Rahime Perestu Sultan

Rahime Perestu Sultan
Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure 31 August 1876 - 11 December 1904
Predecessor Şevkefza Sultan
Successor none, title abolished
Dördüncü Kadın of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure until 25 June 1861
Born Rahime Gogen
c. 1826
Sochi, Russian Empire
Died 11 December 1904
Maçka, Istanbul
Burial The tomb of Mihrişah Valide Sultan, Eyüp, Istanbul, Turkey
Spouse Abdülmecid I
Issue Adoptive children:
Abdul Hamid II
Cemile Sultan
Father Gök Gogen
Mother Şah Hanım
Religion Islam

Rahime Perestu Sultan (c. 1826 – 11 December 1904; born Rahime Gogen; Perestu meaning "Swallow") was the wife of Sultan Abdülmecid I. In 1876, she was given the title and position of Valide Sultan when Şehzade Abdul Hamid ascended the throne as 34th Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, making her the last Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Early life

Esma Sultan, Ottoman imperial princess, the daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid I and aunt of Sultan Abdülmecid I, lived in luxury in her magnificent villa in Istanbul, but still her life passed in sadness because she could not have the one thing she wished for most; a child.[1] At length she decided to adopt a child, the daughter of Gök Bey Gogen[2] who belonged to one of the noble families of the Ubykh tribe of Circassia in the Ottoman Empire, after reaching satisfactory terms with the mother and father, when Rahime was a toddler one year of age.[1] the child was particularly diminutive, delicate and graceful, so she renamed her Perestu, the Persian word for swallow.[1] All the kalfas in Esma Sultan's villa behaved toward this child as though she were a hanımsultan, the daughter of an Ottoman imperial princess, and indeed her disposition and manners were so lovely that they became devoted to her.[1] In the mean time Princess Esma carefully arranged the training and education of Perestu. She had three brothers, Mustafa, Hüseyn and Hasan Bey,and a sister, Fatma Gülcemal Hanım.[2]

Marriage

In the days of Sultan Abdülmecid's youth before he ascended the throne, he used to pay calls on his aunt every so often, engaging in conversion.[1] He continued there calls after he became Sultan, and one spring day he come to visit his aunt and was passing through the harem gardens when he saw Perestu, then twenty three years old. Suddenly here was this young girl in front of him, her long blonde hair falling about her shoulders, her eyes a turquoise blue. He asked his aunt to give her hand in marriage to him. Firstly she refused to give Peresu's hand in marriage to Abdülmecid but finally Esma Sultan was consented, and the marriage of Perestu to Abdülmecid took place within a week.[1]

The marriage ceremony was celebrated with all due tradition in Old Çırağan Palace in the presence of Sultan's ministers on 20 January 1846.[2][1] One week after that, she was ushered into Esma Sultan's silver-lined carriage in her pearl-trimmed red dress, tiara and bridal veil and sent off to the palace.[1] in those days Sultan Abdülmecid still resided in Topkapı Palace, and he greeted his bride at the main entrance gate into the harem, wearing a splendid uniform with an aigrette plump atop his fez. He took her by the arm and escorted her into the Sovereign's Hall in the palace harem, having her take a seat in the nook that had been prepared for the bride.[1] Mahmud II's daughters and wives came in and joined in the ceremony, as did the wives of important personages.[1]

Gold coins were scattered as Abdülmecid and Rahime Perestu passed by, and the band, composed of forty ladies from Abdülmecid's harem, all dressed in men's costumes, played marches.[1] Sultan Mecid's other wives attended as well, scattering coins, Until evening they passed the time listening to the ensemble playing traditional Ottoman music, after which sherbet was served, followed by a banquet.[1] It was quiet a splendid wedding celebration in the palace.[1] That evening according to custom, the couple entered the bridal chamber, where princess Esma kissed the bride and the groom on their foreheads and said a prayer on their behalf, then returned to her villa, giving praise to God that she had lived to see such a magnificent wedding feast for her little girl.[1]

In 1845, Cemile Sultan's mother, the lady Düzdidil Hanımefendi, had died leaving Cemile Sultan motherless at the age of two. After Perestu's marriage Abdülmecid took Cemile Sultan to her, and entrusted her into the her care. the two siblings grew up together in the same household and spend their childhoods with one another.[1] She also became the adoptive mother of Abdul Hamid II after the death of his own mother, Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi in 1853.[1]

As Valide Sultan

She became the spiritual mother of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and was given the position of Valide sultan by him. Unlike many of her predecessors, she was not active in politics.[3] Rahime Perestu acquired the title of Valide Sultan to her adoptive son in 1876, because the biological mother Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi[4] of Abdülhamid II had died twenty-three years before Sultan Abdülhamid II's accession to the Ottoman throne.[5] In 1885, during the visit of King Oscar II and Queen Sophia of Sweden to the Ottoman Empire, she received the Swedish queen, who was allowed to visit the Imperial harem.[6] She was the last Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.[1]

The internal matters of the palace were in her charge. But she did not want to hurt anyone's feelings in the least, did not interfere in the matters, sought justice and equity, and because she was firmly religious she passed a good deal of time in prayers.[1] She possessed good, high moral standards, which led her to help the poor and needy. When anyone went to see her, they would enter her presence in the same way they did the Sultan's, then take a seat in front of her. She would give them advice and treat them kindly.[1] Rahime Perestu had a house in Maçka that Sultan Abdülaziz had presented to her at one time. Nowadays this villa is a school. Three days before Abdul Hamid became Sultan, he went to this villa, and it was from there that he proceeded to Topkapı Palace for the ceremony of homage at his accession. Abdul Hamid presented this villa of Rahime Perestu along with all its furniture and household goods to Ahmed Riza Bey, the speaker of Parliament.[1]

Death

Interior view of the mausoleum of Mihrişah Sultan, where the tomb of Rahime Perestu Sultan is located

Rahime Perestu Sultan took ill and died on 11 December 1904 in her villa located at Maçka, Istanbul.[1] The traditional service at which the Prophet's Nativity Poem is recited was held in her memory at the Shaziliya Dervish Convent and at the Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque.[1] She lies at rest in the private mausoleum she built during her lifetime at the tomb of Mihrişah Valide Sultan in Eyüp, Istanbul. She even had the cloth covering over her catafalque prepared.[1] While she was having the mausoleum built Abdul Hamid II wanted to help her, but she declined his offer.[1]

Titles and styles

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher.
  2. 1 2 3 Harun Açba (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924. Profil. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
  3. ↑ Fanny Davis (1986). The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-313-24811-5.
  4. ↑ "Sultan Abdülhamid II Khan". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  5. ↑ "Genealogy of the Ottoman Royal Family".
  6. ↑ Anne-Marie Riiber (1959). Drottning Sophia. (Queen Sophia) Uppsala: J. A. Lindblads Förlag. ISBN page 219

Bibliography

External links

Ottoman royalty
Preceded by
Şevkefza Sultan		 Valide Sultan
31 August 1876 – 11 December 1904 		Title abolished
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