Zekiye Sultan


Zekiye Sultan was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Bedrifelek Kadın.

Early life

Zekiye Sultan was born on 12 January 1872 in the Dolmabahçe Palace. Her father was Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and her mother was Bedrifelek Kadın, the daughter of Prince Mehmed Karzeg and Princess Faruhan İnal-lpa. 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. She was the granddaughter of Abdulmejid I and Tirimüjgan Kadın.
After Abdul Hamid's accession to the throne on 31 August 1876, the imperial family remained in the Dolmabahçe Palace. In 1877, Zekiye and other members of the imperial family settled in the Yıldız Palace, after Abdul Hamid moved there on 7 April 1877.

Education

When Zekiye was 7 years old, she started her education at Ihlamur Mansion with her brother Şehzade Mehmed Selim, with her second cousins Şehzade Mehmed Şevket, Esma Sultan and Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin. She studied geography, the Quran, Turkish. She also studied English and French books.
Abdul Hamid besides the formal education in the palace, he had specially taught music and art education. Almost all of his children played and composed various instruments. Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin used to play the violoncello. Naime and Ayşe Sultan took piano lessons from François Lombardi, Şadiye Sultan was also interested in mandolin besides the piano. She continued with French Madam Avisnad Bavis. She had a special interest in both Turkish and Alafranga music.

Marriage

In 1889, Sultan Abdul Hamid II arranged her trousseaux and marriage together with three of Sultan Abdulaziz's daughters, princesses Saliha Sultan, Nazime Sultan, and Esma Sultan. At the age of seventeen, she married Ali Nureddin Pasha, elder son of Gazi Osman Pasha and Zatıgül Hanım, who was the women in harem of Sultan Abdulaziz, on 20 April 1889 in the Yıldız Palace. Zekiye Sultan's deputy was Mehmed Yavar Agha, and they witness was Mehmed Cevher Agha. Ali Nureddin's deputy was Grand Vizier Mehmed Kamil Pasha.
It was a tradition that princesses were allocated palaces on their marriage, she was allocated Tarlabaşı Palace, the palace first belonged to her aunt Mediha Sultan, the half-sister of her father Abdul Hamid, Mediha Sultan resided in Tarlabaşı Palace with her first husband. Zekiye moved to Tarlabaşı Palace, second day after her marriage.
Ali Nureddin's younger brother, Mehmed Kemaleddin Pasha, married her younger sister Naime Sultan in 1898. Naime's palace was constructed next to her palace, and the two buildings used to be called “The Twin Mansions”.
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. Fatma Aliye married Mehmed Muhsin Yegen, member of Egyptian Yegen Family in 1911. The couple first child, a son Osman Hayder Bey was born on 5 September 1912 and the couple second child, Salih Zeki Bey was born on 4 September 1921.
Zekiye Sultan and Ali Nureddin Pasha loved music, and Zekiye played the piano in her mansion, and she was also interested in arts. During the month of Ramadan, she fed the poor and provided financial aid to them, she presented gifts to the guests who came to the Iftar, she participated in various donation campaigns, that made her known as an open minded and caring princess.
Following the imperial family was sent to exile in 1924, Zekiye and her family including her husband, daughter, and grandsons settled in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. However, her mother chose to remain in Turkey and moved to Serencebey and died there in 1930.
According to Neslişah Sultan, she was chubby and had lost most of her hair, and hardly 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.

Death

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

Issue

Together with Ali Nureddin Pasha, Zekiye had two daughters: