Mehmed VI

"Mohamed VI" redirects here. For the Moroccan monarch, see Mohammed VI of Morocco.

Mehmed VI
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Khan
Mehmed VI by Sébah & Joaillier, circa 1920
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Padishah)
Reign	4 July 1918 – 1 November 1922
Predecessor	Mehmed V
Successor	Monarchy abolished
Grand Viziers	See list Mehmed Talaat Pasha Ahmed Izzet Pasha Ahmet Tevfik Pasha Damat Ferid Pasha Ali Rıza Pasha Salih Hulusi Pasha
Ottoman caliph (Amir al-Mu'minin)
Reign	4 July 1918 – 19 November 1922
Predecessor	Mehmed V
Successor	Abdulmejid II
Head of the Osmanoğlu family
Reign	19 November 1922 – 16 May 1926
Successor	Abdulmejid II
Born	(1861-01-14)14 January 1861 Dolmabahçe Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	16 May 1926(1926-05-16) (aged 65) Sanremo, Liguria, Italy
Burial	3 July 1926 Cemetery of Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria
Consorts	Nazikeda Kadın ​ ​ (m. 1885)​ Inşirah Hanım ​ ​ (m. 1905; div. 1909)​ Müveddet Kadın ​ ​ (m. 1911)​ Nevvare Hanım ​ ​ (m. 1918; div. 1924)​ Nevzad Hanım ​ ​ (m. 1921)​
Issue	Münire Fenire Sultan Fatma Ulviye Sultan Rukiye Sabiha Sultan Şehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul
Names Mehmed Vahdeddîn Han bin Abdülmecid
Dynasty	Ottoman
Father	Abdulmejid I
Mother	Gülistu Kadın (biological) Şayeste Hanım (adoptive)
Religion	Sunni Islam
Tughra

Mehmed VI Vahideddin (Ottoman Turkish: محمد سادس Meḥmed-i sâdis or وحيد الدين Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn; Turkish: VI. Mehmed or Vahdeddin/Vahideddin; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba (lit. 'Emperor-father') among the Osmanoğlu family, was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the penultimate Ottoman caliph, reigning from 4 July 1918 until 1 November 1922, when the Ottoman sultanate was abolished and replaced by the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923.

The half-brother of Mehmed V Reşâd, he became heir to the throne in 1916, after the death of Şehzade Yusuf İzzeddin, as the eldest male member of the House of Osman. He acceded to the throne after the death of Mehmed V. He was girded with the Sword of Osman on 4 July 1918 as the 36th padishah and 115th Islamic Caliph.

Mehmed VI's reign began with the Ottoman Empire suffering defeat by the Allied Powers with the conclusion of World War I. The subsequent Armistice of Mudros legitimized further Allied incursions into Ottoman territory, resulting in an informal occupation of Istanbul and other parts of the empire. An initial process of reconciliation between the government and Christian minorities over their massacres and deportations by the government ultimately proved fruitless, when the Greeks and Armenians, via their patriarchates, renounced their status as Ottoman subjects by the end of 1918, spelling a definitive end of Ottomanism. During the Paris Peace Conference, Mehmed VI turned to Damat Ferid Pasha to diplomatically outflank Greek territorial demands on the Ottoman Empire through Allied appeasement, but to no avail. Unionist elements within the Ottoman military, discontent with the government's appeasement in the face of partition, and the establishment of war crimes tribunals, began taking actions into their own hands by establishing a nationalist resistance to resume war. Mehmed's most significant act as Sultan was dispatching Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) to reassert government control in Anatolia, which actually resulted in the further consolidation of anti-appeasement actors against the court, and consequently, the end of the monarchy.

With the Greek Occupation of Smyrna on 15 May 1919 galvanizing the Turkish nationalist movement and beginning the Turkish War of Independence, by October the sultan's government had to give in to nationalist demands with the Amasya Protocol. The Allies militarily occupied Istanbul on 16 March 1920, and pressured Sultan Mehmed VI to dissolve the Nationalist dominated Chamber of Deputies and suspend the Constitution, when the Turkish nationalists stood against Allied designs for a partition of Ottoman Anatolia. Kemal Pasha responded by establishing a provisional government known as the Grand National Assembly based in Ankara, which dominated the rest of the Ottoman Empire, while the Sultan's unpopular government in Istanbul was propped up by the Allied powers and effectively impotent. Mehmed VI condemned the nationalist leaders as infidels and called for their execution, though the provisional government in Ankara claimed it was rescuing the Sultan-Caliph from manipulative foreigners and ministers. The Sultan's so-called Istanbul government would go on to sign the Treaty of Sèvres, a peace treaty which would have partitioned the remainder of the empire, leaving a rump Turkish state. With Ankara's victory in the independence war, the Sèvres Treaty was abandoned for their Treaty of Lausanne. On 1 November 1922, the Grand National Assembly voted to abolish the Sultanate and to depose Mehmed VI as Caliph, and he left for Europe in exile. On 29 October 1923, the Republic of Turkey was declared, with Mustafa Kemal as its first president.

