadınefendi
Born	Nuriye c. 1830 Makhachkala, Russia
Died	c. 1888 Yıldız Palace, Yıldız, Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire
Burial	Yahya Efendi Cemetery
Spouse	Abdülmecid I
Issue	Sabiha Sultan Şehzade Ahmed Nureddin Efendi
Full name Devletlu İsmetlu Mehtab Beşinci Kadınefendi Hazretleri (royal name)
House	House of Osman (by marriage)
Father	Hişam Bey
Mother	Malika Hanım
Religion	Islam

Mehtab Kadınefendi (fully Devletlu İsmetlu Mehtab Beşinci Kadınefendi Hazretleri, c. 1830 – c. 1888,^[1] birth name Nuriye, other names Mahitab, Mah-i Tabi, Mahinab) was the circassian wife of 31st Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I and the mother of Sabiha Sultan and Şehzade Nureddin Efendi of the Ottoman Empire.^[2]

Biography

Mehtab Kadınefendi was born in 1830 to a Circasssian notable, Hişam Bey and his wife Malika Hanım.^[3] Her real name was Nuriye. At a very young age she along with her sisters and brothers was taken from Russia to Istanbul, where she was delivered at the court of the Ottoman Sultan. She was one of the rare Chechen girls to have entered the palace.

Şevknihak Hanım, who was the Hazinedar Usta in the harem of Abdülmecid I, was the sister of her father, Hişam Bey and subsequently the aunt of Mehtab Kadın Efendi. Her brothers were brought up out of the palace by Ali'ebru Hanım. In the palace Mehtab was given private education. However, soon the Sultan Abdülmecid took notice of Mehtab and they married in 1845.

Three years after the marriage she gave birth to Sabiha Sultan and then in 1848 to Şehzade Ahmed Nureddin Efendi.^[4] In 1870 she was visited by Şeyh Şamil along with her family. Şeyh Şamil was always supported by Mehtab Kadın Efendi. After 1880 she started residing in the Yıldız Palace, where she was loved and respected by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. She died in 1888 in her mansion located in Yıldız Palace park and was buried in Yahya Efendi cemetery.^[5]

Titles and styles

1852 - 25 June 1861: Devletlu İsmetlu Mehtab Beşinci Kadınefendi Hazretleri (Her Highness The Fifth Imperial Lady Consort Mehtab)

Further reading

• Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları (Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications), 15th Ed., 2009, ISBN 978-975-269-299-2 (Hardcover).

See also

• Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman dynasty

References

1. "Turkey: The Imperial House of Osman". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on May 2, 2006.
2. "Consorts Of Ottoman Sultans (in Turkish)". Ottoman Web Page. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
3. Bir Çerkes prensesinin harem hatıraları. L & M. 2004. ISBN 978-9-756-49131-7.
4. "Genealogy of the Ottoman Royal Family".
5. Christopher Buyers. "The Royal Ark – Royal and Ruling Houses of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas". 4dw.net.

Succession