Şehzade Abdurrahim Hayri

Şehzade Abdurrahim Hayri was born on 14 August 1894 in the Yıldız Palace.[1][2] His father was Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his mother was Peyveste Hanım, daughter of Osman Bey Eymhaa and Hesna Çaabalurhva.[3]

At the overthrow of his father in 1909, the fifteen-year-old prince and his mother followed Abdul Hamid into exile at Thessaloniki. In 1910, the prince and his mother returned to Istanbul.[4][5][6] After Thessaloniki fell to Greece in 1912, Abdul Hamid also returned to Istanbul, and settled in the Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died in 1918.[7]

After receiving education from the Palace School, Abdurrahim was enrolled in Imperial School of Habriye.[8] In 1908, he entered Mühendishane-i Berrî-i Hümayun, that was the Artillery School. He started his education at the School of War in 1910, and graduated from there in 1912.[4]

Abdurrahim, along with other princes, Şehzade Mehmed Abdülhalim, son of Şehzade Selim Süleyman, Şehzade Osman Fuad, son of Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, were sent to the Potsdam Military Academy as the guests of Kaiser Wilhelm II, where Şehzade Ömer Faruk, the son of Abdulmejid II, later joined them. The Kaiser had admitted these four princes into the Imperial Guard of Hussars, the personal guard regiment of the Kaiser.[9] Abdürrahim Efendi, who had graduated from the Potsdam Military Academy, served an artillery offcer,[10] between the years 1914–1916,[8] at the court of Kaiser Wilhelm.[4]

On 4 January 1917,[4] Abdurrahim along with Osman Fuad visited the troops for morale-boosting purposes. The two young princes visited the 15th Army Corps, sent to Galicia to fight with the Austrian troops against the Russians.[10] On 1 April 1917, he was appointed as the commander of the 17th Army Corps.[4]

He saw an active service with the Ottoman army during First World War. He saw action in battles on both the Galician and Palestinian Fronts. His success on the Galician Front saw his promotion, before he was sent to Palestine, where his leadership saved artillery troops under his command from a British assault. As a result, he was awarded with the German Order of Merit, the only member of the Ottoman dynasty to earn this order in service.[11]

On 28 August 1918, he serving as the head of the delegation visited Germany, Austria and Bulgaria. The purpose of the delegation was to convey the message of the enthronement of Sultan Mehmed VI.[4] On 19 October 1918, he was appointed to the headquarters of the general operations branch.[4] On 8 February 1922, he was appointed as the artillery transport inspector.[4] On 2 August 1922, he became the president of the World Competitions Preparation Society.[4]

In 1908, when Abdurrahim came of age of marriage, his father decided he would marry Naciye Sultan, daughter of Şehzade Selim Süleyman. However, Naciye and her family were not immediately enlightened of this decision. Naciye's father and mother opposed this decision, as Naciye was only twelve years old, at that time. However, her father couldn't opposed his brother, and was obliged to accept it, and so Naciye was engaged to Abdurrahim.[12]

In 1909, after the engagement, a strange incident happened. Şehzade Mehmed Abdülhalim, Naciye Sultan's elder half-brother, received a letter, which said that Abdülhalim will be killed if the engagement is not broken off.[13] Abdülhalim's mother, İkbal Hanım, informed about this situation to Sultan Mehmed V, after which the Sultan ordered Halid Ziya Bey, chief of Mabeyn to carry out an investigation. It turned out that Abdülhalim himself wrote this letter as he opposed this engagement.[14] After this incident, Sultan Mehmed broke of the engagement,[15] and engaged Naciye to Enver Pasha.[16]

Abdurrahim's first wife was Nebile Emine Hanım, daughter of Abbas Halim Pasha of Kavala. She was born on 1 June 1899. They married on 4 June 1919 in the Nişantaşı Palace. She was mother of Mihrişah Selçuk Sultan born on 14 April 1920.[17][18][19] Emine Hanım's sister, Kerime Hanım married Şehzade Osman Fuad, son of Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin. The two divorced in 1923.[19][18] She died on 6 February 1979, and was buried in Karacaahmet Cemetery.[18]

Abdurrahim's second wife was his maternal first cousin, Feride Mihrişah Misalruh Hanım. She was born in 1901. They married on 2 September 1923, after Abdurrahim's divorce from Emine. She died in 1955,[4] and was buried in Bobigny cemetery, Paris.[20]

Şehzade Abdurrahim was a enthusiastic artist, received musical education from Aranda Pasha and maestro-composer Edgar Manas, who performed the orchestration of Turkish national anthem. He composed various instruments like piano, mandolin and cello. He used to paint landscapes by using charcoal and pastels. In 1900, he made the oil painting of Italian prince, Victor Emmanuel III of Italy when he visited Istanbul as heir to the throne. In 1910, he visited Istanbul secondly as a king, and presented Abdurrahim with a silver pen to express his gratitude by appreciating the gift of Prince's oil painting.[19]

At the exile of imperial family in March 1924, Abdurrahim, his mother, daughter and aunt firstly settled in Vienna. After living in Vienna, they went to Rome. At last, they settled in Paris, France, and took a house in Mourad Boulevard.[19] Peyveste's house in Istanbul was sold, and they received a low income. Peyveste followed her son into exile, although she was the adjunct member of the family.[4] Peyveste Hanım died in 1943.[3]

After his mother's death, the prince, had no money, and sold his house and settled in Hotel Saint-Honoré in Paris. His sister, Şadiye Sultan, came to live in the hotel, and took her room adjacent to Abdurrahim's. His only daughter, Mihrişah married Egyptian diplomat Ahmet Râtib Bey and went to live in Cairo.[4]

Abdurrahim Hayri committed suicide on 1 January 1952 at the age of fifty-seven by consuming excessive amount of morphine, due to depression and financial difficulties. He was buried in the Muslim cemetery of Paris, in Bobigny cemetery.[4][19][17]

Ottoman honours

• Order of the House of Osman[21]
• Order of Glory, Jeweled[21]
• Order of Distinction, Jeweled[21]
• Order of Osmanieh, Jeweled[21]
• Order of Medjidie, Jeweled[21]
• Imtiyaz Medal in Silver;[21] in Gold[21]
• Liakat Medal in Gold[21]

Foreign honours

•  Germany: Order of Merit

• Milanlıoğlu, Neval (2011). Emine Naciye Sultan'ın Hayatı (1896-1957).
• Monarchies and the Great War. Springer. 2018. ISBN 978-3-319-89515-4.