Emsalinur Kadın
Seventh consort of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (c.1866–c.1950)
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Emsalinur Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: امثال نور قادین; "exemplary light"; 2 January 1866 – c. 1952; after the Surname Law of 1934: Emsalinur Kaya) was the seventh consort of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.[1]
Tbilisi
Istanbul, Turkey
| Emsalinur Kadın | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Born | 2 January 1866 Tbilisi | ||||
| Died | 1952 (aged 85–86) Istanbul, Turkey | ||||
| Burial | Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Şadiye Sultan | ||||
| |||||
| House | Ottoman (by marriage) | ||||
| Father | Ömer or Mehmed Bey | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
Early life
Emsalinur Kadın was born in 1866 in Tbilisi.[2] Her father was either named Ömer Bey,[3] or Mehmed Bey.[4] She had a younger sister named Tesrid Hanım, who in 1894, married Şehzade Ibrahim Tevfik, son of Şehzade Burhaneddin, and grandson of Sultan Abdulmejid I. Emsalinur was known for her beauty and grace.[2]
Marriage
Emsalinur married Abdul Hamid in 1885 in the Yıldız Palace,[2] and was given the title of "Fifth Kadın". On 30 November 1886, a year after the marriage, she gave birth to her only child, a daughter, Şadiye Sultan.[5] In 1895, she was elevated to the title of "Fourth Kadın" and in 1901 to the title of "Third Kadın". She built a mosque in Kırkpınar in 1907 and was gifted a mansion in Nişantaşı, where she lived after her husband's deposition.[3]
On 27 April 1909, Abdul Hamid was deposed, and sent into exile in Thessaloniki.[6] Emsalinur did not follow him, and so remained in Istanbul.[7] After Thessaloniki fell to Greece in 1912, Abdul Hamid returned to Istanbul, and settled in the Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died in 1918.[8]
Widowhood and death
In 1924, the Imperial family was sent into exile. Emsalinur followed her daughter to Paris. However, after staying there for a few years, she returned to Istanbul, and settled in her mansion located in Nişantaşı.[2]
In 1934, in accordance to the Surname Law, she took the surname "Kaya".[2] After her mansion was sold by the ministry of finance, Emsalinur settled in her granddaughter's mansion located in Erenköy known as "Galip Paşa Mansion".[2] However, after this mansion was also sold to Sabiha Gökçen, the world's first female fighter-pilot, in 1948, Emaslinur became homeless.[2]
The government had allocated her one hundred liras per month. And with this amount of money it became difficult for her to rent a house. Emsalinur Kadin died homeless in 1952, at the age of approximately eighty-six,[2] and was buried in Yahya Efendi Cemetery, Istanbul.[9] Her daughter outlived her by twenty-five years, dying in 1977.[10]