Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkerim Efendi (, also Mehmed Abdülkerim Osmanoğlu; 26 June 1906 – 3 August 1935) was an Ottoman prince, the son of

Şehzade Mehmed Selim Şehzade Mehmed Selim Efendi (; 11 January 1870 – 5 May 1937) was an Ottoman prince, the eldest son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his consort Bedrifelek Kadın. Early life Şehzade Mehmed Selim was born on 11 January 1870 in the Dolmab ...

and Nilüfer Hanım. He was the grandson of

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

and

Bedrifelek Kadın Bedrifelek Kadın (, "''moon of the sky''"; 4 January 1851 – 8 February 1930) was the third consort of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire. Early life Bedrifelek Kadın was born on 4 January 1851 in Anapa. She was a member of Circa ...

Early life

Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkerim was born on 26 June 1906 in the

Yıldız Palace Yıldız Palace (, ) is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman Empire, Ottoman pavilions and villas in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the List of sultans of the Ottoman ...

. His father was

, son of

and

, and his mother was Selim's fourth consort Nilüfer Hanım, an Abkhazian. He was educated at the Galatasaray College,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Abdülkerim and his family first settled in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, then under French rule, and then in

Jounieh Jounieh (, or ''Juniya'', ) is a coastal city in Keserwan District, about north of Beirut, Lebanon. Since 2017, it has been the capital of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate. Jounieh is known for its seaside resorts and bustling nightlife, as well as it ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. On that occasion, his mother divorced by his father and chose to stay in Istanbul, where she remarried.

Personal life

Abdülkerim's only wife was Nimet Hanım. She was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon, in 1911. She was of Lebanese Maronite descent. They married in 1930 in Beirut, and she converted to Islam after her marriage. Failing to receive his father's approval for the marriage, the couple settled in

. The two together had two sons, ''Şehzade''

Dündar Ali Osman Dündar Ali Osman (, ; 30 December 1930 – 18 January 2021), also known as Dündar Ali Osman Osmanoğlu, with a surname as required by the Republic of Turkey, or known by the Ottoman imperial name as Şehzade Dündar Ali Osman Osmanoğlu Efen ...

Osmanoğlu (born 1930) and ''Şehzade'' Harun Osmanoğlu (born 1932). In later years, she settled in Istanbul with her son Harun, where she died on 4 August 1981.

Later life and death

In 1932 he left Damascus,

, to become active in the independence movements of

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, also called

East Turkestan East Turkestan or East Turkistan (, : , : ), is a loosely-defined geographical region in the northwestern part of the People's Republic of China, on the cross roads of East and Central Asia. The term was coined in the 19th century by Russi ...

at the time. In 1933, he was invited to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

by their government, presumably with an eye towards leveraging his status as the Ottoman pretender to aid the Japanese Empire in outreach to

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

n Muslims in conflict with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

.Asia.boun
Abdülkerim first went to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, but after he could not find the support he expected, he moved to East Turkestan to organize the people against Chinese rule. Upon the defeat of his weak forces, Abdülkerim first fled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and later sought asylum from the United States. He was found dead in a hotel room on 3 August 1935. He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Maspeth, Queens County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sehzade Abdul Kerim Efendi Islam in Japan Foreign relations of Japan 1906 births 1935 deaths Galatasaray High School alumni Ottoman princes