Servetsezâ Kadın Efendi

Servetseza Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: ثروت سزا قادين‎, meaning "Worthy of riches" in Persian; 1 September 1823 – 25 September 1878) was the first wife and chief consort of Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire.

Servetseza Kadın was born on 1 September 1823 in Maykop, Yegeruqwai Princedom of Circassia. She was a member of the Circassian princely family of House of Temyryko (Kabardian: Темырыкъо) of princedom of Kabardia of Circassia. Her father was Prince Temyryko Mansur and her mother belonged to the Principality of Dadeshkeliani. She had two elder siblings, a brother Prince Andok Bey (1818 – 1886) and a sister, Princess Fatma Şemsfer Hanım (1821 – 1855), and a younger brother Prince Süleyman Bey (16 March 1825 – 1896).

When Abdulmejid ascended the throne, after the death of his father on 2 July 1839, Esma Sultan, daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid I, in whose household Servetseza had served, selected her as a consort for her nephew, the new Sultan. The marriage took place in 1839, and Servetseza became his principal consort with the title of "Senior Consort" directly after the wedding, a position at which she remained throughout his entire reign. The marriage strengthened the relations between the two dynasties. After the wedding, Abdulmejid made her sister, Şemsfer Hanım, treasurer in the imperial harem.

Leyla Achba, writes in her memoirs that she was an intelligent and a well cultured lady. Charles White, who visited Istanbul in 1843, said following about her:

The Buyuk Kadinn...is described by those ladies who knew her previously to her removal to the palace as an interesting and accomplished woman, but not extraordinary for extra charms.

Servetseza remained childless. After Gülcemal Kadın's death in 1851, her children, Fatma Sultan, Refia Sultan and Şehzade Mehmed Reşad (future Mehmed V) were entrusted in her care. She had asked Abdulmejid to take the motherless children under her wing, and raise as her own, and carried out the duties of a mother who cares for her children with compassion and concern.

When Bezmiâlem Sultan died in 1853, Servetseza was placed incharge of Abdulmejid's harem. Upon this occasion, Şevkefza Kadın took courage of Servetseza Kadın's affection for heir Şehzade Mehmed Murad (future Sultan Murad V) and Abdulmejid's wish to see his son as the next Sultan, and rose in opposition to Pertevniyal Sultan and her son Şehzade Abdulaziz (the future Sultan Abdulaziz).. Servetseza was very kind yet strict. She took all the children of her fellow consort Gülcemal Kadın and raised them like her own.

After Abdulmejid's death on 25 June 1861, and the accession of his younger brother, Sultan Abdulaziz, Servetseza settled in the Kabataş Palace. In 1872, she commissioned a fountain in the courtyard of Özbekler Tekke in Üsküdar. She was apparently very fond of Murad, and after his deposition in 1876, she indiscreetly told many people that Abdul Hamid II had usurped the throne from him.

Servetseza died on 25 September 1878, and was buried near the mausoleum of her husband at the Yavuz Selim Mosque, Istanbul. It is believed by some that she was murdered. One night in Ramadan she is said to have gone to Abdul Hamid and warned him. She ordered him to give the throne back to it to its rightful owner. After pretending to heed her warning, he arranged that she be served with a poisoned drink. She died upon her return to her palace.

Servetseza had been greatly benefited from her husband, Abdulmejid, and so the processions she bequeathed amounted to a great sum in value, especially her jewels. For this reason, Abdul Hamid didn't surrendered them to Reşad, and had her jewels brought to the Yıldız Palace for safekeeping along with two large trunks of her things. However, after Abdul Hamid was deposed in 1909, all the jewels and trunks were returned to the newly enthroned Sultan Mehmed Reşad.

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