Early life and education

Mehmed, Resimli Kitab, 1909

Mehmed Vahdeddin was born at the Dolmabahçe Palace, in Constantinople, on 14 January 1861. His father was Abdulmejid I, who died when he was only five months old, and his mother Gülistu Kadın died when he was four years old. She was of Georgian-Abkhazian origin, being the daughter of Prince Tahir Bey Chachba. Abdul Mejid I had 42 children, and Vahdeddin was his last child, making him 10th in line in the succession.

After his mother's death, Vahdeddin Efendi was raised and taught by Şâyeste Hanım, another of his father's consorts. He trained himself by taking lessons from private teachers and attending some of the lessons given at the Fatih Madrasa. The prince had a rough time with his overbearing adoptive mother, and at the age of sixteen he left his adoptive mother's mansion with the three servants who had been serving him since childhood. He grew up with nannies, servant girls, and tutors. During the thirty-three years of his brother Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign he lived in the Ottoman Imperial Harem.

In his youth his closest friend was Abdul Mejid (to be proclaimed as Caliph Abdul Mejid II), the son of his uncle, Sultan Abdul Aziz. In the years to come, however, the two cousins became unyielding rivals. Before moving to the Feriye Palace, the prince had lived briefly in the mansion in Çengelköy owned by Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin. During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Vahdeddin was considered to be the sultan's closest brother. When he ascended to the throne, this closeness greatly influenced his political attitudes, such as his intense dislike of the Young Turks and the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), and his sympathy for the British.

Vahdeddin took private lessons. He read a great deal, and was interested in various subjects, including the arts, which was a tradition of the Ottoman family. He took courses in calligraphy and music and learned how to write in the naskh script and to play the qanun. He became interested in Sufism and, unknown to the Palace, he attended courses at the madrasa of Fatih on Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic theology, interpretation of the Quran, and the Hadiths, as well as the Arabic and Persian languages. He attended the dervish lodge of Ahmed Ziyaüddin Gümüşhanevi, located not far from the Sublime Porte, where Ömer Ziyaüddin of Dagestan was the spiritual leader, and he became a disciple of the Naqshbandi order.

He held a quiet rivalry with his brother Crown Prince Yusuf İzzeddin and repeatedly requested that his brother Sultan Mehmed V Reshad retract İzzeddin as heir apparent. In the end İzzeddin committed suicide in 1916, putting Vahdeddin on track to succeed his brother upon his death.

As crown prince he represented the sultan at the funeral of the Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph I in 1916, and was invited by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to make a state visit in 1917, where he was accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk).

Reign

Main article: Turkish War of Independence

Mehmed in 1915

Mehmed Vahdettin came to the throne after the death of his half-brother, and took the regal name of Mehmed VI on 3 July 1918, though like his predecessor he was known by the people, and in modern Turkey, by his personal name Vahdettin. He held his Cülûs (enthronement ceremony) the day after and delivered an oath to the Ottoman National Assembly. Instead of commissioning his own anthem he signed an edict making his grandfather Mahmud II's anthem as the official national anthem of the Ottoman Empire. Though he detested the Unionists and was ideologically an absolutist, for a short while he had to maintain the monarchy's subservient relationship to the CUP. Vahdeddin reappointed Talât Pasha as Grand Vizier for another term and Mustafa Kemal Pasha commander of Seventh Army. However, due to the tides of war turning against the Ottomans, Talât resigned, the CUP dissolved itself, and the Ottomans exited World War I with the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, which was a turning point for Vahdettin's reign.

The First World War was a disaster for the Ottoman Empire. The Empire's entry into the war was initiated by the CUP dictatorship. British and Allied forces captured Baghdad, Damascus, and Jerusalem during the war, and most of the empire was set to be partitioned amongst the Allies. As part of the armistice terms, much of the empire beyond the armistice lines was also to be under occupation, including the Sultan's own capital: Constantinople. Now dealing with an existential crisis over the Ottoman state, Sultan Mehmed VI hoped to pursue a policy of close cooperation with Britain and France in order to rehabilitate Turkey into the international community and sign a lighter peace treaty. However this strategy did not turn out to be successful, as despite the leadership change, the Allies considered the participation of Turkey during the Great War -and its trend in the last decade towards political instability- akin to a rogue state that deserved punishment. Therefore Entente statesmen sought to elevate Greece as a responsible Eastern Mediterranean Great Power in the Ottomans' place.

Mehmed VI witnessed many of the monarchies of Europe experiencing their demise or extreme shakeup with the end of the Great War. The German Hohenzollerns, Austrian Habsburgs, and Russian Romanovs all met their end due to the Great War, and Greece and Bulgaria's monarchies also experienced great instability due to the war. The highest priority for the Sultan was to safeguard his dynasty's interests, which soon came into conflict with his empire's national interest.

Armistice era

Mehmed VI's coronation

With Talât Pasha's resignation and the CUP's self-liquidation at end of the Great War, Vahdeddin was given the opportunity to reassert the Sultanate, in contrast to his deceased half-brother who was accommodating to the CUP. He could now appoint a new Grand Vizier. Mustafa Kemal Pasha sent a telegram to the Sultan, asking him to appoint Ahmed İzzet Pasha (The Sultan's aide-de-camp) and make himself a minister of war. İzzet Pasha wooed the Sultan by promising to 'secure the dynasty's 'legitimate rights' and restore justice in the nation'. The sultan assigned the task of forming the government to İzzet, though Mustafa Kemal was excluded from the new cabinet, as well as any minorities. In his speech for the opening of the new legislative year of the parliament, he wished for peace along the lines of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, and that he accordingly wanted peace with the appropriate honour and dignity of the state.

