- Son
of Abdulmecid. His mother is Tir-i Mujgan, wife of Abdulmecid of Circassian origin. He was
born in Çıragan Palace on 21 September 1842. He was brought up by Pirustu, his
stepmother and the wife of the sultan, after decease of his mother in 1853 when he was 11.
Original photographs reveal that Abdulhamid the 2nd was of medium height and a person with
a aquiline nose, brilliant and big eyes and black straight hair. However it is not
possible to lay impartial considerations about his character because there are several
speculations about him.
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Hamid Ongunsu,
who wrote the biography of Sultan Abdulhamid the 2nd in the Islam Encyclopedia, defines
him as “...smart and skilful in particular in concealing his real character and
thoughts”. Some books define him as introvert, quiet, not cordial in his behaviors and a
person not keeping his word. In spite of these false definitions, everybody agrees on his
being a hardworking, determined, loyal and skeptical person with excessive intelligence
and memory. It is also said that he was kind and respectful, and that he knew how to
please people.
- As to the level
of education of Abdulhamid the second, while authors like Ongunsu state that he did not
have a strong educational background, authors like Cevdet Küçük with a milder approach
to him express that he received a good education. However, historians report that
Abdulhamid the 2nd was taught Turkish by Gerdankıran Ömer Efendi, Persian by Ali Mahvî
Efendi, Ottoman History by V'ak’anüvis Lütfi Efendi, French by Edhem and Cemal Pashas
and a Frenchman called Gardet and Music by two Italians named Guarelli and Lombardi. Since
his elder brother prince Murad the 5th was regarded as the crown prince in his youth days,
he did not attract attention from the people of the palace and therefore he lived a simple
life far from extremities.
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- On one hand his
tendency to Kadirî sect, and on the other his being a good listener of classical western
music show that he has a distinct character. It is recorded that the arranged concerts in
the palace in his spare times for the operas, orchestras, pianists and violinists he took
from the West. Among his hobbies were carpentry, sword using, horse riding and shooting
with guns. However he never hampered his studies and had nights which he studies for 16
hours a day. He made no concession about seriousness and he was unforgiving for errors and
negligence. He separated responsibilities but always took the final decision himself. As
to his family life, it is reported that Abdulhamid had 8 wifes, 5 Favorite Concubines, and
3 favorites. He had 12 daughters and 9 sons totaling to 21 children from his spouses.
Sultan Abdulhamid was dethroned after a 33-year reign in 1919 and was kept under
supervision in first Salonika and then in Istanbul. He died in 1915 when he was 73. He is
buried in the Mahmut the second tomb known with the name of his grandfather Mahmud the
second, in Istanbul Divanyolu.
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- His time of ascending
the throne was in a period of deep crisis of Ottoman State. Mithat Pasha and his friends
thought that the difficult conditions the state was in were a result of the weakness of
the reign of Sultan Murad the 5th and that the solution of the problems laid in a
constitutional monarchy. At last they dethroned Sultan Murad the 5th having obtained a
promise that he would declare a constitution. The actions of Abdulhamid the 2nd with
regard to the constitutional order and Mithat Pasha were discussed by the Turkish
historians. Abdulhamid dismissed and send into an exile Mithat Pasha, who had great
popularity and credit in European Countries on 5 February 1877 by virtue of his
constitutional powers. However, he did not abandon constitutional order and opened the
parliament on 19 March 1877 pursuant to the elections.
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- 115 members of the
“Parliament of Deputies (Meclis-i Mebusan)”, which was the first Turkish parliament
consisting of 141 members, were deputies and 26 were senators. 69 of these deputies were
Muslims, 46 of them were Non-Muslims. The decision of inaugurating a parliament consisting
of so many non-Muslim members show that Abdulhamid the 2nd was initially liberal or at
least did not oppose to a liberal and constitutional monarchial system. Nevertheless,
Abdulhamid the 2nd was blamed for despotism because he disassembled the Parliament.
However, Abdulhamid is sincere in his behavior, but the reason for his disassembling the
parliament is that the parliament and constitutional monarchy caused chaos in the country
during the Turkish-Russian war. Abdulhamid and Young Ottomans thought that declaration of
Constitution and establishment of constitutional monarchy would prevent collapsing of the
Ottoman State, make non-Muslim populaces be loyal to the State and assuage the policies of
Major Countries against Ottoman State.
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