Mehmed VI 

Mehmed VI
Sultan
Caliph
Reigned: Ottoman Period
Full name Mehmed VI
Predecessor Mehmed V
Successor Sultanate Abolished
Abdülmecid II
Reign 1918–1922

Mehmed VI Wahid ed-din (Turkish: Mehmed Vahideddin or Mehmet Vahdettin) (January 14/February 2 1861  – May 15/May 16, 1926) was the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1918–1922. The brother of Mehmed V, he succeeded to the throne as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of Abdülaziz's son Yusuf Izzettin,1 the heir to the throne. He was girded with the Sword of Osman on July 4, 1918, as the thirty-sixth padishah. His mother was Valide Sultan (1918) Gülüstü, tr:Gülüstü Kadın Efendi (1831 - May 1861), originally named Henriet, a Circassian. He was born at Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul.

He was made Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia on 6 September 1918. The First World War had been a disaster for the Ottoman Empire. British forces had conquered Baghdad and Jerusalem during the war and most of the Empire was to be divided among the European allies. At the San Remo conference of April 1920, the French had been given a mandate over Syria and the British had been given one over Palestine and Mesopotamia. On August 10, 1920, Mehmed's representatives signed the Treaty of Sèvres, which recognized the mandates, removed Ottoman control over Anatolia and İzmir, severely reduced the extent of Turkey, and recognized Hejaz as an independent state.

Turkish nationalists were angered by the Sultan's acceptance of the settlement. A new government, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) had been formed on April 23, 1920, in Ankara. The government of Mehmed VI was denounced and a temporary constitution was drafted.

The nationalists' successes meant that the sultanate was abolished on November 1, 1922, and Mehmed left Istanbul, aboard the British warship Malaya on November 17. Bound for exile to Malta, Mehmed later lived in the Italian Riviera. He died in San Remo.

On November 19, 1922 Mehmed's first cousin and heir Abdülmecid Efendi was elected Caliph, becoming the new head of the dynasty as Abdülmecid II before the Caliphate was abolished in 1924. Mehmed died on May 16, 1926 in Sanremo, Italy, and was buried at the mosque of Sultan Selim I in Damascus.2

He married four times, firstly at Ortaköy Palace on 8 June 1885 to Amina Nazikada Marjim-Abaza (Szuchum, 9 October 1866 - Maadi, Cairo, 1944), secondly at Chengelkoy Palace at the Bosphorus on 8 July 1905 to Inshira (Batumi, 10 July 1887 - Cairo, 10 June 1930), without issue, thirdly at Chengelkoy Palace at the Bosphorus on 25 April 1911 to Shadiya Muvadat (Adarpazari, 12 October 1893 - Chengelkoy Palace, Bosphorus, 1951), fourthly at Dohlmabahçe Palace, Istanbul, on 20 June 1918 to Navara (Adarpazari, 4 May 1901 - ?), without issue, and fifthly at Yildiz Palace on 1 September 1921 to Nimat Navzad (Istanbul, 2 March 1902 - bef. 1985), without issue, and had three daughters by first wife and one son by third wife:

Notes

  1. ^ Freely, John, Inside the Seraglio, published 1999, Chapter 16: The Year of Three Sultans
  2. ^ Freely, John, Inside the Seraglio, published 1999, Chapter 19: The Gathering Place of the Jinns

Further reading

External links

Mehmed VI
House of Osman
Born: January 14, 1861 Died: May 16, 1926
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Mehmed V
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Jul 3, 1918 – Nov 1, 1922
Monarchy abolished
Ottoman Empire dissolved
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by
Mehmed V
Caliph of Islam
Jul 3, 1918 – Nov 19, 1922
Succeeded by
Abdülmecid II
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
Republic declared
— TITULAR —
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Nov 1, 1922 – Nov 19, 1922
Succeeded by
Abdülmecid II