Meyliservet Kadınefendi

Meyliservet Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: میل ثروت قادین‎;21 October 1859 – 9 December 1903) was the fourth wife of Sultan Murad V of the Ottoman Empire.

Of Circassian origin, Meyliservet was born on 21 October 1859 in Batumi. She had an elder sister, who was the wife of the ambassador to Rome. Her sister took her with her to Italy, and provided her with an excellent education. She learned several languages. After remaining in Italy for more than eight years, the two sisters returned to Istanbul where they lived a lonely life. Meyliservet’s sister came to know of Refia Sultan. Her sister took Meyliservet along with her to the Princess. While there Meyliservet liked the palace life so much that she decided that she would not leave. Refia Sultan took Meyliservet into the palace and had her provided with special training.

Although Murad liked blond girls, so his sister Refia selected a blond girl for him. Some months went by, the holidays came around, and Murad who at the time was the heir apparent, called at his sister’s villa in order to pay his respects. Meyliservet waited upon Murad, and caught his eye. After the dinner the orchestra struck up and European music started and people started dancing, Murad summoned Meyliservet and danced with her. After the dance, he told his sister that he likes Meyliservet very much and wants to marry her. Refia Sultan sent Meyliservet forthwith to the apartments of the Heir located at the Dolmabahçe Palace, where she married Murad on 8 June 1874 when Murad was thirty four years old and she was fifteen years old. On 2 August 1875, a year after the marriage, she gave birth to her only child, a daughter, Fehime Sultan.

Murad ascended the throne on 30 May 1876, after the deposition of his uncle Sultan Abdülaziz, Meyliservet was given the title of "Fourth Consort". After reigning for three months, Murad was deposed on 30 August 1876, due to mental instability and was imprisoned in the Çırağan Palace. Meyliservet and her one-year-old daughter also followed Murad into confinement.

Meyliservet Kadın died of a short illness at the Çırağan Palace on 9 December 1903 at the age of forty-four. Before her death she wrote a will to Murad in which she stated “I shall not recover from this illness, I entrust my daughter to you”.

Meyliservet Kadın and Murad had one daughter:

• Fehime Sultan (Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul, 2 August 1875 – Nice, France, 15 September 1929, and buried in Sultan Selim Mosque, Damascus), married two times without issue;

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