Sultan Vahdeddin soon requested the resignation of İzzet, which was unconstitutional, and assigned his in-law Ahmed Tevfik Pasha to form a government. Two days later, the allies occupied Istanbul, though Tevfik Pasha was able to receive a vote of confidence from parliament afterwords. Vahdeddin made a press statement soon after absolving the Ottoman people of collective guilt stating that the CUP was solely responsible for the war and its excesses, such as the Armenian genocide. He requested of his government to establish tribunals to try war criminals and that he would work with all his might to maintain friendship with England. When the Chamber of Deputies, dominated by Unionists elected back in 1914, objected that only the chamber has the authority to establish special tribunals, Vahdeddin dissolved the Chamber on 21 December 1918. He postponed elections until after a peace treaty could be signed, even though they were constitutionally mandated to occur four months after parliament's dissolution, on the grounds that the country was under occupation.

1918 portrait

The question which immediately dominated the Ottoman Empire was the fate of the war criminals and the Unionists. Sultan Vahdeddin soon asked Tevfik Pasha to resign and assigned him to form a new government in order to purge Unionist sympathizers from the government. Before making arrests, Damat Ferid Pasha, in the capacity of an envoy, attempted to meet with the British High Commissioner, to gauge British support for the new regime and its goals in purging the Unionists. The escape and suicide of the former governor of Diyarbekir, Reşid Bey, from prison (25 January 1919) renewed British interest in prosecuting war criminals. Britain ended up cooperating with the Ottoman government in these arrest campaigns, though controversially demanded extradition of some criminals. British and French demands on war criminals increasingly mounted on the Tevfik Pasha government, and after the Sultan complained about the lack of progress on the matter in the last three and a half months, he resigned, and Damad Ferid Pasha was appointed Grand Vizier on 4 March 1919.

A new government, consisting of members of the Freedom and Accord Party, arrested the leaders of the CUP, including one of the former grand viziers, Said Halim Pasha. The trial of Boğazlıyan District Governor Mehmed Kemal Bey was quickly concluded. He was sentenced to death and publicly hanged in Beyazıt Square after the fatwa was signed by the sultan, which did not go over well with the Turks, and he was declared a national martyr. Ferid Pasha was unable to send an Ottoman delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, and the Allies increased interference in government. To calm the situation at home and shore up his popularity, Vahdeddin dispatched Commissions of Admonition [Heyet-i Nasîha], delegations representing the imperial family headed by royal princes to Anatolia and Rumelia.

By the end of the war, conditions in Thrace and Anatolia -by all metrics- were disastrous, to the point where public order collapsed. The Allied Powers allowed officers to be assigned to the army in Anatolia to ensure public order. On 30 April 1919 Mustafa Kemal Pasha was assigned to the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate, a wide-ranging responsibility which effectively gave him civil and administrative authority over all of Anatolia. Once he arrived in Samsum, out of the reaches of Istanbul and without the Sultan's permission, Kemal indeed used his extraordinary powers to coordinate a nationalist resistance with like minded officers, which soon led to British demands for his recall. The sultan was indifferent to his activities until late June. Though the government announced Mustafa Kemal's cashiering from the army on 23 June, Vahdeddin preferred to remain silent.

On 15 May 1919, after receiving the necessary support from the Allies, Greece landed an occupation force in Izmir, which inflamed sectarian tensions in the Ottoman Empire. This began the Greco-Turkish War. In order to calm nationalist tempers, the Sultan had Ferid, who had resigned after the Greek Occupation of Izmir, form his second government on 19 May, which included ten nationalist ministers without portfolio unaffiliated with political parties or the palace. Twenty-three jailed nationalists, whose trials had already been postponed were released. On 26 May, Damad Ferid convened a Sultanic Council [Şûrâ-yi Saltanat], a faux parliament akin to an estates general, to formulate a response to the Greek occupation of Izmir. The delegates concluded the council demanding complete independence and the establishment of an emergency national council. Though the government did not implement the council's recommendations, in response the Allies extradited sixty-seven prisoners from the Bekir Ağa Division to Malta, making them the first of the Malta exiles. The Sultan sent a special message to the British High Commissioner Admiral Calthorpe and complained about Greek atrocities that had "turned Aydın into a slaughterhouse". He stated that if the Greeks’ excesses were not stopped, it would be impossible to hold back the Anatolian people. He said that since his army had been demobilized, he had no soldiers to maintain order, that the journey had become terrifying and dangerous, and that he saw no hope other than the British government in preventing disasters.

Initial clashes with Mustafa Kemal

Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk), with his Great War medals, leader of the Turkish nationalist movement and responsible for Vahdettin's downfall

Following the tension between the British units stationed in Samsun and Refet Bey, the British demanded that Refet Bey be dismissed from the army and Mustafa Kemal be arrested and brought to Istanbul. Mehmed VI made an effort to prove to the British that he had no connection with the incident in Samsun. In a conversation on the night of 8–9 July 1919 over telegram with Kemal, who was in Erzurum, Vahdeddin stated that the British wanted him to come to Istanbul immediately and that they had given him a guarantee that they would not treat the general dishonorably. In a second telegram he sent without waiting for the reply to the previous telegram, he announced that Mustafa Kemal Pasha had been dismissed from his duty as the Third Army Inspector (position since renamed) and that he should return to Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal Pasha simultaneously announced his resignation from the army and that he was ready to continue the struggle as a civilian.

By the summer of 1919, the Allies finally decided to invite an Ottoman delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, which coincided with the commencement of the trial and arrest of the Unionists once again. The Sultan demanded Tevfik accompany Damad Ferid Pasha, who headed the delegation, as he did not completely trust the Grand Vizier. At this time crown-prince Abdul Mecid sharply criticized his cousin for following such a pro-British policy and placing Ferid in a position of authority. His presentation of the Ottoman position to the conference, effectively demanding status quo ante bellum, produced shock and ridicule from the Allied representatives, discrediting Istanbul's diplomatic position. The sultan nevertheless reappointed him Grand Vizier after his resignation upon returning from Paris, hoping that stacking his cabinet with even more nationalist ministers could unite the country and minimize the influence of Mustafa Kemal's burgeoning movement. Tevfik, Ahmed Izzet and Ali Rıza Pasha, ​​who were sympathetic to the national movement, were appointed ministers without portfolio. Ferid issued a circular opposing the proceedings of the Erzurum Congress. When the Erzurum Congress (23 July) convened under the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Pasha anyway, it began its work by sending a telegram of loyalty to the sultan, and a telegram criticizing the Grand Vizier's circular.

After a long struggle instigated by British pressure, Ferid was able to obtain an arrest warrant for Mustafa Kemal Pasha and Rauf Orbay on 29 July. Crown Prince Abdul Mecid immediately stormed the palace and criticized the sultan for blindly supporting Damad Ferid Pasha, to the point of insult. With a decree Ferid had the Sultan personally sign, all of Mustafa Kemal Pasha's decorations were withdrawn and his honorary rank of aide-de-camp to the sultan was also abolished (9 August). İzzet and Tevfik Pasha would resign from government over this event. The government was again unsuccessful in dispersing the Sivas Congress (4–11 September). Upon its conclusion, Mustafa Kemal began the Telegram War by telling provincial officials to cut communications with Istanbul until they give in to Sivas' demands. Within a month, all of Anatolia and Thrace, save Istanbul, pledged allegience to Kemal's movement. The British urged the Sultan to create a national unity government, and with the resignation of Damat Ferid Pasha, on 2 October Ali Rıza Pasha, a general with nationalist credentials, was brought to the premiership and signed the Amasya Protocol with the nationalists. Vahdeddin was unhappy to have been forced to compromise with what he thought were unreconstructed Unionists rebelling against rightful monarch.

Detente with the nationalists

In the 1919 general election called after the signing of the Amasya Protocol, Mustafa Kemal's Association for the Defence of Rights of Anatolia and Rumelia won an uncontested victory. The sultan did not attend the opening of the legislative session, citing his illness as an excuse. In order not to be subject to criticism, he had reports about his health published in the press. Mustafa Kemal Pasha sent a get well soon telegram to the sultan. He cordially responded and thanked him. In an interview Vahdeddin gave to an American agency, he stated that he wanted peace as soon as possible, because delay was worse than war. He stated that the desired peace in the East could only be achieved by continuing Turkey's independence.

Despite the appearances of national unity, the sultan would always believe that the Turkish nationalists surrounding Mustafa Kemal were Unionists (most members of the movement, including Mustafa Kemal, were previously members of the CUP). This disrespect was mutual, Kemal thought of Vahdeddin as naïve and incompetent. The fear of losing Istanbul prevented Vahdeddin from establishing close relations with the nationalists. He considered the nationalists’ seizure of the country’s administration as a rebellion, based on the fact that the sultan's prerogatives were no longer absolute. He believed that it was out of the question for a sovereign to compromise and negotiate with rebels. While meeting with the British High Commissioner Rumbold (March 23, 1921), he said that Mustafa Kemal Pasha was a “revolutionary.” He brought up the issue of the caliphate and said, “...The caliphate will become a tool in the hands of wolves who love foggy weather.” In his memoirs written years later, he would say that he had dispatched Mustafa Kemal, but that he had openly rebelled, that Damad Ferid Pasha had tried to remove him from his post and bring him to his senses, but he had failed, that he had called Tevfik Pasha to duty to reach a compromise, but he had also failed.

After the military occupation of Istanbul (16 March 1920), an action the Sultan had to accept under duress, Vahdeddin reported that he received the Allies' pronouncement with sorrow. He said that he had always desired cooperation with the Allied Powers, that he was relieved by the arrest of certain nationalist leaders in Istanbul, and that if the allies had not made such a decision, he would have had to do it himself. He expressed his appreciation for the guarantees regarding his own royal prerogatives.

