Difference between revisions of "Abdul Mejid II" - New World Encyclopedia
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Some Muslims wanted to restore the Khalifate. This was especially true in [[India]], where a movement to preserve the Caliphate had started in 1919. Even the British may have favored the Caliph's continuation, if the title was held by a client-king such as the newly installed king of [[Jordan]], which was within the agreed British sphere. | Some Muslims wanted to restore the Khalifate. This was especially true in [[India]], where a movement to preserve the Caliphate had started in 1919. Even the British may have favored the Caliph's continuation, if the title was held by a client-king such as the newly installed king of [[Jordan]], which was within the agreed British sphere. | ||
| − | A summit was held in [[Egypt]] in 1926 on reviving the caliphate but no agreement was reached and no action was taken. [[Mustafa Kemal Ataturk]], founder of the [[nation-state]] of Turkey, was anxious to distance the Turkish people from their former rulers. By so | + | A summit was held in [[Egypt]] in 1926 on reviving the caliphate but no agreement was reached and no action was taken. [[Mustafa Kemal Ataturk]], founder of the [[nation-state]] of Turkey, was anxious to distance the Turkish people from their former rulers. By so doing, Turkey avoid being punished for its role in the war by the victors of [[World War I]], which ended November 11th 1918. By abolishing the sultanate and allowing the allies to take control of all former Ottoman colonies, Ataturk ensured that Turkey would not be burdened with heavy reparations, as [[Germany]] was. Since Ataturk's Turkey was to be a secular state, there was no place there for a caliph, either. The disintegration of the empire began before World War I, with the loss of [[Greece]] (1821) followed by the Balkan provinces in the 1870s. On the one hand, the European great powers were jealous of the Ottoman's vast empire while on the other they were divided in their views about its future. [[Austria-Hungary]] saw its own future as an autocratic empire linked with that of the Ottoman empire. [[Germany]] developed close links with the Ottomans, aiding the empire financially and assisting her with building the [[railroad]] system. Britain was concerned that a weaker Ottoman empire would result in [[Russia]]n expansion. Dismemberment of the Ottoman empire was on the agenda but avoided at the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, which met to decide how the Balkans should be reorganized and to deal with the Ottoman's debt. A financial oversight committee was established, with a representative from each of the main powers. Various concessions were also negotiated. Known as "capitulations", these gave [[trade]] and [[tax]] privileged to the holders, mainly the [[France|French]] and the [[British]] who in certain areas operated as if they were the [[colonialism|colonial]] power. The collapse of the empire was in the main due to a succession of incompetent but greedy rulers and to failure to implement necessary reforms. Abdul Mejid II was in no measure responsible for the empire's decline or fall, even though his brief reign corresponded with its end. |
===Family=== | ===Family=== | ||
Revision as of 00:32, 20 September 2008
Abdülmecid II (also with various alternate spellings, including Abdul Mejid, Aakhir Khalifatul Muslimeen Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid, Abdul Medjit in (lived May 29, 1868 – August 23, 1944; reigned November 19, 1922 – March 3, 1924) was the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, nominally the 37th Head of the Ottoman Imperial House. As caliph, he was 101st in succession to Abu Bakr. Effectively, the Ottoman Empire had already ended and with it any role for the sultan before he
Life
On May 29, 1868 he was born at Dolmabahçe Palace of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) to then Sultan Abdülaziz. He was educated privately and was more or less confined to the palace until his 40th birthday. On July 4, 1918 his first cousin Mehmed VI became Sultan and Abdul Mejid was named Crown Prince. He was given the title of General of Ottoman Army. Following the deposition of his cousin on November 1, 1922 who fled to Malta on a Britiosh warship, the Sultanate was abolished. However, on November 19, 1922 the Crown Prince was elected Caliph by the Turkish National Assembly at Ankara. He established himself in Istanbul, on November 24, 1922. On March 3, 1924 he was deposed as caliph and expelled from the shores of Turkey with the rest of his family.
