Refia Sultan was born on 7 February 1842 in the Beşiktaş Palace. Her father was Sultan Abdulmejid I, and her mother was Gülcemal Kadın. She was the seventh daughter of her father and second child of her mother. She had a elder sister Fatma Sultan, one year elder then her and a younger brother Mehmed V, two years younger then her. Upon the death of her mother in 1851, she and her siblings were adopted by Abdulmejid's first wife, Servetseza Kadın. In accordance with tradition, Refia Sultan started to learn the Quran in 1847 with her sister Fatma, her sister Cemile Sultan, her brothers Murad V and Abdul Hamid II. Refia Sultan, education continued after marriage she learned French and Persian. Apart from these courses, she also received a good music education. Sultan Abdulmejid took care to raise his children well in music. For this purpose, pianos were brought from Europe and Italian and French teachers were hired to teach children. Two fashion elements such as French and Western music were clearly influential in the music education of Refia Sultan.
Marriage
On 22 February 1854, when Refia was twelve, Abdulmejid betrothed her to Mahmud Edham Pasha, the son of Mehmed Ali Pasha. Mehmed Ali Pasha had himself been married to Refia's aunt, Adile Sultan, with whom he had a daughter named Hayriye Sultan. Baronne Durand de Fontmagne, who lived in Istanbul for a year and a half in 1858-9 following the Crimean war, was shown the gifts about to be sent to Refia Sultan before her marriage. She noted that these included various preserves in 'not less than five hundred pots of very fine Dresden China'. The marriage took place on 21 July 1857, at the Topkapi Palace, and the couple were given a palace located at the Defterdarburnu as their residence. Refia Sultan was not happy with her marriage to Edhem Pasha, as in many other princesses marriages. It is understood from the letters that she wrote to her brothers that she had some problems with her marriage. The fact that Edhem Pasha was flirtatious is one of the reasons for this unhappiness. On the other hand, Edhem Pasha was not happy with this marriage either because of the illness of Refia, or the disagreements between them and other problems. Refia Sultan was a kind-hearted and charitable lady.
Character
The generous personality of Refia Sultan was more apparent on special occasions such as festivals. During the Eid-al-Adha, she gave rams and sheep to some relatives, servants. The help and generosity of Refia Sultan attracted a great deal of attention. As a matter of fact, due to her aid to the soldiers who were injured in the Russo-Turkish War and to the Muslim immigrants who had to leave their homes after the war. She was awarded with the “Order of Compassion” by her half-brother Abdul Hamid II. In addition to all this benevolence and generosity, Refia Sultan also appears with his lavishness. The princess who loved luxury life. Spending more than the income of the palace women in the 19th century and especially during the reign of her father Abdulmejid became almost a tradition. Refia Sultan was also raised in this period and was influenced by the passion of shopping and fashion of other women in the palace. In fact, this was the result and necessity of a new lifestyle similar to that in the West. As a matter of fact, Refia Sultan ordered harnesses from Paris and her clothing needs. The princess ordered goods and clothes from both Istanbul and France through her French teacher, Maria Tirard. Other foreign women, such as Tirard, who communicated with the palace, not only ensured the spread of western culture among the women of the palace but also provoked them to follow Western fashion.
Death
At the age of thirty-three, Refia fall in a incurable disease known as Ovarian cyst. Abdul Hamid appointed European head physicians for her treatment, but no one as able to heal her. Apart, from medical treatment, Abdul Hamid also used traditional treatment methods, but still they were unsuccessful. Refia Sultan died childless at the age of thirty seven on 4 January 1880, following a long illness, and several operations. She is buried in the Mausoleum of the imperial ladies at the New Mosque, Istanbul. Her mother is buried beside her in her mausoleum.
