Servetsezâ Kadınefendi

Servetsezâ Kadınefendi ثروت سزا کادن افندی
Baş Kadın of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure	2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861
Predecessor	Haciye Pertevpiyale Nevifidan Kadınefendi
Successor	Dürrünev Kadınefendi
Born	1 September 1823 Maykop, Russian Empire
Died	22 September 1879 Kabataş Palace, Kabataş, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Yahya Efendi Cemetery
Spouse	Abdülmecid I
Issue	Adoptive: Fatma Sultan Mehmed V
Full name Turkish: Servetsezâ English: Sarvat Saza Ottoman Turkish: ثروت سزا‎
House	House of Temruko (by birth) House of Osman (by marriage)
Father	Mansur Temruko
Mother	Fülane Dadeshkeliani
Religion	Sunni Islam

Servetsezâ Kadınefendi (1 September 1823 - 22 September 1879; meaning "Worthy of riches"; Ottoman Turkish: ثروت سزا کادن افندی‎) was the Ottoman imperial consort as the first wife and chief consort of Sultan Abdülmecid I.

Biography

Servetsezâ Kadınefendi was born on 1 September 1823 into Temruko dynasty to Prince Mansur Temruko and his wife Fülane Dadeshkeliani.^[1] She belonged to the Kabarday clan of Circassia. Her personal name is not known. She had two brothers, Andok Bey and Süleyman Bey, and a sister Fatma Şemsfer Hanım.^[1]

At the age of about fourteen Servetsezâ married Abdülmecid in 1837 at the Old Çırağan Palace.^[1] The marriage was due to her father's efforts to establish political alliance between the Ottoman Empire. As if her name had been an augur of her propensities, her debts were a fortune in themselves. The Harem had felt the utmost of jealousy towards her and had written ditties against her, pointing to her shrewish nature, when she became the Baş Kadınefendi (The Chief Imperial Lady Consort). After Gülcemal Kadınefendi's death in 1851 she was given Fatma Sultan and Mehmed V to raise.^[1] When Valide Sultan Bezmiâlem Sultan died in 1853, Şevkefza Sultan, her fellow consort, took courage of the childless Servetseza Kadınefendi's affection for heir Murad V and Abdülmecid's wish to see his son as the next Sultan, and rose in opposition to Pertevniyal Sultan and her son Abdülaziz.

After Abdülmecid's death in 1861 she moved to Kabataş Palace. She died on 22 September 1879,^[1] and was buried in the Mausoleum of the imperial ladies at the Yavuz Selim Mosque, Istanbul.^[1] She is said to have been killed by poisoning on the orders of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.^[1]

Titles and styles

• 1837 - 2 July 1839: Veliahd Zevce (The Crown Princess)
• 2 July 1839 - 25 June 1861: Devletlu İsmetlu Servetsezâ Başkadınefendi Hazretleri (Her Highness The First Imperial Lady Consort Servetsezâ)

References

Succession