Tawhida Hanim

Twahida Hanim was born in 1850, as the eldest daughter of Khedive Isma'il Pasha, and his first wife Shehret Feza Hanim. She had one sister, Fatima Hanim, three years younger than her.[1]

Her father, and her grandmother Hoshiyar Qadin launched a propaganda campaign in Istanbul, with proposed new heir in question, her half-brother Tewfik Pasha, lots of money, and female diplomacy.[2] In 1865 Isma'il sent her to spend the summer in Istanbul. She had beautiful auburn hair and green eyes, was slim, of medium height, and had great charm, enhanced by a remarkable intelligence. In 1866, she was a guest in the imperial harem, and Sultan Abdulaziz wanted to marry her.[3] However, grand vizier Mehmed Fuad Pasha opposed the love match on the grounds that Isma'il then would have too favourable a backstairs entrée to the sultan.[4] Fuad's objection was written on a small paper, and given to the head chamberlain, who instead of reading it to Abdulaziz, handed it to him. The sultan was insulted, Fuad was fired, and the marriage plans were cancelled.[4]

As a young girl she formed a warm friendship with a distant cousin, a lady of the Yeghen family,[5] daughter of Ahmad Pasha,[6][7] who were descendants of a brother of Muhammad Ali Pasha. Both girls were great lovers of poetry and used to read classical Turkish compositions aloud to each other and themselves wrote verses in the style of one or other of the great poets. These youthful efforts were submitted for criticism to the friend's elder brother, Mansur Yeghen Pasha, who returned them accompanied by notes written in perfect prose. Young and romantic, the princess fell in love with the author of these missives, a man she had never seen, who expressed the most noble ideals in admirably worded phrases. As he was still a bachelor, though nearing middle age, she decided to marry him. When the matter reached her father, he summoned her, and told her that both his family and his position were eminently suitable, apart from the great difference in age. Tawhida persisted, and enlisted the help of her father's third wife, Jeshm Afet Hanim, with whom she was on far more intimate terms than with her own mother.[5]

In April 1869, Tawhida married Mansur Yeghen Pasha.[8] The marriage took place with great splendour at Abdin Palace. Among the wedding presents, the jewels alone filled three large trays.[5] At the wedding, the music was continuous. A takht composed of Al-Laysi, Al-Hamuli and Al-Qaftanji, a group of musicians, performed in tandem with the female awalim, the muscling group of Almas and Sakina. There were also European entertainers. However, during the wedding, the greatest star was the Turkish Mehmed Şukri, a hawi (magician).[9] Seraphin Manesse's French orchestra also performed. At this occasion the Egyptian nobles sat next to the ruler.[10]

According to the old custom, Tawhida didn't left her home for seven days and on the eighth day, she visited her parents. When she came to visit her parents at Abidin, she appeared happy to everyone. It was only in the apartments of Jeshm Afet that she wept bitterly, saying that her father had been right. She, however, never sought a divorce, and maintained an amiable and respectful attitude towards her husband. But with passing years she became very capricious.[11] The two together had four children, one son who died young, and three daughters named Saniya Hanim, Bahiya Hanim,[12] and Wahida Hanim.[13] Tawhida died in 1888.[1]

• Mestyan, Adam (November 3, 2020). Arab Patriotism: The Ideology and Culture of Power in Late Ottoman Egypt. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-20901-2.
• Doumani, Beshara (2003). Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property, and Gender. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-791-48707-5.