Şehzade Selim Süleyman

Şehzade Selim Süleyman (Ottoman Turkish: شهزاده سلیم سلیمان‎; 25 July 1860 – 12 July 1909) was an Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I, and his sixteenth wife Serfiraz Hanım.

Şehzade Selim Süleyman
Born	(1860-07-25)25 July 1860 Dolmabahçe Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (present day Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	12 July 1909(1909-07-12) (aged 48) Bebek Palace, Bebek, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin Mausoleum, Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul
Spouse	Filişan Hanım Cavidan Hanım Fatma İkbal Hanım Tarzıter Hanım Zatimelek Hanım
Issue	Şehzade Mehmed Abdülhalim Naciye Sultan Şehzade Mehmed Şerefeddin
Full name Turkish: Şehzade Selim Süleyman Ottoman Turkish: شهزاده سلیم سلیمان‎
Dynasty	Ottoman
Father	Abdulmejid I
Mother	Serfiraz Hanım
Religion	Sunni Islam

Early life

Şehzade Selim Süleyman was born on 25 July 1860 in the Dolmabahçe Palace. His father was Sultan Abdulmejid I, and his mother was Serfiraz Hanım, the daughter of Osman Liah and Zeliha Tapsın.[1][2][3] He was the third child of his mother. He had a brother, Şehzade Osman Seyfeddin eight years elder then him, and a sister Bedia Sultan, two years elder then him, both of his siblings when they were young.[4][3] When he was eleven months old his father died.

Süleyman was circumcised in 1870. Other princes who were circumcised along with him included, his half-brother, Şehzade Mehmed Vahideddin, his nephew Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin, Şehzade Mahmud Celaleddin, sons of Sultan Abdulaziz, and Sultanzade Alaeddin Bey, son of Münire Sultan, daughter of Abdulmejid.[5]

Süleyman was fluent in Arabic and Persian. He used to read Persian and Arabic literature. He used to spend most of his time in Feriye Palace and his farmhouse in Balamumlu.[2] He was of romantic nature and loved music and nature and loved to spend his time at his farmhouse, he loved to ride and he had avocation in sports.[2]

His family used to spend their summers at Nisbettiye Mansion at Bosporus and they used to spend their winters at Feriye Palace.[6]

He adored Western music, like his mother Serfiraz. His daughter Naciye Sultan writes about him:

My father had a lot of interest in music. I suppose this curiosity would have passed from my grandmother. Because my grandmother Serfiraz Kadın's reed teams set up in the palace were constantly operating. These teams were two. One of them was busy with Western music. The other one was a fully arranged instrument.[7]

In 1878, he and his siblings including his brothers Prince Ahmed Kemaleddin, and sisters Seniha Sultan, Princess Fatma, were all involved in the Ali Suavi incident with the objective of restoring Murad to the throne.[8]

Personal life

Selim's first wife was Filişan Hanım. She was born in Batumi, Georgia on 17 July 1869. They married in 1885. She remained childless.[9] She died in 1947 in Bebek, Istanbul. [10][11] It was known that Filişan cared about Naciye, like her own daughter, she writes the following:

My father's first wife was Filişan Kadın. I'm not exaggerated if I say I love him as much as my mother, She was a sweet, munis, sweet person who had always been good during her lifetime. She would help me with my lessons and make me play the piano. She had great efforts not only to me but also to my eldest daughter, Mahpeyker. She cared about her and saw her to reach adulthood.[9]

Selim's second wife was Emine Cavidan Hanım, the daughter of Uzun Ahmed Bey and Bezmiara Kadın who was the former wife of Abdulmejid I, whom she had divorced marry Tevfik Pasha. Cavidan was born on 28 October 1872.[11] was raised by the Egyptian princess Zeynep Hanım, daughter of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. They married in 1886, with Zeynep Hanım's consent. She remained childless.[12] The marriage didn't lasted long. After Abdul Hamid told Süleyman that she is not suitable for him, he divorced her, after which Abdul Hamid married her to Prince Husëyin Bey of Egypt.[12]

