Nakşidil Sultan (; "''embroidered on the heart''"; also Nakşi Sultan; 1761
– 22 August 1817
) was a consort of Sultan
Abdul Hamid I, and ''
Valide Sultan'' to their son
Mahmud II
Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
, Sultan 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 ...
.
Background
Origins
According to various scholars, she came from a family with origins in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
region (via the
Black Sea slave trade). Fikret Saraçoğlu has found in the archives of the
Topkapı Palace in
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 ...
documents pertaining to her death and funeral.
Others like Necdet Sakaoğlu and Ibrahim Pazan traced these origins further and claim she was actually a
Georgian. By custom the consorts of the Ottoman sultans were by custom normally
concubines of Christian origin, who came to the
Ottoman Imperial harem via the
Ottoman slave trade, and converted to Islam and given a
slave name after their arrival.
She was raised in the Ottoman palace and was given thoroughly Turkish Islamic education.
Controversy over identity
There is a fanciful legend that Nakşidil was
Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, who had gone missing at sea in 1788, and was a distant cousin-in-law of the former
Empress Josephine, wife of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
Bonaparte. According to this myth, Aimée du Buc de Rivéry was captured by
Barbary pirates
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
and sold as a
harem concubine, but modern historian have debunked this.
Several older myths, dating back even to the early 16th century, already purported connections between the French and the Ottoman monarchies. These have been found to be politically motivated fabrications, intended to justify alliances between the two (supposedly related) monarchies. The Aimée-Nakşidil tale shows several distinct parallels to these older tales. In times of monarchy, the stories about abducted French princesses weren't repudiated by French officials to maintain good relations with the Ottoman inventors of the tales. In later times this and similar harem tales have been used in France to perpetuate a view of Turkey, the Middle East and the Islam in general as mysterious and despotic in nature, despite more accurate accounts available.
However, fifty years later, in 1867, when Sultan
Abdulaziz, son of Mahmud, went to Paris to be entertained by
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
, he was greeted with great enthusiasm by Napoleon, who told the press that their grandmothers were related. Another invented tradition concerning a French woman with royal connections in the Ottoman harem was being created to support the political aspirations of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire and France. As in other examples of invented traditions, this legend was loosely connected with a historical phenomenon. Initially this legend also emphasized the relationship between the two rulers, just as the earlier myth had done.
As imperial consort
Nakşidil, who had been a
lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
(slave) to
Esma Sultan, daughter of Sultan
Ahmed III,
became the consort (
slave concubine) to Abdul Hamid in 1782. She was given the title of "Seventh Consort". On 22 October 1783, she gave birth to her first child, a son, Şehzade Murad Seyfullah, who died at the age of two of smallpox on 21 January 1785.
One year later, on 20 July 1785, she gave birth to her second child, a son, Şehzade Mahmud (future Sultan
Mahmud II
Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
). One year later, on 27 November 1786, she gave birth to her third child, a daughter, Saliha Sultan, who died at the age one on 10 April 1788.
In 1788, Nakşidil commissioned a fountain in Sultanahmet next to the prison known as the "Nakşi Kadın Fountain". She was widowed at Abdul Hamid's death in 1789.
Widowhood and Valide Sultan
In 1807, after the accession of her stepson, Sultan
Mustafa IV, her daily and weekly allocations were raised. During these years, the monthly and annual income sources of Nakşidil came from the three farms located in Taşçı Han, near the Fatih Mosque.
In 1808, assassins sent by his half-brother Mustafa, aided by the Ulema, sought to murder Mahmud. Nakşidil saved her son by concealing him, so that he lived to become the next sultan,
Mahmud II
Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
. Mahmud became sultan after having ordered the death of his half-brother, Mustafa, who had previously ordered the deaths of
Mahmud II
Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
, and of their cousin,
Selim III, whom he had deposed as sultan,
''Encyclopædia Britannica''
''Encyclopædia Britannica'': "Mustafa IV". and Nakşidil became the Valide Sultan.
In 1809, she commissioned a fountain near Sarıkadı Village in Üsküdar known as "Nakşidil Sultan fountain". In 1817, she established another fountain, kitchen, and her own mausoleum in Fatih.
Death and aftermath
In 1816, Nakşidil was struck by a severe illness. Two Greek doctors treated her but were unable to heal her. The chief physician advised Nakşidil to have some rest at the mansion of Gümrükçü Osman Ağa at Çamlıca, but the weather there affected her health, and so she returned to Beşiktaş Palace, where she died on 22 August 1817 of tuberculosis. She was buried in her own mausoleum located at Fatih, 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 ...
.
The wife of a French ambassador was present in Istanbul at the time of Nakşidil's death.
She writes:
In 1818, her son Sultan Mahmud commissioned a fountain (sebil) known as "Nakşidil Sultan Sebil" in the memory of his mother. Her son, and her grandson Abdulmejid I also died of tuberculosis in 1839 and 1861 respectively.
Issue
Together with Abdul Hamid, Nakşidil had three children, two sons and a daughter:
* Şehzade Murad Seyfullah (Topkapı Palace, 22 October 1783 – Topkapı Palace, 21 January 1785);
* Mahmud II
Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
(Topkapı Palace, 20 July 1785 – Istanbul, Turkey, 1 July 1839, buried in Mahmud II Mausoleum), 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire;
* Saliha Sultan (Topkapı Palace, 27 November 1786 – Topkapı Palace, 10 April 1788);
Gallery
File:Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum 9303.jpg, Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum Interior
File:Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum 9288.jpg, Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum South side
File:Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum 9290.jpg, Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum Sebil
File:Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum 9293.jpg, Naksidil Valide Sultan Mausoleum Dome
See also
*Ottoman dynasty
The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...
* Ottoman family tree
* List of Valide Sultans
* List of consorts of the Ottoman Sultans
* Aimée du Buc de Rivéry
References
Sources
*
*
External links
The Veiled Empress' tomb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naksidil
1760s births
1817 deaths
Valide sultan
18th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans
19th-century consorts of Ottoman sultans
Mahmud II
18th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire
Concubines of Ottoman sultans
Georgians from the Ottoman Empire