Zeynifelek Hanım


Zeynifelek Hanım, meaning "Ornament from heaven", was the fifth wife of Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire.

Life

Zeynifelek Hanım was born in 1824 in North Caucasus. She was a member of Abkhazian princely family, Klıç. Her father was Prince Aslan Bey Klıç and her mother was Princess Şaşa Hanım Loo. She had an elder sister, Princess Ihvan Hanım, and a younger brother, Prince Osman Bey.
Zeynifelek was one of the girls that Bezmiâlem chose for her son, because of this she educated her well and made her learn painting.
She had been brought to Istanbul at a young age, where her father entrusted her to the imperial harem together with her sister, and cousins, Esmahan Iclal Loo, and Arfa Geryalfer Klıç. Here her name according to the custom of the Ottoman court was changed to Zeynifelek.
Zeynifelek married Abdulmejid in 1839. She was given the title of "Second Fortunate". On 22 February 1841, she gave birth to her only child, a daughter, Behiye Sultan in the Old Beşiktaş Palace. The princess died at the age of six in 1847.

Death

Zeynifelek Hanım died of tuberculosis in 1842, and was buried in the mausoleum of Nakşidil Sultan, Fatih Mosque, Istanbul.
Charles White, who visited Istanbul in 1843, said following about her:

Issue

Zeynifelek Hanım and Abdulmejid had one daughter: