#gulcemal kadin

[ottomanladies]

Contemporary comments on Ottoman consorts -- requested by anon

[ottomanladies]

"Gülcemal Kadınefendi was the only Bosnian consort of Sultan Abdülmecid. She was most probably born in Sarajevo in 1826 and entered palace service when she was young with her sister Bimisal Hanım. Abdülmecid I was immediately fascinated with her beauty and married her in 1840; in the same year she gave birth to her first child, Fatma Sultan. In 1842 she gave birth to Refia Sultan and a year later, in 1843, to Şehzade Mehmed Reşad (the future Mehmed V Reşad). She was said to be delicate and sensitive. The Austrian doctor Spitzer said about her: "... the sultan personally opened the shawl on her face and that's when I saw the most beautiful woman’s face I had seen in my life..."  She caught tuberculosis, and the sultan was desperate to save her: "... I have had the most genuine conversations with this woman. Since I was a youth, I have loved her with my all heart..", he told Chief Physician İsmail Paşa. Gülcemal Kadınefendi passed away in [...] November 1851 at Ortaköy Palace and was buried in the New Mosque." -- from Harun Açba, Kadınefendiler 

*Gözde Kaya as Gülcemal

[ottomanladies]

The youngest ottoman consorts to become mothers

As we don't have precise dates of birth for consorts until the XIX century (and sometimes even after that), answering this question is not easy at all.

I have found that:

Gülcemâl Kadın, the mother of Mehmed V, was 14 years old when she gave birth to her eldest child, Fatma Sultan.

Nesrin Hanım, another consort of Abdülmecid I, was 16 years old when she gave birth to Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin.

Şayeste Hanım was 15 years old when she gave birth to Şehzade Abdullah.

Ayşe Serfiraz Hanım too was 15 when she gave birth to Şehzade Osman Safiyeddin.

Edadil Kadın, consort of Sultan Abdülaziz, was 17 when she gave birth to Şehzade Mahmud Celaleddin.

Gevheri Kadın too was 17 when she gave birth to Esma Sultan.

Mezide Mestan Kadın, consort of Abdülhamid II, was 16 when she gave birth to Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin

Mihrengiz Kadın, consort of Mehmed V, was 17 when she gave birth to Şehzade Ömer Hilmi

Şehsuvar Kadın, consort of Caliph Abdülmecid II, was 17 years old when she give birth to Şehzade Ömer Faruk

[ottomanladies]

Known fair-haired women in Ottoman history -- requested by anon

[ottomanladies]

I feel pity for Servetseza Kadın (wife of Abdulmejid I) and Bedrifelek Kadın (wife of Abdul Hamid II), because the sultans didn’t had a string relation although they were the most kind wives of Abdulmejid I and Abdul Hamid II, what do you think?

I have never thought about them in that way, and I don't know if they can be compared because Servetseza had no children with Abdülmecid I but Bedrifelek had three with Abdülhamid II. And the two sultans were very different themselves. While I don't think that Abdülmecid I mistreated or ignored Servetseza, Abdülhamid II wouldn't even visit Bedrifelek in her rooms. Indeed, when Gülcemal Kadınefendi died, Abdülmecid I entrusted Servetseza with her children. I think this shows that he trusted her and valued her; he just wasn't in love with her.

[ottomanladies]

mothers of ottoman sultans who never became valide sultans -- requested by anon