Conflict with the nationalist movement

Riding the royal carriage

While the Allies supported Vahdeddin against the nationalists, he understood this incident disrupted the rapprochement that had been forming between Istanbul and Anatolia for past six months. Indeed, He received a delegation from the Chamber of Deputies and advised the deputies to be careful in their speech as the British presence was overwhelming. When he was told that the nation was loyal to the sultan and that the British could not do anything to Anatolia, he stated that they could even go to Ankara tomorrow if they wanted. Rauf Orbay, who was in this delegation, asked the sultan not to sign any international treaties without a verdict from parliament. The sultan got angry at this and replied, “Rauf Bey, there is a nation, a flock of sheep! A shepherd is needed for its administration, and that is me!” and tried to explain that an occupied parliament could not do anything.

The Salih Hulusi government was forced to resign because it did not accept the Allied powers’ demands to “condemn” and “reject” the nationalists (2 April). It was understood that Damat Ferid Pasha was due to return to the prime ministry. The second president of the Chamber of Deputies, Kâzım Bey, stated that appointing Ferid as Grand Vizier without receiving a solid guarantee from the British would be a disaster for the country and the sultanate. This angered the sultan who said, “If I want, I can bring the Greek Patriarch, the Armenian Patriarch, and the Chief Rabbi [to the Grand Vizierate],” and assigned Damad Ferid Pasha to form a government for the fourth time (5 April). Under pressure from the British, fatwas were issued declaring that the nationalists were “infidels” and that they were “obligatory” to be killed. These fatwas were distributed by throwing leaflets from British planes. The Sultan ordered the Chamber of Deputies shuttered (11 April), and on 18 April, the Army of the Caliphate was established against the National Forces (April 18). The Constitution was retracted as well, formally ending the Second Constitutional Era, though it was practically not in effect since 1912.

Damat Ferid Pasha, Vahdeddin's most trusted deputy

On 23 April 1920 the Grand National Assembly was established in Ankara and declared itself the sole legitimate government of Turkey. This created a diarchy in Turkey: the Sultan's government in Istanbul and the Nationalist government in Ankara a situation Greece, Armenia, France, and Britain hoped to exploit. On 27 April 1920 Fevzi Pasha defected to Ankara and delivered a speech, noting that his defection was encouraged by Sultan Vahdeddin. Afterwords, a telegram of allegiance was sent to the sultan, and the new parliament announced that the national resistance was being carried out to rescue the captive sultan. Istanbul’s response to this was to sentence Mustafa Kemal Pasha and five of his comrades to death in a martial law court (24 May), a decision signed by the sultan. The Grand Vizier Ferid Pasha returned to Istanbul after receiving the harsh peace terms from the Paris Peace Conference on 11 July.

The sultan convened the last Sultanate Council of the Ottoman Empire in Yıldız Palace to deliberate over the peace terms, which he described as a “conglomerate of calamities” ["musibetler mecmuası"] (22 July). The grand vizier reported that it was understood from a telegram that Istanbul would be fully occupied by Greek troops if the treaty was rejected. After the deliberations, everyone except Topçu Feriki Rıza Pasha accepted signing of the treaty. With the approval he received from the sultanate council, Ferid Pasha shuffled his cabinet to suppress the Turkish nationalist movement in Anatolia and formed his fifth cabinet. Sultan Vahdeddin's representatives signed the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920. This treaty detached the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire and turned them into independent countries under British and French mandates, while recognizing British, French, and Italian spheres of influence in Anatolia. Izmir was to be under Greek control and Armenia was to be given independence, leaving the Ottoman Empire as a rump state in Anatolia and Eastern Thrace under foreign influence. In a secret session of the Grand National Assembly (25 September), Mustafa Kemal claimed that the sultan could not be considered a legitimate caliph, and accused him of treason. However, he argued that it was unwise to neglect the caliphate, the sole support of the Islamic world, and that loyalty to the sultanate and the caliphate must continue in order to achieve salvation. On the other hand, the signatures of the Treaty of Sevres, including Damad Ferid Pasha, were sentenced to death by an Independence Tribunal in Ankara (7 October). Ankara soon denounced the rule of Mehmed VI and the command of Süleyman Şefik Pasha, who was in charge of the Army of the Caliphate; as a result, a temporary constitution was drafted for Kemal's counter-government in Ankara.

Despite Vahdeddin's support for peace he chose not to ratify the Sèvres Treaty despite British pressure, with the justification that it would completely divide the nation. So he put all responsibility of the Sèvres Treaty on Damad Ferid Pasha, who had been discredited even among anti-Unionists and royalists. The Allied Powers sent their high commissioners in Istanbul to the sultan and requested that the government of Damad Ferid Pasha be changed for a new government that could reach an agreement with Ankara. The sultan appointed Tevfik Pasha to the premiership on 21 October, made up of ministers sympathetic to the Nationalists. A delegation which included former grand viziers, Minister of the Interior Ahmed İzzet and Minister of the Navy Salih Pasha were sent to Bilecik to hold talks with Mustafa Kemal. However Kemal said that he did not recognize the government in Istanbul, and the delegation was detained and brought to Ankara where they were held under arrest for a month and a half.

