ota, مہستی خانم , house = Akalsba (by birth)
Ottoman (by marriage) , father = Hacımaf Akalsba , mother = Safiye Hanım , birth_name = Atiye Akalsba , birth_date = 1890 , birth_place =

Adapazarı Adapazarı () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the central district of Sakarya Province. The province itself was originally named Adapazarı as well. Adapazarı is a part of the densely populated region of the country known as the Marmara Re ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, death_date = , death_place =

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, burial_place =

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...

, religion = Sunni Islam Mehisti Hanım ( ota, مہستی خانم; born Atiye Akalsba; 1890 – 1964) was the fourth wife of

Abdulmejid II Abdulmejid II ( ota, عبد المجید ثانی, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i sânî, tr, II. Abdülmecid, 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the only Caliph of the Republic of Turkey, and nominally the 37 ...

, the last Caliph of the

Ottoman Caliphate The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. ...

Early life

Mehisti Hanım was born in 1890 in

. Born as Atiye Akalsba, she was member of Abkhazian noble family, Akalsba. Her father was Hacımaf Efendi Akalsba and her mother was Safiye Hanım. She had one brother, Fazıl Bey, and two sisters, Mihridil Hanım, and Mihrivefa Hanım. In 1895, at aged five, her father entrusted her to the

Yıldız Palace Yıldız Palace ( tr, Yıldız Sarayı, ) is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman pavilions and villas in Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the sultan and his court in the late 19th ...

's imperial harem. Here her name according to the custom of the Ottoman court was changed to Mehisti. She was then sent to the harem of Şehzade Abdulmejid.

Marriage

Mehisti married Abdulmejid on 16 April 1912 in the Bağlarbaşı Palace.

Dürrüşehvar Sultan ota, خدیجه خیریه عائشه درشهوار سلطان , title = Princess of Berar, Princess Imperiale of the Ottoman Empire , image = Cecil Beaton Photographs- Political and Military Personalities; Durri Shehvar, Princess ...

, the couple's only daughter was born in the Çamlıca Palace on 26 January 1914. At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, she followed her husband and the other members of his entourage. They moved firstly to Switzerland and then to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

where they settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. During exile, her daughter, Dürrüşehvar married Prince

Azam Jah Azam Jah, Damat Walashan Sahebzada Nawab Sir Mir Himayat Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur Bayaffendi ( ur, اعظم جاہ داماد والاشان صاحب زادہ نواب سر میر حمایت علی خان بہادر بے آفندی) (21/22 Feb ...

, the eldest son and heir of the last Nizam of Hyderabad State,

Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age o ...

, at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, on 12 November 1931, and went to live in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. After her marriage, Dürrüşehvar took Mehisti with her. But, when the family traveled from India to Europe, and came to France, she and her daughter would stay with Abdulmejid. Neslişah notes that before Dürrüşehvar's marriage Mehisti was allowed to eat in the second sitting, along with Abdulmejid's third wife Hayrünnisa Hanım, the secretaries Behruze and Ofelya and other Kalfas. However, after her marriage, Mehisti's position changed, and she was allowed to eat at the first sitting. Abdulmejid was interested in classical music. At times, he would perform with his wives, and the kalfas. He would be at the piano,

Şehsuvar Hanım Şehsuvar Hanım ( ota, شهسوار خانم; 1881 – 1945; meaning "intrepid hero") was the first wife of Abdulmejid II, the last Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate. Life Of Turkish, or Ubykh origin, Şehsuvar Hanım was born in 1881. She marr ...

and Hayrünnisa Hanım would play the violin, and Mehisti the cello.

Death

After Abdulmejid's death in 1944, Mehisti settled in London. She died in 1964, and was buried in

. After Dürrüşehvar's death in 2006, she was buried beside her.

Issue

References

Sources