Esma Sultan (daughter of Abdülaziz)

Esma Sultan (21 March 1873 – 7 May 1899) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Abdülaziz and his wife Empress Neşerek Kadın, herself the daughter of Prince Ismail Zevsh (son of Prince Vordezokue). She was the half sister of Abdülmecid II, the last Caliph of the Muslim world.

Esma Sultan was born on 21 March 1873 at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul to Sultan Abdülaziz's fifth wife Empress Neşerek Kadın (1848–1876) as the second child. She had an older brother, Prince Şehzade Mehmed Şevket (5 June 1872 – 22 October 1899). She was soon followed by another sibling, Emine Sultan (24 August 1874 – 29 January 1920).

Following her father Sultan Abdülaziz's deposition on 30 May 1876 and death a few days later, she was taken into the harem of Sultan Abdülhamid II at the age of three.

She was married on 20 April 1889 at the age of 16 to Damat Çerkes Mehmed Pasha (1856 – 24 May 1909) at Yıldız Palace. Her husband was a general in the Ottoman Army and first aide-de-camp to Abdülhamid II.

Esma Sultan died on 7 May 1899 and was interred in Murad V Mausoleum at Yeni Cami in Eminönü, Constantinople.

Issue

From this marriage came four sons and one daughter:

1. Sultanzade Hasan Bedreddin Bey Efendi (1890 – 29 January 1909)
2. Sultanzade Hüseyin Hayreddin Bey Efendi (1890 – Istanbul 1956)
3. Fatma Sıdıka Hanım Sultan (1894 – 1894)
4. Sultanzade Saadeddin Mehmed Bey Efendi, (14 June 1895 – Beirut 1976)
5. Sultanzade Abdullah Bey Efendi (1899 – 1899)

• The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.7, Edited by Hugh Chisholm, (1911), 3; Constantinople, the capital of the Turkish Empire...
• Britannica, Istanbul:When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.
• http://www.odevsel.com/genel-kultur/1194/brief-history-the-legendary-origin-of-the-dynastic-family-the-osmanlis-g.html