Perestu Kadın

Perestu Kadın[1] (Ottoman Turkish: پرستو قادین‎, from Persian پرستو parastū "swallow"; born Rahime Gogen; c. 1830 – c. 1904) was the Georgian Circassian eighth legal wife of Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire. She was given the honorary title and position of Valide sultan when Abdul Hamid II ascended the throne in 1876 making her the last Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, Perestu is the given name, the title is Kadın, and there is no family name.
Perestu Kadın
Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure31 August 1876 – 1904
PredecessorŞevkefza Kadın
SuccessorVacant until sultanate abolished in 1922
BornRahime (adoptive name) / original name unknown
c. 1830
Sochi, Russia
Diedc. 1904 (aged 73–74)
Maçka Palace, Maçka, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial
Mihrişah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp, Istanbul
Spouse
​
(
m. 1844; died 1861)
IssueAdopted:
Abdul Hamid II
Cemile Sultan
Full name
Turkish: Perestu Kadın
Ottoman Turkish: پرستو قادین‎
FatherGök Gogen
MotherEsma Sultan (adoptive)
ReligionSunni Islam

Early life

Perestu Kadın was born in 1830[2] in Sochi, Russia. Born to the Circassian family Gogen,[3] she was a member of Ubykh noble family,[4] Gogen. She had three brothers, Mustafa Bey, Hüseyin Bey, and Hasan Bey, and two sisters, Gülcemal Hanım,[3] and Mihrifidan Hanım (died 1865).[5]

Esma Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid I lived in luxury in her magnificent villa in Istanbul, but still her life passed in sadness because she could not have the one thing she wished for most; a child. At length she decided to adopt a child. After reaching satisfactory terms with the mother and father, she adopted the child and renamed her Rahime, who was one year of age.[6][5]

Rahime was particularly diminutive, delicate and graceful, so she renamed her Perestu, the Persian word for swallow.[5] All the kalfas in Esma Sultan's villa behaved toward this child as though she were a daughter of an Ottoman imperial princess, and indeed her disposition and manners were so lovely that they became devoted to her.[6]

Marriage

One spring day in 1844, Abdulmejid came to visit his aunt and was passing through the harem gardens when he saw Perestu, then fourteen years old. He asked his aunt to give her hand in marriage to him. Firstly, Esma Sultan refused to give Perestu's hand in marriage but consented on the condition that the Sultan legally marries Perestu and not consider her a concubine , which he did. One week after that, Perestu was sent off to Topkapı Palace to the harem.[7]

Although she was a free woman ,she was given the title of "Senior Fortunate" , which literally is translated into favorite of the Sultan , and not an official wife. The title of Ikbal was usually given to the concubines of the Sultans , so it was very unusual that Perestu takes the title of Ikbal. This title was because the Sultan had six main wives in 1844 and they were Servetseza , Tirimujgan , Duzdidil , Sevkefza , Gulcemal and Verdicenan.[8] In 1845, she was elevated to "Sixth Consort", in 1851, to "Fifth Consort", and in 1852, to "Fourth Consort".[4]

Perestu had no children of her own. In 1845, when Cemile Sultan's mother Düzdidil Kadın died leaving her motherless at the age of two. Abdulmejid took her to Perestu, and entrusted her into her care.[9] She also became the adoptive mother of Abdul Hamid II after the death of his own mother, Tirimüjgan Kadın in 1852. Thus, the two siblings grew up together in the same household and spent their childhoods with one another.[10]. Perestu was the kindest among all of Abdulmejid's consorts. As a Kadınefendi (imperial main consort) she had a private pavilion in the Dolmabahce palace. Perestu didn't like most of Abdulmejid's favorites and saw that they had undeserved power. Perestu respected Abdulmejid's main consorts. Perestu decided to stay in her private pavilion and not live in the harem , because she was a free woman and it would be inappropriate if she lives with slaves and also because she didn't want to create problems with slaves while she was a free woman. only she and Bezmiara Kadın , the sixth consort of Abdulmejid , were free women and thus legal wives of the Sultan. All of Abdulmejid's Kadıns (main consorts) had a rank in the harem equivalent to the rank of Haseki Sultan although the title itself was not used. Abdulmejid had six Kadıns (main consorts) and they were : Servetseza , Sevkefza , Verdicenan , Perestu (legal wife) , Mahitab and Bezmiara (legal wife).

After Abdulmejid's death in 1861, she settled in her villa in Maçka, Nişantaşı, which had been a gift presented to her by Sultan Abdulaziz.[11]

As Valide Sultan

After Abdul Hamid II ascended the throne in 1876, she was given the position of Valide Sultan by him, and headed the harem. Abdul Hamid told her categorically not to involve herself in politics.[12] Thus, unlike many of her predecessors, she was not active in politics.[13].

