Bezmiara Kadın (; "''adorned banquet''"; died 1909) was the second legal wife of the Sultan

Abdulmejid I ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Early life

Of Circassian origin, Bezmiara Kadın was the adoptive daughter of Fatma Zehra Hanım known as "Mısırlı Hanım," the daughter of Mehmed Arif Pasha, and granddaughter of grand vizier

Halil Hamid Pasha Halil Hamid Pasha, also Khaleel Hameed Basha (1736–1785) was the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 31 December 1782 to 30 April 1785. He was especially instrumental in inviting foreign experts, especially French ones, to the Ottoman Emp ...

. She was the wife of Ismail Kamil Pasha, the son of

Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Albanians, Albanian viceroy and governor who became the ''de facto'' ruler of History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty, Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely consi ...

, After Ismail Pasha's death she moved to Istanbul, and settled in Halil Hamid Pasha's palace located in Akıntıburnu.

First marriage

One day, when Abdulmejid was in his twenties, he visited Mısırlı Hanım. Here he saw Bezmiara, who played piano, and fell in love with her. He asked her hand in marriage, but Bezmiara flatly refused. However, she soon consented to his proposal. The marriage took place in 1847, and she was given the title of "Fifth Ikbal". In 1848, she was elevated to the title of "Fourth Ikbal". On 22 February 1850, she gave birth to her only child, a daughter, Mükbile Sultan in the

Çırağan Palace Çırağan Palace (), a former Ottoman palace, is now a five-star hotel in the Kempinski Hotels chain. It is located on the European shore of the Bosporus, between Beşiktaş and Ortaköy in Istanbul, Turkey. The Sultan Suite, billed at pe ...

, who died at the age of two months. In the same year she was elevated to the title of "Third Ikbal". In 1853, she was elevated to the title of "Senior Ikbal", and in 1854 to the title of "Fifth Kadın". Abdulmejid not only loved Bezmiara but esteemed her. He had her moved to a pleasant galley which he had presented to her. Here she formed an intimate relationship with a certain Tevfik Pasha.

Second marriage

Bezmiara divorced Abdulmejid and married Tevfik Pasha on 2 June 1859. Although the sultan's ministers had required her, in the divorce agreement, to never remarry, as it would have been an insult to the sultan, she ignored them. Abdülmejid did not punish her, despite the invitation to do so, but gave the couple a palace owned by the Crown. When Sultan

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861. Ab ...

ascended the throne after the death of his brother in 1861, he relocated Tevfik and Bezmiara to

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. The two divorced soon after, and Tevfik was put to death in 1865. The couple had a daughter named Emine Cavidan Hanım born on 28 October 1862 in Istanbul. After her birth her parents divorced. Cavidan married Abdulmejid and

Serfiraz Hanım Serfiraz Hanım (; ; "''triumphant''" or "''proud''"; born Ayşe Lah; 1837 – 9 June 1905) was a consort of Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire. Early life Born in 1837 as Ayşe, Serfiraz Hanım was a member of the Abkhazian family, La ...

's son,

Şehzade Selim Süleyman Şehzade Selim Süleyman (; 25 July 1860 – 16 July 1909) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I, and one of his consorts Serfiraz Hanım. Early life Şehzade Selim Süleyman was born on 25 July 1860 in the Do ...

in 1886. After the two divorced, she married Prince Hüseyin Bey of Egypt on 2 February 1891, and after his death in 1898, she married Osman Pasha.

Third marriage

After her divorce, Bezmiara married the director of Bursa Awqaf, Uzun Ahmed Bey. The couple divorced After some years. She returned to Istanbul, where she had a troubled life.

Issue

In literature

*Bezmiara is a character in

Hıfzı Topuz Hıfzı Topuz (25 January 1923 – 26 September 2023) was a Turkish journalist, travel writer and novelist. He also served as a lecturer on journalism at several universities. Early life Topuz was born on 25 January 1923 in Istanbul. After fini ...

's historical novel ''Abdülmecit: İmparatorluk Çökerken Sarayda 22 Yıl: Roman'' (2009).

Annotations

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bezmiara Kadin 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Year of death unknown Circassian nobility Year of birth unknown Consorts of Abdulmejid I Circassian women People from Circassia