Abdul Hamid II was born at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul (Constantinople), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, on 21 September 1842. He was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid and Tirimüjgan Kadınefendi (Circassia, 16 August 1819 – Beylerbeyi Palace, 2 November 1853), originally named Virjin. After the death of his mother, he later became the adoptive son of his father's wife, Valide Sultan Rahime Perestu.
He obtained the throne in 1876, when his brother Murad V was ousted by a liberal reform group led by the grand vizier Midhat Pasha.
In fulfillment of promises made before his accession, Abdul-Hamid issued the empire's first constitution on December 23, 1876, a document largely inspired by Midhat Pasha. It provided for an elected bicameral parliament and for the customary civil liberties, including equality before the law for all the empire's diverse nationalities. The issuance of the constitution undercut European ambitions and stalled, at least temporarily, pressure for reform.
In February 1877 Midhat Pasha was dismissed and exiled.
Abdul-Hamid's reactionary measures continued when he prorogued the new parliament in May. From this time until 1908, the Sultan ignored the constitution. The excuse for the Sultan's actions was war with Russia, declared April 24, 1877. Military successes by the Slavic states and losses in the Caucasus caused the Ottomans to bow to the Russian presence at Yesilkoy (San Stefano) only 10 miles from Istanbul.
The settlement of San Stefano in March 1878 was harsh for Turkey because it provided for Bosnian-Herzegovinian autonomy, the independence of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania, establishment of "Greater Bulgaria, " and an indemnity and cession of territory to the czar.
The terms were ameliorated by a revision announced in Berlin on July 13, 1878.
Domestically, German influence was on the rise (British support had helped Midhat Pasha). Germans reorganized the army and the country's tangled finances. Foreign control over finances was confirmed by a decree issued December 1881 consolidating the public debt and creating the Ottoman Public Debt Administration. Its function was to collect assigned revenues, such as those from monopolies on tobacco and salt and assorted excise taxes, and to use these funds to reduce the indebtedness owed European bondholders. The Ottoman Public Debt Administration proved a spirited agency for economic betterment. Tax collection techniques improved and revenues increased; technological innovations were introduced in industries supervised by the agency; Turkish public administration training began here; improvements were made in transportation with railroad mileage increasing notably; and the credit of the empire improved to a point where foreign economic investments resumed.
Abdul-Hamid encouraged the building of the Mecca railroad to make Islam's holy places more accessible.
He subsidized the pan-Islamic policy of Jamal-ud-Din al-Afghani, whom he invited to Istanbul but virtually imprisoned there, and encouraged widespread support for himself as the head of the caliphate.
Neither pan-Islamic nationalism nor efforts at economic development could quiet internal unrest, however. Revolts broke out in various parts of the empire; Yemen, Mesopotamia, and Crete were particularly troubled. In Armenia, whose inhabitants wanted changes promised at Berlin, a series of revolts occurred between 1892 and 1894, culminating in persecutions and massacres of an estimated 100, 000 Armenians.
Abdul-Hamid became known as "Abdul the Damned" and the "Red Sultan. " The government engaged increasingly in espionage and mass arrests.
By 1907 both military and civilian protests were widespread. Leadership in the movement fell to a Salonika-based liberal reform group, the Committee of Union and Progress.
In the summer of 1908, dogged by police, the leaders fled to the hills; but when the III Army Corps threatened to march on Istanbul unless the constitution was restored, Abdul-Hamid complied. He also called for elections and appointed a liberal grand vizier.
On April 13, 1909, Abdul-Hamid, unreformed as ever, supported a military-religious counter coup which ousted the liberal Young Turk government.
Again the III Army Corps intervened, Istanbul was occupied, and on April 27 the committee deposed the Sultan in favor of his brother, Mehmed (Mohammed V).
Abdul-Hamid was confined at Salonika until that city fell to the Greeks in 1912.
He died at Magnesia on February 10, 1918.
Abdul Hamid II was an Ottoman sultan, under whose autocratic rule the reform movement of Tanzimat (Reorganization) reached its climax and who adopted a policy of pan-Islamism in opposition to Western intervention in Ottoman affairs. He oversaw a period of decline. In accordance with an agreement made with the republican Young Ottomans, he promulgated the first Ottoman constitution.