With the Treaty of Sèvres unpopular with the Turks and the Istanbul government seen as illegitimate, the Greeks began an offensive against the nationalist movement. The Allies now hoped to draw up a new peace settlement more acceptable for the Turks, and invited Istanbul and Ankara to the Conference of London. Ankara did not accept the invitation as Istanbul (Tevfik Pasha) refused to recognize Ankara as the legitimate government of Turkey. In another secret session of parliament on 8 February 1922 Mustafa Kemal and the delegates discussed the feasibility of dethroning Vahdeddin with the justification that the sultan had vacated the caliphate by accepting Sèvres.

Abolition of the Sultanate

Main article: Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate

As the nationalist movement strengthened its military positions with the Great Offensive of late August 1922, Mehmed VI, his five wives, and attendant eunuchs could no longer leave the safety of the palace. On 19 October 1922, after the Armistice of Mudanya ending the Greco-Turkish War, Refet Pasha met with the sultan, requesting him to dissolve the Istanbul government and recognize Ankara as Turkey's sole legitimate government. However Vahdeddin insisted on the presence of the Istanbul government to represent the throne at the conference, and rejected Refet by claiming that he was a constitutional monarch and he could not dissolve the government. When news reached Ankara that Vahdeddin refused to give up his position and insisted on sending a delegation to the Conference of Lausanne the Grand National Assembly voted to abolish the sultanate on 1 November 1922, and the crown prince Abdul Mejid was elected Caliph. During the hours when the assembly was taking these decisions, Mehmed VI married one of his concubines, the nineteen-year-old Nevzad Hanım without informing anyone, and reacted by declaring there could be no caliphate without a sultanate. He told Refet Pasha, who notified him of the decision of the assembly, that even if the existence of such a caliphate without executive authority were accepted, he could not accept it.

Although the Grand National Assembly abolished the sultanate and tied the caliphate to new conditions, the government did not publish any information of the Sultan's condition. The assembly accepted the proposals and voted to put Vahdeddin on trial, but the method of trial was not determined. Newspapers published news about the sultan's treason. With Istanbul ministers rapidly resigning from cabinet, Tevfik Pasha resigned the Grand Vizierate despite the sultan's opposition on 4 November, making him the last Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. He did not return the sultan the imperial seal and never meet with the sultan again. In his memoirs, Mehmed VI accused Tevfik Pasha of being Mustafa Kemal Pasha’s man, of playing a double game and of leaving him alone during his most difficult day by resigning.

When news came of the lynching of Ali Kemal in İzmit, the royalists panicked. Those who could get visas ran away, those who could not took refuge in British barracks. The sultan was overwhelmed by those who came to the palace to provide the money to escape, and kept to his harem. On 10 November Vahdeddin went to the Friday prayers for the first time after the abolition of the sultanate, but was not mentioned in the sermon. That experience and reading articles attacking him in the press, he decided to leave the country.

Sultan Vahdeddin departing from the backdoor of the Dolmabahçe Palace

On 16 November 1922, Vahideddin wrote to Harington: "Sir, considering my life in danger in Istanbul, I take refuge with the British Government and request my transfer as soon as possible from Istanbul to another place. Mehmed Vahideddin, Caliph of the Muslims". He stated that he saw his freedom and life in danger due to recent events and that he expected the protection of his life from England, which had the most Muslim subjects, on condition that it preserved its legitimate and sacred rights over the Ottoman sultanate and the Islamic caliphate. One day before his departure, he had lunch with his daughter, Ulviye Sultan, and spent a night at her palace.

Exile and death

Mehmed VI prays with Shaykh al-Islām Nuri Efendi and Grand Vizier Ahmed Tevfik Pasha before leaving Istanbul, 17 November 1922

Leaving aboard the British warship HMS Malaya on 17 November 1922, he took care not to bring valuable items or jewellery, other than his personal belongings. He refused to take with him the Relics of the Sacred Trust. British general Sir Charles Harington himself took the last Ottoman ruler from Yıldız Palace. Ten people with the sultan were sent off early in the morning by an English battalion. He went into exile in Malta, later living on the Italian Riviera. In his memoirs, Vahideddin wrote that he did not flee, but emigrated by following the path of the Prophet Muhammed. He wrote that he was forced to accept a caliphate without a sultanate, that he was overwhelmed by the blind and ungrateful people surrounding him, that he decided to temporarily relocate until public opinion calmed down and the situation became clear.

Mehmed VI arrives in Malta on a British warship, 9 December 1922. On the left, 10-year-old Prince Mehmed Ertuğrul Efendi

The British governor-general welcomed Vahdeddin on behalf of George V in Malta. He thanked the king and reiterated that he had not given up his throne and the caliphate. An eight-room apartment was prepared for the sultan and his entourage in the Pini Barracks. On 19 November, his first cousin and heir, Abdul Mejid Efendi, was elected caliph, becoming the new head of the Imperial House of Osman as Abdul Mecid II. Upon hearing this news Vahideddin said "Only my beloved client can dethrone me" ["Beni ancak müvekkil-i zîşânım haledebilir"]. Vahdeddin would say “Mecid Efendi finally achieved his wish. They sent an imam’s coat to the poor man. He is still pretending not to know and trying to sit on the throne by dragging his robe.” Abdul Mejid, on the other hand, said that he had not only betrayed his country, but had also tarnished the honor of the dynasty and had now been expelled from the country and the dynasty’s registry.

