Gevherriz Hanım (; 1863 – 1940; meaning 'gem parure'), also called Cevherriz Hanım, was a consort of Sultan

Murad V Murad V (; ; 21 September 1840 – 29 August 1904) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 30 May to 31 August 1876. The son of Abdulmejid I, he supported the conversion of the government to a constitutional monarchy. His uncle Abdulaziz ...

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 ...

Life

Gevherriz Hanım was born in about 1863 in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia. She was Circassian and the daughter of Halil Bey. When the Circassians had to flee Russia, she was admitted to the Ottoman court, where she grew up and became a Kalfa (girl servant) before she was noticed by Murad. She married Murad in 1876, during his accession to the throne. She remained childless. After Murad ascended the throne on 30 May 1876 after the deposition of his uncle 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 ...

, she was given the title of "Second Ikbal". After reigning for three months, he was deposed on 30 August 1876, due to mental instability and was imprisoned 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 ...

. Gevherriz also followed Murad into confinement. She spoke excellent French. She also taught French to young şehzades, Sultans (Ottoman imperial princes and princesses), and Murad's children. In her memoir, fellow consort Filizten Hanım reported that Gevherriz worked with Nakşifend Kalfa, the hazinedar Dilberengiz, the eunuch Hüseyin Ağa, and Hüsnü Bey (who had been Second Secretary of Murad) to allow for a British doctor to meet with Murad to ascertain Murad's mental fitness. When the doctor arrived, Gevherriz served as translator. It is not clear how true this story is, and it is possible the doctor was sent by freemasons rather than by the British.Şehsuvaroğlu, Haluk Yusuf,
Çırağanın meşhur kadın simaları
'', Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 120-Saraylar. Not: Gazetenin "Tarihten Sayfalar" köşesinde yayımlanmıştır. She was widowed at Murad's death in 1904, after which her ordeal in the Çırağan Palace came to an end. In widowhood, her stipend consisted of 1500 ''kuruş''. However, later, during the reign of Sultan

Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd (; or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a Constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarch. He had ...

, it was reduced to only 500 ''kuruş''. Afterwards, her step-daughter, Hatice Sultan, wrote to

Mehmet Cavit Bey Mehmet Cavit Bey, Mehmed Cavid Bey or Mehmed Djavid Bey (; 1875 – 26 August 1926) was a Dönme–Ottoman economist, newspaper editor and leading liberal politician during the dissolution period of the Ottoman Empire. As a Young Turk and a me ...

, member of the

Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

(CUP), asking him to raise her stipend at least to 800 ''kuruş.'' Immediately after Murad V's death, she was sent to Bursa for a few years with Murad's other consorts Remzşinas Hanım, Nevdürr Hanım, and Filizten Hanım, but later she came back to Istanbul and remarried a certain Hüsnü Bey in 1915, but the second marriage was very sad. At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Gevherriz as being the adjunct member of the family decided to stay in Istanbul, where she died in around 1940.

In literature

* Gevherriz is a character in Ayşe Osmanoğlu's historical novel The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus (2020).

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanim, Gevherriz 1860s births 19th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans 20th-century deaths Circassian women Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire

Life

In literature

See also

References

Sources