Elaru Kadın

Elaru Kadın (6 August 1835 – 21 February 1936; birth name Mevhibe Tarkanişvili) was the Empress consort of the Ottoman Empire as the first wife and chief imperial consort of Sultan Murad V.

Empress Elaru Kadın was born on 6 August 1835 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Born as Mevhibe Tarkanişvili, she was the daughter of a Georgian noble, Ahmed Bey Tarkanişvili. She was tall, buxom and had beautiful hazel eyes. Elaru had a brother, Halil Bey who was in service in the stable of the palace. Halil Bey's daughter Güliter Hanım was married to her step son, Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin. At a very young age she was given in service to the palace. However soon, the Sultan Murad V took notice of Eleru and they married on 2 January 1857 in the Dolmabahçe Palace.

When she became Baş Kadınefendi or Chief Imperial Lady Consort, everyone thought this most unusual, because Eleru had not given birth to any children whatsoever, and in the imperial practice and convention it was not the custom for a childless wife to hold the rank of Kadınefendi or Imperial Lady Consort. Murad demonstrated another unusual behavior in this matter a well. He simply insisted that this old love of his, with whom he had grown up since they were both young and who had entered the ranks of his wives when he was still a şehzade (Ottoman prince), should become his Baş Kadın or Chief Imperial Lady Consort.

Nonetheless, it was certainly true that Eleru possessed the talents and skills necessary to occupy the post of Senior Consort. First of all she was extremely beautiful. Beneath her incomparably graceful black eyebrows, her flashing kohl-tingled black eyes lent an irresistible enchantment to her clear white face warmed with a touch of gentle pink whenever she spoke. She was highly intelligent and perceptive. Anyone who met her or spoke with her could not help but fall under her bewitching spell. And she had long reconciled herself to her lot; throughout their imprisonment in the Çırağan Palace, she remained completely loyal to her husband. After Murad's death and proclamation of the Constitution, she purchased a home in Şişli and retreated there to live a life of seclusion. She died on 21 February 1936.