King Hussein of Hejaz, who had rebelled against the Ottoman Empire in the Arab Revolt, invited the deposed Sultan to his new kingdom. Vahdeddin left Malta on 5 January 1923 and was welcomed by King Hussein’s son at Port Said. After that, he reached Suez on a second-class ship and from there to Jeddah on a third-class ship. King Hussein welcomed his guest with a 101-gun salute. From there, they proceeded to Mecca. The sultan stayed in Mecca until the end of February 1923 when he informed Hussein that he wanted to go to Cyprus or Haifa. Hussein wrote to the British representative in Jeddah and said that there might be ulterior motives behind this. London instructed Vahdeddin to stay in Taif.

The Islamic world criticized his visit to Hejaz, where it was viewed as an insincere British public relations stunt for the Muslim world. The Indian Muslim writer Mawlana Abul Kelam attached Vahdeddin, accusing him of sentencing Kemalist heroes to death while they were saving the state and nation with their hostility towards the British, whereas he was being used by the British to sow discord among Muslims. In the face of this criticism, Vahdeddin published a declaration addressed to the entire Islamic world with the hope to salvage his legacy. A summary of the declaration, which could not be distributed due Sharif Hussein's censorship, was published in Al-Ahram. In this declaration, Mehmed Vahdeddin defended his actions, and responded to the accusations against him. He attacked Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends, stating that he had sent him to Anatolia, but he turned a blind eye to the government that later deemed it necessary to order a military operation against him in order to punish him for not recognizing his sovereignty. He had tried to prevent the Ankara-Istanbul diarchy, that he was being accused of treason for opposed the separation of the caliphate and the sultanate, and that he was taking a risk being temporarily being separated from his throne, homeland, and comfort in order to protect the honor and dignity of the caliphate.

When he realized that he could not stay in the Hejaz any longer, he wished to go to Palestine or Cyprus. However, the British vetoed this and offered to house him in Switzerland, though he had to pay out of his own pocket for the journey. From Jeddah, he landed in Suez by sea and from there he reached Alexandria by train provided by the Egyptian government. Since the British did not allow him to stay in Egypt for more than seventy-two hours, he set off for Switzerland. But due to the Lausanne Conference the British understood his presence could raise unnecessary tensions and directed him to Italy.

The Sultan arriving in San Remo

The Italian government welcomed Vahdeddin with an unofficial ceremony at the Port of Genoa on 2 May 1923. Damad Ferid Pasha was a part of this crowd, and met with his former sovereign for the last time. He moved to the Villa Nobel in San Remo, where he wrote doomed petitions to England and other states for permission to go to Muslim land. He lived alone for sixteen months. He was able to reunite with his family after Turkey's decision to send the Ottoman Family (soon to be rendered surname Osmanoğlu) into exile was made on 3 March 1924. As his family reunited around him he moved to Villa Mamolya, though this financially strained him. As fugitives of the Ottoman court gathered in San Remo, a Little Istanbul was formed here. When Abdul Mejid settled in Nice in his exile, he and Vahdeddin got in a legal battle over obtaining power of attorney over their family's affairs. The case was settled by granting both power of attorney.

Mehmed VI's grave in the cemetery of Sulaymaniyya Takiyya in Damascus

Mehmed sent a declaration to the Caliphate Congress and protested the preparations made, declaring that he had never waived the right to reign and be caliph. The congress met on 13 May 1926, but Mehmed died without the news of the congress meeting on 16 May 1926 in Sanremo, Italy.

Vahdeddin left Istanbul with £20,000. He had lost some of it to swindlers and spent some of it with his former brother-in-law and aide Zeki Bey in casinos. Since he was in dire financial straits, he had sold everything he had that could provide money, including some of his medals. He owed some 60,000 Italian liras to all the artisans and credators of San Remo. Officers locked the former sultan's body in a room along with all the belongings they found in Villa Mamolya and sealed the door. The Italians did not allow for his burial until all the debts were paid. It took one month for the money to be given to the creditors.

In the meantime, a Muslim land was sought where the body could be buried. It was decided that it would be buried in the Sulaymaniyya Takiyyain Damascus, after the necessary permission was obtained from France and his daughter Sabiha Sultan found money for a burial. Once the debt was paid off the body was taken to a station by a horse-drawn carriage and from there to Trieste by train. Here, the body was loaded onto a ship and transported to Beirut under the supervision of Prince Ömer Faruk Efendi, and from there to Damascus by train where he was buried on 3 July 1926.

Personality

Mehmed had an optimistic and patient personality according to the testimony of his relatives and employees. He was evidently a kind family man in his palace; outside, and especially at official ceremonies, he would stand cold, frowning and serious, and would not compliment anyone; he attached great importance to religious traditions; he would not tolerate rumors, nor would he allow them to circulate in his palace. Even in his informal conversations, he always attracted attention with seriousness.

The sources in question also state that he was intelligent and quick-grasped, but he was under the influence of his entourage and especially those he believed in, that he had a very evident, unstable and stubborn temperament.