Modernization of the Ottoman Empire occurred during his reign, including reform of the bureaucracy, the extension of the Rumelia Railway and Anatolia Railway and the construction of the Baghdad Railway and Hejaz Railway. In addition, a system for population registration and control over the press was established along with the first local modern law school in 1898. The most far-reaching of these reforms were in education: many professional schools were established, including Law School, School of Arts, School of Trades, Civil Engineering School, The Veterinarian School, The Customs School, The Farming School, The Linguistic School, and more. The University of Istanbul, although shut down by Abdul Hamid in 1881, was reopened in 1900, and a network of secondary, primary, and military schools was extended throughout the empire. Railway and telegraph systems were developed by primarily German firms.
Moreover, Abdul Hamid was first nicknamed the Red Sultan by Western journalists because of the massacres committed against Armenians during his rule and claiming the use of secret police to silence dissent and republicanism.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II was a practitioner of traditional Islamic spirituality. He was influenced by Libyan Shadhili Madani sheikh, Muhammad Zafir al-Madani whose lessons he would attend in disguise in Unkapani before he became Sultan.
Abdul-Hamid was anxious to appear as a religious champion against Christian encroachment.
Most people expected Abdul Hamid II to have liberal ideas, and some conservatives were inclined to regard him with suspicion as a dangerous reformer. However, despite working with the reformist Young Ottomans while still a crown prince and appearing as a liberal leader, he became increasingly conservative immediately after taking the throne as a reaction to several failed assassination attempts.
The Sultan, however, was an autocrat by nature.
Abdul Hamid II was a member of the Committee of Union and Progress.
Abdul Hamid was paranoid about his security.
Quotes from others about the person
In the opinion of F. A. K. Yasamee:
"He was a striking amalgam of determination and timidity, of insight and fantasy, held together by immense practical caution and an instinct for the fundamentals of power. He was frequently underestimated. Judged on his record, he was a formidable domestic politician and an effective diplomat. "
He was a skilled carpenter and personally crafted some high quality furniture, which can be seen today at the Yıldız Palace, Sale Kosku and Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul. Abdul Hamid II was also interested in opera and personally wrote the first-ever Turkish translations of many opera classics. He also composed several opera pieces for the Mızıka-yı Hümâyun (Ottoman Imperial Band/Orchestra, which was established by his grandfather Mahmud II who had appointed Donizetti Pasha as its Instructor General in 1828), and hosted the famous performers of Europe at the Opera House of Yıldız Palace, which was restored in the 1990s and featured in the film Harem Suare (1999) of the Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Özpetek (the film begins with the scene of Abdul Hamid II watching a performance. ) Unlike many other Ottoman sultans, Abdul Hamid II traveled to distant countries. Nine years before he took the throne, he accompanied his uncle Sultan Abdülaziz on his visit to Paris (30 June – 10 July 1867), London (12–23 July 1867), Vienna (28–30 July 1867) and the capitals or cities of a number of other European countries in the summer of 1867 (they departed from Istanbul on 21 June 1867 and returned on 7 August 1867).
He was also a good wrestler of Yağlı güreş and a 'patron saint' of the wrestlers. He organised wrestling tournaments in the empire and selected wrestlers were invited to the palace. Abdul Hamid personally tried the sportsmen and good ones remained in the palace.
Abdul Hamid II had thirteen wives and seventeen children.
1). He married first at Istanbul, Dolmabahçe Palace in 1863 to Abkhazian Nazikeda Kadın (c. 1850 – Yıldız Palace, Constantinople, 11 April 1895), daughter of Prince Arzakan Bey Tsanba by his wife Princess Esma Klıç.
2). He married second at Istanbul, Dolmabahçe Palace in October 1868 and divorced on 26 July 1879 to Circassian Nurefsun Kadın (c. 1851 – 1915), alias Safunaz, née Ayşe Şermat, daughter of Selim Bey Şermat by his wife Princess Rebiye Hanım.
3). He married third at Istanbul on 15 November 1868 to Natukhai Bedrifelek Kadın (Poti, 4 January 1851 – Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 6 February 1930), née Hatice Karzeg, daughter of Prince Mehmed Bey Karzeg by his wife Princess Faruhan Hanım İnal-lpa.
4). He married fourth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, on 2 September 1875 to Kabardian Bidar Kadın (Caucasus, 5 May 1858 – Erenköy, Asia Minor, 1 January 1918), daughter of Prince Ibrahim Bey Talustan by his wife Princess Şahika İffet Hanım Lortkipanidze.
