Neşerek Kadın

Neşerek Kadın (Ottoman Turkish: نشرك قادین‎; c. 1848 – 11 June 1876) was the principal consort of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire.

Neşerek Kadınefendi was born in 1848 in the North Caucasus on the coast of Black Sea situated in Sochi, in an Ubykh princely family. Born as Nesrin Zevş-Barakay, she was the daughter of Prince Ismail Bey Zevş-Barakay (1812 - 1876) son of Prince Vordezokue Bey Zevş-Barakay. Nesrin had two brothers, Prince Hasan Bey Zevş-Barakay and Prince Osman Pasha Zevş-Barakay aide to Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Her aunt was the wife of Ateş Mehmed Pasha.

In 1859 a Circassian community gather and a delegation was sent to Istanbul. The representatives in the delegation were: Huşt Hasan Bey from the Shapsugs, Güstanokue İsmail Bey from the Natukhai, Barasbi Hacı Hajbek Bey from the Abzakh and Nesrin's father. The purpose of the delegation was to supply Russian crimes in the Caucasus to the sultan. By the end of this, the four Circassian Beys were gifted large lands in the Ottoman Empire and were requested to stay. Nesrin's father was given a land in Silivri. His family emigrated from the Caucasus to Istanbul.

In 1868 Nesrin married Abdülaziz at the Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul. The marriage was due to her father's efforts to establish political alliance between the Ottoman Empire. She was renamed Neşerek and was given the title of Dördüncü Kadınefendi. However, before marrying Neşerek, Sultan Abdülaziz wanted to marry Princess Tevhide Hanım from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty but the marriage was obstacle by Grand Vizier Mehmed Fuad Pasha, who was a relative of Princess Tevhide Hanım.

In 1872, she along with her Ladies-in-waiting and relatives of Princess Müjdedil Loo living in Yozgat built a mosque in Osmaniye. Between 1872 and 1874 she bore her husband three children, namely, Şehzade Mehmed Şevket Efendi, Esma Sultan and Emine Sultan. On 30 May 1876, Abdülaziz was deposed by his ministers and died days later, on 4 June 1876, either by assassination or suicide. She was removed from the Dolmabahçe Palace by the Prime aide Sami Bey to the Feriye Palace.

Neşerek died seven days after her husband, on 11 June in Feriye Palace, Istanbul. She is buried in the Mausoleum of the imperial ladies at the Yeni Mosque Istanbul.

Four days after the death of Neşerek Kadınefendi, on 15 June 1876, her brother, Prince Hasan Bey Zevş-Barakay, assaulted a meeting in the mansion of Midhat Pasha, where all the chief ministers were present. The Minister of War Huseyin Avni Pasha was shot, and the Foreign Minister Rashid Pasha was killed, as was one of Midhat's servants, named Ahmed Aga. In total, 5 were killed and 10 were wounded, and Hasan was sentenced to death for the crime, in an incident known as the Çerkes Hasan incident.