Murad V

Murad V was born as Şehzade Mehmed Murad[1] on 21 September 1840[2] in the Çırağan Palace[3] in Istanbul.[4] His father was Sultan Abdulmejid I, son of Sultan Mahmud II and Bezmiâlem Sultan. His mother was Şevkefza Kadın,[5] an ethnic Georgian.[6]

In September 1847,[7] aged seven, he was ceremoniously circumcised together with his younger half-brother, Şehzade Abdul Hamid.[8][9]

Murad was educated in the palace. His tutors included Toprik Süleyman Efendi, who taught him the Quran, Ferrik Efendi, who taught him Ottoman Turkish language, Sheikh Hafız Efendi, who taught him Hadith (the traditions of Muhammad), Monsieur Gardet, who taught him French, and Callisto Guatelli and Italian Lombardi, who taught him to play piano.[10][11]

Photograph taken during Murad's visit to London

After Abdulaziz ascended the throne after the death of Sultan Abdulmejid in 1861, Murad became the heir to the throne. He spent most of his time at his farmhouse in Kurbağalıdere which Abdulaziz had allocated to him. His family used to spend their winters in the crown prince's apartments located in the Dolmabahçe Palace and the Nisbetiye Mansion.[12][13]

He participated in the visits of Abdulaziz to Egypt in 1863 and to Europe in 1867. While he was appreciated by the European rulers for his kindness, his uncle, who was uncomfortable with this, had planned to send him back to Istanbul. Napoleon III and Queen Victoria showed greater interest in Murad than in Abdulaziz. Moreover, special invitations and excursions were organized for the crown prince.[14]

He frequently communicated with the New Ottomans, who wanted a constitutional regime. Şinasi, whom he met frequently, exchanged ideas with Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha on constitutionalism, democracy and freedom. Through Ziya Pasha and his private physician Kapoleon Efendi, he also communicated with Midhat Pasha, the leading statesman of the Ottoman Tanzimat era and leader of the opposition group, which was dissatisfied with Sultan Abdulaziz's rule.[15]

Murad was the first member of the Ottoman dynasty to become a member of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey.[16] On 20 October 1872,[17] Murad was secretly inducted into the lodge, sponsored by his chamberlain Seyyid Bey. Murad rose through the ranks in the lodge. At one point he proposed establishing an independent Ottoman lodge to be named Envar-ı Şarkiye, "Eastern Lights", with its ritual conducted in Turkish, but the plan was never realized.[18]

Sultan Abdulaziz tried to change the succession system in favor of his own son Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin.[19] For this purpose Abdulaziz set out to mollify different pressure groups and have his son gain popularity among them. During the 1867 visit to Europe, rumors spread that contrary to the rules of protocol Abdulaziz arranged Izzeddin's reception in Paris and London before the official heir, Prince Murad. When the conservative Mahmud Nedim Pasha became the grand vizier in September 1871, he lent his support to Abdulaziz's plans.[20] To further legitimize his plans, Abdulaziz tactically supported a change to primogeniture in the Muhammad Ali dynasty of Egypt. By granting primogeniture to Isma'il Pasha in 1866, Abdulaziz was clearly seeking to create a positive climate of opinion about a change in favour of his own son.[21]

Ali Suavi, an Ottoman political activist, journalist, educator, theologian and reformer, involved in the incident

In confinement, Murad's consort Gevherriz Hanım worked with Nakşifend Kalfa, the hazinedar Dilberengiz, the eunuch Hüseyin Ağa, and Hüsnü Bey (who had been Second Secretary of Murad) to allow for a British physician to meet with Murad to ascertain Murad's mental fitness. When the physician arrived, Gevherriz served as translator. It is not clear how true this story is, and it is possible the physician was sent by freemasons rather than by the British.[25]

In 1877, some nine months into confinement, Murad regained his mental faculties. The first two years of his confinement in Çırağan witnessed three attempts by supporters to free him and restore him to the throne, but all three resulted only in Abdul Hamid's tightening the cordon that isolated Çırağan Palace from the city around it.[23]

Life in confinement

Çırağan Palace, where Murad and his family were confined by Sultan Abdul Hamid for twenty-eight years until Murad's death in 1904

His mental faculties restored, Murad lived out a far more benign existence than that attributed to him by the Western press. Reports through the years claimed that he languished in prison, or escaped and was hiding, or lectured his brother on the Armenian troubles.[23]

After his mother's death in 1889, Murad focused all his love and attention on his children. Selaheddin became his companion in grief, and the two of them passed long hours together reminiscing and speculating about the future. For a time, they took an interest in the Mesnevi, taking great pleasure in reciting verses from it.[33]

Poster produced after his death

At length, suffering from diabetes, Murad died at the Çırağan Palace on 29 August 1904.[23] While his senior consort Mevhibe Kadın and his son Selahaddin reported that Murad was willing to be buried in the mausoleum of Yahya Efendi, Abdul Hamid did not approve of it. The next day, Murad's funeral was carried out without announcement and ceremony. His body was washed and shrouded in the Topkapı Palace and then taken to the Hidayet Mosque in Bahçekapı. After the funeral procession, he was buried next to his mother, Şevkefza, in the New Mosque, Istanbul.[34]

An important primary source about his life comes from the memoirs of one of his consorts, Filizten Hanım, written in the 1930s.[35]

Murad learned both French and Arabic. He ordered and read books and magazines from France and was influenced by French culture. He played the piano and composed Western-style music.[19] He was a liberal.[24][36][37][38]

• Order of the Medjidie, Jeweled, 23 February 1867[12]

Murad V's family is known to have spent nearly 20 years confined to Çırağan Palace, from Murad's deposition in June 1876 to his death in August 1904.

• In the 2011 TV series Kirli Oyunlar, Murad V is portrayed by Turkish actor Sezgin Erdemir.[45]
• In the 2012, on May 3, world premiere for the ballet "Murad V" took place in Ankara Opera House. The biographical libretto focuses on the psychology of Murad V and uses some of the works composed by himself.[46]
• In the 2012 movie The Sultan's Women, Murad V is portrayed by Turkish actor Serhat Kaplan.[47]
• In the 2015 TV series Filinta, Murad V is portrayed by Turkish actor Uğur Uludağ.[48]
• In the 2017 TV series Payitaht: Abdülhamid, Murad V is portrayed by Turkish actor Nevzat Yılmaz.[49]
• Murad is a character in Ayşe Osmanoğlu's historical novel The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus (2020).[50]

• Liberalism in Turkey

• Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010). The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2015). Bu Mülkün Sultanları. Alfa Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-6-051-71080-8.
• Satı, İbrahim (2020). Sultan V.Murad'ın Hayatı ve Kısa Saltanatı (1840-1904) (Master Thesis). Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University Institute of Social Sciences.
• Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.
• Zachs, Weismann; Weismann, Itzchak (24 March 2005). Ottoman Reform and Muslim Regeneration. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-850-43757-4.

• "Murad V." . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
• "Murad § Murad V" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 15.