5). He married fifth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, on 10 April 1883 to Georgian Dilpesend Kadın (Tbilisi, 16 January 1865 – Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 5 October 1903), adoptive daughter of Tiryal Hanım wife of Sultan Mahmud II.
6). He married sixth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, on 2 January 1885 to Abkhazian Mezide Mestan Kadın (Ganja, 3 March 1869 – Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 21 January 1909), daughter of Kaymat Bey Mikanba by his wife Princess Feryal Hanım Marşania.
7). He married seventh at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 20 November 1885 to Abkhazian Emsalinur Kadın (Tbilisi, 2 January 1866 – Nişantaşı, 1950, buried in Yahya Efendi Mosque), daughter of Ömer Bey Kaya by his wife Selime Hanım.
8). He married eighth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 12 January 1886 to Abkhazian at Constantinople Müşfika Kadın (Hopa, Caucasus, 10 December 1867 – Istanbul, 16 July 1961), daughter of Gazi Şehid Mahmud Bey Ağır by his wife Emine Hanım.
9). He married ninth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 31 August 1890 to Abkhazian Sazkar Hanım (İstinye, Istanbul, 8 May 1873 – Beirut, 1945), née Zekiye Maan, daughter of Bata Recep Abdullah Bey Maan by his wife Rukiye Havva Hanım Mikanba.
10). He married tenth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, on 24 January 1893 to Abkhazian Peyveste Hanım (Caucasus, 10 May 1873 – Paris, 1944 and buried there at Bobigny Cemetery (fr)), née Rabia Emuhvari, daughter of Prince Osman Bey Emuhvari by his wife Princess Hesna Hanım Çaabalurhva.
11). He married eleventh at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, on 10 May 1900 to Abkhazian Behice Hanım (Batumi, Georgia, 10 October 1882 – 22 October 1969), née Behiye Maan, daughter of Albus Bey Maan an Abkhazian leader by his wife Nazli Hanım Kucba.
12). He married twelfth at Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, on 4 November 1904 to Abkhazian Naciye Hanım (Batumi, Georgia, 1887 – Erenköy, Asia Minor, 4 December 1923), alias Saliha, née Zeliha Ankuap, daughter of Arslan Bey Ankuap by his wife Canhız Hanım.
( 23/25 April 1823 – 25 June 1861)
(16 August 1819 – 3 October 1852; )
(5 May 1858 – 1 January 1918)
(c. 1851 – 1915)
(10 May 1873 – c. 1943)
(4 January 1851 – 6 February 1930)
(c. 1882 – 4 December 1923)
(1848 – 11 April 1895)
(10 October 1882 – 22 October 1969)
(İstinye, Istanbul, 8 May 1873 – Beirut, 1945)
(Tbilisi, 2 January 1866 – Nişantaşı, 1950, buried in Yahya Efendi Mosque)
(Tbilisi, 16 January 1865 – Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 5 October 1903)
(3 March 1869 – 21 January 1909)
10 December 1867 – 16 July 1961)
(Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 4 September 1875 – Tirana, 1945)
(16 January 1908 – Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 24 January 1909)
(Istanbul, Yıldız Palace, 15 June 1891 – Beirut, 1938)
(Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 9 January 1884 – Erenköy, Asia Minor, 25 October 1957)
(2 November 1887 – 10 August 1960)
(Istanbul, Yıldız Palace, 30 November 1886 – 20 November 1977)
(c. 1826 – 11 December 1904)
(17 September 1905 – 8 December 1973)
( 16 January 1878 – 16 March 1944)
(11 January 1870 – 5 May 1937)
(Istanbul, Yıldız Palace, 22 June 1901 – 13 October 1903)
(Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 12 June 1900 – 2 June 1945, buried at the Islamic cemetery of Bobigny near Paris)
(October 1921/1922 – 11 March 1981)
(Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 19 December 1885 – New York City, 15 June 1949 and buried in Damascus)
(1868 – 5 October 1875)
(Constantinople, Yıldız Palace, 14 August 1894 – Paris, 1 June 1952)
(Dolmabahçe Palace, 21 January 1872 – Pau, 13 July 1950 and buried there)
(Istanbul, Yıldız Palace, 11 February 1878 – Nice, August 1944)
