Zekiye Sultan

Zekiye Sultan in 1879, aged seven

Zekiye Sultan was born on 12 January 1872 in the Dolmabahçe Palace.[1] Her father was Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and her mother was Bedrifelek Kadın,[2][3] daughter of Prince Mehmed Karzeg and Princess Faruhan İnal-lpa.[4] She was the third child, and second daughter of her father and the second child of her mother. She had two brothers, Şehzade Mehmed Selim, two years elder than her, and Şehzade Ahmed Nuri, six years younger than her.[5] She was the granddaughter of Abdulmejid I and Tirimüjgan Kadın.[6]

After Abdul Hamid's accession to the throne on 31 August 1876,[7] the imperial family remained in the Dolmabahçe Palace. In 1877, Zekiye and other members of the imperial family settled in the Yıldız Palace,[8] after Abdul Hamid moved there on 7 April 1877.[9]

Zekiye began her education in 1879, age seven, at the Ihlamur Mansion together with her brother Şehzade Mehmed Selim, and Sultan Abdul Aziz's children, Şehzade Mehmed Şevket, Esma Sultan and Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin. She studied geography, the Quran, and Turkish language. She also read English and French books.[10] She was also taught music. Her teacher was Madam Avisnad Bavis, a French. She learned both Turkish and Alafranga music.[10]

In 1889, aged seventeen, her father arranged her trousseaux and marriage together with three of Sultan Abdulaziz's daughters, princesses Saliha Sultan, Nazime Sultan, and Esma Sultan.[11] The bridegroom was the son of Ali Nureddin Pasha, elder son of Gazi Osman Pasha and Zatıgül Hanım, a lady formerly in harem of Sultan Abdulaziz,[12][13] The marriage took place 20 April 1889 in the Yıldız Palace. Zekiye's deputy was Mehmed Yavar Agha, and witness was Mehmed Cevher Agha. Ali Nureddin's deputy was Grand Vizier Mehmed Kamil Pasha.[14][1][15][6]

It was a tradition that princesses were allocated palaces on their marriage. She was allocated the Tarlabaşı Palace.[16] This palace once belonged to her aunt Mediha Sultan, half-sister of her father, where she resided with her first husband.[17] Zekiye moved to Tarlabaşı Palace, on the second day after the marriage.[17] In 1898, Ali Nureddin's younger brother, Mehmed Kemaleddin Pasha, married her younger half-sister Naime Sultan.[13] Her palace was constructed next to Zekiye's palace, and the two buildings used to be called "The Twin Mansions".[11]

The two together had two daughters, Ulviye Şükriye Hanımsultan born in 1890, who died at the age of about three on 23 February 1893, and Fatma Aliye Hanımsultan, born in 1891.[6] Fatma Aliye married Mehmed Muhsin Yeğen, member of Egyptian Yeğen family in 1911. The couple had two sons, Osman Hayder Bey born on 5 September 1912, and Salih Zeki Bey born on 4 September 1921.[18]

Zekiye Sultan and Ali Nureddin Pasha esteemed music, and she used to play piano at her mansion. She was also interested in arts.[19] During the month of Ramadan, she fed the poor and provided financial aid to them. She also presented gifts to the guests who came to the Iftar. She participated in various donation campaigns, that made her known as an receptive and benevolent princess.[20]

Zekiye Sultan in old age

At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Zekiye and her family including her husband, daughter, and grandsons settled in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.[21][3][22][13] However, her mother chose to remain in Turkey, in her mansion in Serencebey, where she died in 1930.[23][21]

According to Neslişah Sultan, she was chubby and had lost most of her hair, and scarcely left the house. She would dress up and wear a blonde wig. She used to collect miniature animals, goats, and flowers, and also ate a lot of sweets.[24]

Zekiye Sultan died on 13 July 1950 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France at the age of seventy-eight, and was buried there.[25][13][3] Her husband outlived her by two years, and dying in 1952.[26]

• Order of the House of Osman[27]
• Order of the Medjidie, Jeweled[27]
• Order of Charity, 1st Class[27]

Together with Ali Nureddin Pasha, Zekiye had two daughters:

• Ulviye Şukriye Hanımsultan (Tarlabaşı Palace, c. 1890 – Tarlabaşı Palace, February 1893, buried in Yahya Efendi Cemetery);
• Fatma Aliye Hanımsultan (Tarlabaşı Palace, c. 1891 – Istanbul, 14 April 1972, buried in Yahya Efendi Cemetery), married and had issue;

• In the 2017 TV series Payitaht: Abdülhamid, Zekiye Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Tuğçe Kumral.[28]

• 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.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.
• Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara: Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
• Uru, Cevriye (2010). Sultan II. Abdülhamid'in kızı Zekiye Sultan'in Hayatı (1872-1950).