Three days before Abdul Hamid became Sultan, he went to Perestu Kadın's villa and kissed her hand, acknowledging her as his Valide Sultan Queen mother and it was from there that he proceeded to Topkapı Palace for the ceremony of homage at his accession. Perestu loved this house. Now and again she would want to go there, but because Abdul Hamid absolutely wanted her present in the palace he would withhold permission.[14]

In 1885, during the visit of King Oscar II and Queen Sophia of Sweden to the Ottoman Empire, she received the Swedish queen, who was allowed to visit the Imperial harem.[15]

The internal matters of the palace were in her charge. But she did not want to hurt anyone's feelings in the least, did not interfere in the matters, sought justice and equity, and because she was firmly religious she passed a good deal of time in prayers. She possessed good, high moral standards, which led her to help the poor and needy.[16]. Perestu was known as a fair and compassionate queen mother. She headed the imperial harem with love and devotion. All the people in the palace loved and admired her. She was the last woman in Ottoman history to hold the title Valide Sultan.

Abdul Hamid particularly wanted Perestu to attend the Royal Mosque Procession every Friday. Sometimes after the ceremony she would secretly slip out to her villa, but when Abdul Hamid learned of it, he immediately aided set off from the palace with a carriage and brought her back.[6].

In 1891, Perestu commissioned a fountain (sebil) in Bala Tekkesi, Silivrikapı and another fountain (çeşme) in the same place in 1895.[17]

Death

Perestu died in 1904[2] in her villa located at Maçka, Istanbul. Abdul Hamid was very upset when she died and he said that he felt that he was orphaned twice , first when his real mother Tirimujgan Kadin died and then when his adoptive mother Perestu Sultan died. The traditional service at which the Prophet's Nativity Poem is recited was held in her memory at the Shaziliya Dervish Convent and at the Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque.[6] She lies at rest in the mausoleum of Mihrişah Valide Sultan in Eyüp, Istanbul.[18]

Honours
  • Perestu Kadın is a character in Tim Symonds' historical novel Sherlock Holmes and The Sword of Osman (2015).[19]

References
  1. Uluçay 2011, p. 206.
  2. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 585.
  3. Açba 2007, p. 46.
  4. Uluçay 2011, p. 207.
  5. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 586.
  6. Brookes 2010, p. 130.
  7. Brookes 2010, p. 131-2.
  8. Öztuna, Yılmaz (January 5, 2017). II. Abdülhamid: Zamanı ve Şahsiyeti. Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş. ISBN 978-6-051-55537-9.
  9. Brookes 2010, p. 131 4.
  10. Brookes 2010, p. 131 4-5.
  11. Topuz, Hıfzı (2009). Nişantaşı anıları. Heyamola Yayınları. p. 24. ISBN 978-6-054-30721-0.
  12. Karpat, Kemal H. (May 3, 2001). The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late Ottoman State. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-190-28576-0.
  13. Fanny Davis (1986). The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-313-24811-5.
  14. Brookes 2010, p. 129-30.
  15. Anne-Marie Riiber (1959). Drottning Sophia. (Queen Sophia) Uppsala: J. A. Lindblads Förlag. ISBN page 219
  16. Brookes 2010, p. 129.
  17. Uluçay 2011, p. 208.
  18. Bahdıroğlu, Yavuz (May 1, 2014). Osmanlı'da Şehzade Katli. Nesil Basım Yayın Gıda Ticaret ve Sanayi A.Ş. ISBN 978-6-051-62218-7.
  19. Symonds, Tim (October 14, 2015). Sherlock Holmes and The Sword of Osman. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN 978-1-780-92756-5.
  20. Payitaht Abdülhamid - Rahime Perestu Valide Sultan - Şefika Ümit Tolun Kimdir (Gerçek İsmi, Rolü, Öldü mü, Ayrıldı mı), retrieved 2018-12-30

Sources
  • Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
  • Açba, Harun (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924. Profil. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
  • Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları: Vâlide Sultanlar, Hâtunlar, Hasekiler, Kandınefendiler, Sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-6-051-71079-2.
  • The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.

Further reading
  • Osmanoğlu, Ayşe (2000). Babam Sultan Abdülhamid. Mona Kitap Yayinlari. ISBN 978-6-050-81202-2.
Ottoman royalty
Preceded by
Şevkefza Kadın		 Valide Sultan
31 August 1876 – 1904		 Vacant
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.