Nakşidil Sultan

Nakşidil Sultan
File:Nakshidil-1808.jpg Nakşidil Sultan
Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure	28 July 1808 - 22 August 1817
Predecessor	Ayşe Seniyeperver Sultan
Successor	Bezmiâlem Sultan
Born	possibly Aimée du Buc de Rivéry (1768-12-19)19 December 1768 Caucasus
Died	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Burial	Constantinople
Spouse	Abdul Hamid I
Issue	Adoptive son Mahmud II
Religion	Islam or Roman Catholic

Nakşidil Valide Sultan (fully Devletli, İsmetli, Nakşidil Valide Sultan Aliyyetü'ş-şân Hazretleri; 19 December 1768 – 22 August 1817; meaning "Embroidered on the Heart") was the consort of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid I and Valide Sultan to her adoptive son Mahmud II.

Controversy over identity

File:Abdülhamid I by John Young.jpg

The husband of Nakş-î Dil Sultân, Caliph of Islam, Ghazi Sultan Abdul Hamid I, Abd Al-Ḥamīd-i evvel I, عبد الحميد اول, Khan in his royal robes.

There is a legend that she was the same person as Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, cousin of Empress Josephine, who went missing at sea at a young age: according to this legend, Aimée du Buc de Rivéry was captured by Barbary pirates and sold as a harem concubine, though there is no evidence of this.

Further information: Aimée du Buc de Rivéry

Several older myths, dating back even to the early 16th century, already purported to identify connections between the French and the Ottoman monarchy, but have been found to be politically motivated fabrications, intended to justify alliances between the two (supposedly related) monarchies. The Aimée-Nakşidil tale shows several distinct parallels to these older tales. When in times of monarchy, the stories about abducted French princesses weren't repudiated to maintain good relations, in later times this and similar harem tales have been used to perpetuate a view of Turkey, the Middle East and the Islam in general as mysterious and despotic in nature, despite more accurate accounts available.

Supposed facts

According to the Ottoman Chronicles, the mother of Mahmud II was known by the Turkish name Nakşidil (Nakshidil) and died in 1817; all the women of the sultan were given Turkish names when they entered the harem.

The woman who was valide sultan during the period from 1808 to 1817 was supposedly very western and French-influenced; she was said to have given the Sultan French lessons, sent an embassy to Paris, and reformed the harem by giving the women permission to go on picnics and boat travels along the coasts outside the palace.

She also was not, as is often stated, the 13th wife of Abdul Hamid I and recorded mother of Mahmud II. According to a Turkish historian, though "Sultan Mahmud II's mother Nakşidil Sultan, whose life has been the subject of 174 historical novels in the world as well as the film The Favorite... was believed to be Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, the cousin of Napoleon's wife Josephine... she [actually] came from a family that had its origins in the Caucasus region. Dr. Fikret Saraçoğlu has found in the archives of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul documents pertaining to her death and funeral."

Ibrahim Pazan writes that she was actually a Georgian and was born in Caucasus. She was raised in the Ottoman palace and was given thoroughly Turkish Islamic education.

See also

• Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman dynasty
• Ottoman family tree
• List of Valide Sultans
• List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire
• Line of succession to the Ottoman throne
• Ottoman Emperors family tree (simplified)
• List of consorts of the Ottoman Sultans

Further reading

• Peirce, Leslie P., The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-19-508677-5 (paperback).
• Yavuz Bahadıroğlu, Resimli Osmanlı Tarihi, Nesil Yayınları Ottoman History with Illustrations, Nesil Publications, 15th Ed., 2009, ISBN 978-975-269-299-2 (Hardcover).

External links

• The Veiled Empress' tomb

Ottoman royalty
Preceded by Ayşe Seniyeperver Sultan	Valide Sultan 28 July 1808 - 22 August 1817	Succeeded by Bezmiâlem Sultan