Mehmed VI had dealt with advanced literature, music, and calligraphy. His compositions were performed in the palace when he was on the throne. The lyrics of the songs he repeatedly composed while in Taif envision the longing of the country and the pain of not getting the news that they have left behind. Sixty-three works belonging to him can be identified, but only forty works have notes. His poems, which can be an example to his poetry, are only the lyrics of his songs. He was also a good calligrapher.

Honours

Ottoman honours

• Order of House of Osman, Jeweled
• Order of Glory, Jeweled
• Imtiyaz Medal, Jeweled
• Order of Osmanieh, Jeweled
• Order of the Medjidie, Jeweled

Foreign honours

• Prussia: Order of the Black Eagle of Prussia, 15 October 1917

Family

Consorts

Mehmed VI had five consorts:

• Nazikeda Kadın (9 October 1866 – 4 April 1941). Başkadin and only consort for twenty years, she is considered the last Ottoman Empress. She was born Emine Marşania, she was Abkhazian and before marrying Mehmed she was in the service of Cemile Sultan with her sisters and cousins. Mehmed married her in 1885, after a year of insistence and the threat that he would never marry anyone else and the promise that Nazikeda would be his only consort. He kept his word until, after giving him three daughters, Nazikeda could no longer have children, which forced Mehmed to take other consorts to have male heirs. She was described as tall and beautiful, buxom, with fair skin, light hazel eyes, and long auburn hair.
• Inşirah Hanım (10 July 1887 – 10 June 1930). Born Seniye Voçibe, she was Circassian, the niece of Durriaden Kadin, consort of Mehmed V, older half-brother of Mehmed VI. She was tall, with beautiful blue eyes and very long dark brown hair. She was proposed by Mehmed in 1905. Inşirah refused, but was obliged by her father and her brother. Unhappy but still jealous, she divorced Mehmed in 1909, when she found a servant in his quarters. Having divorced before Mehmed's accession to the throne, she was never an Imperial Consort. Later she fell into depression. She tried to return to her husband in 1922, when he was in exile at Sanremo, Italy, but she was not allowed to see him and he was not notified of her presence. She attempted suicide twice. The first of hers was saved by her niece, but the second she managed by drowning herself in the Nile.
• Müveddet Kadın (12 October 1893 – 20 December 1951). Second Imperial Consort and only consort other than Nazikeda to obtain the title of Kadın. Born Şadiye Çıhcı, she was introduced to the court by Habibe Hanım, treasurer of Mehmed's harem. They were married in 1911. She was tall, with blue eyes and auburn hair and was known as a very sweet, shy, kind-hearted and hardworking woman. She was also loved and respected by her stepdaughters. She bore Mehmed her only son, whose death caused her to fall into depression. After Mehmed's death she remarried, but divorced after four years.
• Nevvare Hanım (4 May 1901 – 13 June 1992). Başikbal. Born Ayşe Çıhçı, she was niece of Müveddet Kadın, who raised her. She married Mehmed in 1918, although Müveddet did everything possible to prevent this. She was tall and beautiful, with green eyes and long black hair, of a kind but proud disposition. She filed for divorce in 1922, when Mehmed was deposed and exiled, and she was granted it in 1924. After that, she remarried.
• Nevzad Hanım (2 March 1902 – 23 June 1992). Second Ikbal and last woman to become consort of an Ottoman sultan. Born Nimet Bargu. She married Mehmed in 1921, previously she had been a Kalfa (servant) in the household of Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin, son of Sultan Mehmed V. She was Mehmed's favorite consort in his later years, so much so that it is said that he never agreed to part with her. After Mehmed's death she changed her name back to Nimet and remarried. By her second marriage she had a son and a daughter. She never agreed to talk about her years as Imperial Consort.

Sons

Mehmed VI had only one son:

• Şehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul (5 November 1912 – 2 July 1944) – with Müveddet Kadın. He never married or had children.

Daughters

Mehmed VI had three daughters:

• Münire Fenire Sultan (1888 – 1888, two weeks later) – with Nazikeda Kadın. Died an infant, she is sometimes regarded as twins rather than a single princess.
• Fatma Ulviye Sultan (11 September 1892 – 1 January 1967) – with Nazikeda Kadın. Married twice, she had one daughter.
• Rukiye Sabiha Sultan (19 March 1894 – 26 August 1971) – with Nazikeda Kadın. She married Şehzade Ömer Faruk and had three daughters.

See also

• Line of succession to the former Ottoman throne
• Vahdettin Pavilion

References

Sources

• Akçam, Taner (2006). A Shameful Act. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-8665-2.
• Bardakçı, Murat (2017). Neslishah: The Last Ottoman Princess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-9-774-16837-6.
• Bardakçı, Murat (1998). Şahbaba: Osmanoğulları'nın Son Hükümdarı Vahdettin'in Hayatı, Hatıraları ve Özel Mektupları. Pan Yayıncılık-İnkılâp Kitabevi. ISBN 9751024536.
• Gingeras, Ryan (2022). The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire. Great Britain: Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-241-44432-0.
• Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2015). Bu Mülkün Sultanları. Alfa Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-6-051-71080-8.
• Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.

Further reading

• Fromkin, David, 1989. A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East ISBN 0-8050-0857-8

External links

Media related to Mehmed VI at Wikimedia Commons

• Sultane Neslishah – La dernière Sultane – Turquie on YouTube