Selim's third wife was Fatma İkbal Hanım. She was born on 19 September 1871, in Adapazarı, Sakarya Province. They married in 1893. She was the mother of Şehzade Mehmed Abdülhalim born on 28 September 1894 in the Feriye Palace. She died on 20 November 1932 and the age of sixty-one in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, having outliving her son by six years.[13][14][11]

Selim's fourth wife was Ayşe Tarziter Hanım. She was born on 4 February 1880 in Ganja, Azerbaijan.[13] She was a member of Abkhazian family, Bargan-Ipa.[15][9] They married in 1895. She was the mother of Naciye Sultan born on 25 October 1896, [16] and Şehzade Mehmed Şerefeddin born on 19 May 1904.[13] Following the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Tarziter moved to Beirut, Lebanon with her son and daughter-in-law Şükriye Sultan.[13]

His fifth and last wife was Ayşe Zatimelek Hanım. She was the daughter of Prince Nuri Bey Tapş-Ipa and Nazife Hanım Achba. She was a lady-in-waiting to Verdicenan Kadın, wife of Abdulmejid. After her death, she was sent to Dolmabahçe Palace, where she married Süleyman in 1899. [9] After Süleyman's death she moved to Ortaköy. She was noted her charity. She also transformed the lower floor of her mansion into a tailor shop.[13] In 1934, she took the surname Tapşın after the Surname Law was passed. She died in 1941. [17]

Death

Şehzade Selim Süleyman died on 12 July 1909, and was buried in the mausoleum of Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin, located in Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul.[18]

Issue

Şehzade Selim Süleyman had three children:

• Şehzade Abdülhalim (Feriye Palace , 28 September 1894 - Paris, France, 26 May 1926, buried in Sultan Selim Mosque, Damascus) married with issue;[11]
• Naciye Sultan (Feriye Palace, Istanbul, 25 October 1896 - Nişantaşı, Istanbul, Turkey, 4 December 1957, buried in Şehzade Kemaleddin Mausoleum, Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul), married with issue;[16]
• Şehzade Mehmed Şerefeddin (Feriye Palace, 19 May 1904 - Beirut, Lebanon, c. 1966, buried in Sultan Selim Mosque), married with issue;[11]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Şehzade Selim Süleyman
16. Ahmed III 8. Abdul Hamid I 17. Şermi Kadın 4. Mahmud II 9. Nakşidil Sultan 2. Abdulmejid I 5. Bezmiâlem Sultan 1. Şehzade Selim Süleyman 6. Osman Liah 3. Serfiraz Hanım 7. Zeliha Tapsın

References

1. Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924. Profil. p. 71. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
2. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 5.
3. Uluçay 2011, p. 214.
4. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 5 n.17.
5. Yıldırım, Tahsin (2006). Veliahd Yusuf İzzettin Efendi Öldürüldü mü? İntihar mı etti?. Çatı Yayıncılık. p. 47.
6. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 14.
7. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 10.
8. Brookes 2010, p. 76 and n. 51, 52.
9. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 7.
10. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 7 n. 32.
11. Adra, Jamil (2005). Genealogy of the Imperial Ottoman Family 2005. pp. 12–3.
12. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 8.
13. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 9.
14. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 13 n. 54.
15. Woronzow, Salome (September 20, 2016). Şehzade Zevceleri. Osmanlı Hanedanı Gelinleri 1850 - 1923. GRIN Verlag. p. 5. ISBN 978-3-668-30031-6.
16. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 3.
17. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 9 n. 38.
18. Milanlıoğlu 2011, p. 6.

Sources

• Milanlıoğlu, Neval (2011). Emine Naciye Sultan’ın Hayatı (1896-1957).
• Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara, Ötüken.
• Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010). The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.