Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi

Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi
The resting place of Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi is located inside the Cedid Havatin Türbesi at the Yeni Mosque in Eminönü, Istanbul
Üçüncü Kadın of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure	1849 – 3 October 1852
Predecessor	Şevkefza Sultan
Successor	Verdicenan Kadınefendi
Dördüncü Kadın of the Ottoman Empire
Tenure	1841 – 1849
Successor	Verdicenan Kadınefendi
Born	Virgin 16 August 1819 Circassia
Died	3 October 1852 Feriye Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Burial	The türbe of Cedid Havatin at the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul
Spouse	Abdülmecid I
Issue	Abdülhamid II
House	House of Osman (by marriage)
Religion	Islam, previously Christianity

Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi (b. Circassia, 16 August 1819 – d. Feriye Palace, 3 October 1852), was the daughter of Bekhan Bey, who belonged to the tribe of Shapsugs in Circassia, and his wife Almaş Hanım. She was the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid and the mother of Sultan Abdülhamid II. She was Kadinefendi of the Ottoman Empire from their marriage until her death on 3 October 1852.

Life

Whenever Sultan Abdülhamid II would speak of his mother, he would say: "My poor mother left this world at such a young age, but I can still picture her. I can never forget her. She loved me very much. When she became ill, she used to have me sit opposite her and content herself with gazing into my face, for she could not bring herself to kiss me. May God bless her soul."

Tîr-î-Müjgan was among the longest serving kalfas at the palace for her refinement, her politeness, and her beauty. In her memoirs, Ayşe Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, depicts Tîr-î-Müjgan (or Tirimüjgan) Kadınefendi as having "green eyes and long, dark blond hair, pale skin of translucent white colour, thin waist, slender body structure, and very good-looking hands and feet." Ayşe Sultan adds that "Old Circassian women at the palace used to tell that she [Tirimüjgan] was from the Shapsug tribe, and I also remember my father [Abdul Hamid II] referring to every Shapsug Adyghe [Circassian] girl as "Our Valide's (mother) kind". Despite her well-documented origins, Abdülhamid II's personal enemies falsely claimed that she was the daughter of an Armenian musician, originally named Çandır.

Tîr-î-Müjgan married Abdülmecid in 1840 at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. She gave birth to two princes and one princess. Her first child was Princess Naime Sultan, who died of smallpox at the age of two and a half in March 1843. Sultan Abdul Hamid II was her second child, while her third child was Şehzade Mehmed Abid Efendi, who died in May 1848 around the age of one month.

Death

Tîr-î-Müjgan Kadınefendi could never become a Valide Sultan to her son, because she died of tuberculosis on 3 October 1852, nearly 23 years before Sultan Abdülhamid II's accession to the Ottoman throne on 31 August 1876, at the Feriye Palace in Istanbul. In place of his biological mother Tîr-î-Müjgan Kadınefendi, the title of Valide Sultan was acquired by Rahîme Pirîstû (Perestû) who was the adoptive mother of Abdülhamid II. Her tomb is located inside the Cedid Havatin Türbesi at the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul. In 1887, her son Abdülhamid II built a mosque in her memory.

Titles and styles

• 1841 – 1849: Devletlu İsmetlu Tîr-î-Müjgan Dördüncü Kadınefendi Hazretleri (Her Highness The Fourth Imperial Lady Consort Tîr-î-Müjgan)
• 1849 – 3 October 1852: Devletlu İsmetlu Tîr-î-Müjgan Üçüncü Kadınefendi Hazretleri (Her Highness The Third Imperial Lady Consort Tîr-î-Müjgan)

See also

• Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman dynasty
• Ottoman family tree
• Line of succession to the Ottoman throne
• Ottoman Emperors family tree (simplified)
• List of the mothers of the Ottoman Sultans
• 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).