He was given 2000 English pounds in cash, then placed on the "Orient Express" bound for Switzerland. He eventually settled in Paris. Lacking any means of support but still styling himself Caliph, his precarious financial situation became the source of embarrassment to some people in the Muslim world including the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was both the premier Prince in British India and one of the richest men in the world. He obtained permission from the Governor-General of India to remit a monthly allowance to Paris for the upkeep of Abdul Mejid II and his family.[1] In 1931, the Nizam decided to seek the hand of Abdul Mejid's daughter, Dürrühsehvar for his son. He traveled to France to negotiate the marriage only to find that the Shah of Persia and the Kings of Iraq and Egypt were also interested in an alliance with the family of the former caliph. In the end, it was through a generous deal with Abdul Mejid that the Nizam's son married the Ottoman princess.[2]
The Khilafate Movement
Some Muslims wanted to restore the Khalifate. This was especially true in India, where a movement to preserve the Caliphate had started in 1919. Even the British may have favored the Caliph's continuation, if the title was held by a client-king such as the newly installed king of Jordan, which was within the agreed British sphere.
A summit was held in Egypt in 1926 on reviving the caliphate but no agreement was reached and no action was taken. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the nation-state of Turkey, was anxious to distance the Turkish people from their former rulers. By so doing, Turkey avoid being punished for its role in the war by the victors of World War I, which ended November 11th 1918. By abolishing the sultanate and allowing the allies to take control of all former Ottoman colonies, Ataturk ensured that Turkey would not be burdened with heavy reparations, as Germany was. Since Ataturk's Turkey was to be a secular state, there was no place there for a caliph, either. The disintegration of the empire began before World War I, with the loss of Greece (1821) followed by the Balkan provinces in the 1870s. On the one hand, the European great powers were jealous of the Ottoman's vast empire while on the other they were divided in their views about its future. Austria-Hungary saw its own future as an autocratic empire linked with that of the Ottoman empire. Germany developed close links with the Ottomans, aiding the empire financially and assisting her with building the railroad system. Britain was concerned that a weaker Ottoman empire would result in Russian expansion. Dismemberment of the Ottoman empire was on the agenda but avoided at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which met to decide how the Balkans should be reorganized and to deal with the Ottoman's debt. A financial oversight committee was established, with a representative from each of the main powers. Various concessions were also negotiated. Known as "capitulations", these gave trade and tax privileged to the holders, mainly the French and the British who in certain areas operated as if they were the colonial power. The collapse of the empire was in the main due to a succession of incompetent but greedy rulers and to failure to implement necessary reforms. Abdul Mejid II was in no measure responsible for the empire's decline or fall, even though his brief reign corresponded with its end.
Family
Abdul Mejid II married married for the first time On December 23, 1896 at the Ortaköy Palace to Shahsuvar Bash Kadin Effendi (Istanbul May 2, 1881 – Paris 1945). They had a son, Prince Shehzade Ömer Faruk Effendi (February 27, 1898 – March 28, 1969). On June 18, 1902 he was married for the second time at the Ortaköy Palace to Hair un-nisa Kadin Effendi (born: Panderma, March 2, 1876; died: Nice, September 3, 1936). They had a daughter, Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (January 26, 1914 – February 7, 2006) who was married to Azam Jah, son of Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII, the last Nizam of Hyderabad. On April 16, 1912 he was married for the third time at Çamlica Palace to[Atiya Mihisti Kadin Effendi (born at Adapazarı, January 27, 1892 – London, 1964). She was sister of Kamil Bey. On March 21, 1921 he was married for the fourth time at Çamlica Palace to Bihruz Kadin Effendi (born: İzmir, May 24, 1903).
Artist
Serving as Chairman of the Ottoman Artist's Society, Abdul Mejid II was a gifted painter. He is considered as one of the most important painters of late period Ottoman art. His paintings of the Harem, showing a modern musical gathering, and of a woman reading Goethe's Faust were displayed at an exhibition of Ottoman paintings in Vienna in 1918. His personal self-portrait can be seen at Istanbul Modern.
Death
On August 23, 1944 Abdul Mejid II passed away at his house in the Boulevard Suchet, Paris XVIe, France. He was buried at Medina, Saudi Arabia.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Kent, Marian. 1984. The Great powers and the end of the Ottoman Empire. London: G. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9780049560130
- Finkel, Caroline. 2006. Osman's dream: the story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. London: John Murray. ISBN 9780719561122
- Fromkin, David. 2001. A peace to end all peace: the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Middle East. New York: H. Holt. ISBN 9780805068849
- Macfie, A. L. 1998. The end of the Ottoman Empire, 1908-1923. London: Longman. ISBN 9780582287624
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- ↑ Historical: The Caliphate. Jana Sangh Today. February 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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