Mihriban Mihrişah Sultan ( ota, مھربان مھرشاہ سلطان; "''kind sun/light''" and "''sun/light of the Şah''"; 30 August 1916 – 25 January 1987) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of heir to the throne
Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin
Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin ( ota, شهزادہ یوسف عزالدین; 29 September 1857 – 1 February 1916) was an Ottoman prince, the eldest son of Sultan Abdulaziz and his first wife Dürrünev Kadın.
Early life and education
Şehzade Yusuf I ...
, son of Sultan
Abdulaziz
Abdulaziz ( ota, عبد العزيز, ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; tr, Abdülaziz; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the 32nd List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 187 ...
, and Leman Hanım. She was the second wife of
Şehzade Ömer Faruk
Şehzade Ömer Faruk ( ota, شهزادہ عمر فاروق; 27 February 1898 – 28 March 1969) was an Ottoman prince, the son of last caliph of Muslim world Abdulmejid II and Şehsuvar Hanım. He was the imperial son-in-law of Sultan Mehmed VI ...
, son of the last Caliph of the Muslim world,
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 3 ...
and
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 ...
.
Early life
Mihrişah Sultan was born on 30 August 1916 in Beşiktaş Palace. Her father was crown prince
Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin
Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin ( ota, شهزادہ یوسف عزالدین; 29 September 1857 – 1 February 1916) was an Ottoman prince, the eldest son of Sultan Abdulaziz and his first wife Dürrünev Kadın.
Early life and education
Şehzade Yusuf I ...
, son of
Abdulaziz
Abdulaziz ( ota, عبد العزيز, ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; tr, Abdülaziz; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the 32nd List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 187 ...
and
Dürrünev Kadın, and her mother was Leman Hanım, his six consort. She was the fourth child, and second daughter born to her father and the third child of her mother. She had two elder siblings, a sister,
Şükriye Sultan, ten years elder than her and a brother,
Şehzade Mehmed Nizameddin, seven years elder than her. Her father committed suicide seven months before her birth.
At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Mihrişah moved to Romania with her brother Nizameddin, but when he began to have problems with alcoholism and fell ill with tuberculosis, she accepted the invitation of his sister Şükriye to move to her in Egypt. The sisters lived in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
and
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
. Their mother Leman Hanim remained with Nizameddin to take care of him.
In 1934, her marriage was arranged to
Şehzade Mehmed Abid
Şehzade Mehmed Abid ( ota, شهزادہ محمد عابد; 17 September 1905 – 8 December 1973) was an Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Saliha Naciye Hanım.
Early years
Şehzade Mehmed Abid was born on 17 September 1905 ...
, youngest son of Sultan
Abdul Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
and
Saliha Naciye Hanım, however, the marriage never materialised.
First marriage
Şehzade Ömer Faruk had an increased interest in his cousin Mihrişah. It was also public knowledge that things were not going well between Faruk and his wife Princess
Sabiha Sultan
ota, رقیه صبیحه سلطان
, house = Ottoman
, house-type = Dynasty
, father = Mehmed VI
, mother = Nazikeda Kadın
, birth_date = 2 April 1894
, birth_place = Ortaköy Palace, Ortaköy, Istanbul, Ottoman ...
, the daughter of Sultan
Mehmed VI
Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ota, محمد سادس ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; tr, VI. Mehmed or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the 36th and last Sultan of the O ...
.
In 1944, Mihrişah even sided with Faruk when the council chose Prince
Ahmed Nihad
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
as the head of the family. While Sabiha backed the council's decision and approved the choice of the leader. His daughters also sided with their mother. Faruk accused Sabiha of turning their daughters against him. But he was already in love with Mihrişah and the issue of the council was just an excuse.
Faruk divorced Sabiha on 5 March 1948, after twenty-eight years of marriage, and just four months later married Mihrişah in a religious ceremony on 31 July 1948.
In the prenuptial agreement she asked that the right to divorce her husband be included in the contract. She owned a small apartment building No. 8 Road 11 off Menashe Avenue in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
.
Neslişah Sultan tells in her memoirs that after Faruk married her they were not on good terms with each other. They still saw each other but Neslişah refused to be anywhere near her. She, however, took good care of Faruk. Realizing how she was sacrificing herself for his sake, Neslişah decided to see her again. It was Faruk's habit to come to Neslişah's house for lunch on Mondays, and from then on he began to bring Mihrişah with him.
However, their marriage did not last and a few years later, Mihrişah divorced Faruk in 1959 using her right to divorce her husband. Later Faruk would tell his friends, "I divorced the most beautiful woman in the world to marry the ugliest one. Fate!"
Second marriage
After Mihrişah divorced Ömer Faruk, she married Şevket Arslanoğlu. It is not known if they divorced or if he died, but when Mihrişah returned to Turkey she was alone.
Mihrişah returned to Istanbul after the revocation of the law of exile for princesses. She spent her last years with her cousin
Gevheri Sultan, daughter of her uncle
Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin
Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin ( ota,
شهزاده محمد سیف الدین; 21 September 1874 – 19 October 1927) was an Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdulaziz and Gevheri Kadın.
Early life
Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin was born on 21 Septembe ...
, in a spacious apartment in Taksim Square.
Death
Mihrişah Sultan died on 25 January 1987 at the age of seventy, and was buried in the mausoleum of her great-grandfather Sultan
Mahmud II
Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839.
His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
, Divanyolu,
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
.
Ancestry
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihrişah Sultan
1916 births
1987 deaths
Royalty from Istanbul
20th-century Ottoman princesses