Mehmed VI is known as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, which ended the reign of his dynasty. He sat on the throne as the thirty-sixth ruler. The years of his life are 1861-1926, the years of his reign are 1918-1922. His father was Abdul-Mejid the First, who ceased to be Caliph in 1861. But Mehmed the Sixth came to power only fifty-seven years later, leaving four representatives of his kind ahead: one uncle and three brothers.
Ancestors of the Ottoman dynasty
Mehmed VI Vahideddin, whose biography is discussed in the article, was a descendant of the oldest dynasty in the world. The Ottoman dynasty was founded at the beginning of the fourteenth century. According to some Turkish chronicles and legends, the ancestors of this kind appeared even earlier.
The one who started the conquests that formed the Ottoman Empire is Osman the First Ghazi. He ruled from 1281 to 1324 until he died and wasburied in a tomb in Bursa. This place has become a center of pilgrimage among Muslims. All subsequent sultans of the Ottoman Empire voiced a prayer at the grave of Osman upon accession to the throne. She called for promoting justice and having the same virtues as the first ruler.
The situation in the empire before Mehmed the Sixth came to power
By 1909, the ruling Sultan Abdul Hamid II was overthrown. Thus ceased to exist the absolute monarchy in the empire. Power went to the previously disenfranchised brother of the deposed ruler, Mehmed the Fifth. Under his rule, the situation in the state began to deteriorate more rapidly. Thus, by 1918 the situation in the country was extremely difficult.
Before Mehmed VI became ruler, the empire was in crisis for fifteen years and took part in several wars.
Wars involving the Ottoman Empire:
- Italo-Turkish held from 1911 to 1912.
- The B altic Wars lasted from 1911 to 1913.
- World War I (in alliance with Germany) from 1914 to 1918.
All this seriously weakened the state.
Reign of Mehmed the Sixth
The last Ottoman sultan was Mehmed VI Vahideddin, who took the throne in 1918. By this time, he was fifty-seven years old, and the state was in the final stages of the First World War, which seriously weakened him.
The Turkish army was forced to fight simultaneously onseveral fronts and was exhausted. The Sultan was afraid of the revolution, so he sought to reach a truce with the states of the Entente. The concluded peace in Mudros was extremely disadvantageous for the empire:
- army demobilized;
- warships surrendered to the Entente;
- Istanbul and part of Anatolia were occupied by the troops of Britain, France, Greece;
- control over the straits, communications, the railway was given to England and France.
Residents of Turkey were occupied by foreign troops. In fact, this was the end for the Ottoman Empire.
In December 1918, Mehmed the Sixth dissolved Parliament. His new government became a puppet for the occupation authorities. Since that time, Mustafa Kemal Pasha began his activities, who by 1919 had concentrated his power almost throughout the country.
In March 1920, the ruling sultan agreed to the landing of British troops in Constantinople. The city was declared occupied, and the government was dissolved. But Mustafa Kemal Pasha formed his own government. The troops of the Kemalists could not pacify either the Greek army or the Caliphate.
Abolition of the Sultanate
1922-01-10 The Majlis adopted a law on the division of the Sultanate and the Caliphate. The Sultanate was abolished. This ended the history of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted more than six hundred years.
Mehmed VI formally remained caliph until 1922-16-10, until he asked the British authorities to take him away from Constantinople. He was taken to M alta on the British battleship Malaya, and a day later the Majlis stripped the fugitive of the title of caliph.
From October 1923, Turkey was proclaimed a republic, and Mustafa Kemal Pasha, known to everyone as Ataturk, became its ruler.
After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1923, the former sultan moved to Italy. He died three years later in San Remo. They buried him in Damascus.
Family and children
Mehmed VI had five legal wives in his life. From Emine Nazikeda, he had two daughters: Fatma Ulviye, Rukiye Sabiha. From Shadiya Muveddet, the Sultan had a son, Mehmed Ertugrul. With his fifth wife, Nimed Nevzad, the Sultan had no children.
The ruler divorced Senia Inshirah in 1909, and ended relations with Aisha Leilai Nevvare in 1924.
What happened to the family and closest associates of the runaway caliph?
Dynasty after 1922
In March 1924, a law was passed in Turkey, according to which the property of the representatives of the Ottoman family was confiscated. The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, is not the only one who had to leave the country. Another one hundred and fifty-five members of his family went into exile. Those who had the first right to the throne were given from twenty-four to seventy-two hours to collect. The rest of the relatives were given the condition to leave Turkey within seven to ten days. Wives and distant relatives were given the right to stay in the country. At the station in Istanbul, between March 5 and 15, each of the representatives of the Ottoman dynasty was given a passport and the amount of two thousand British pounds. After that, they were put on a train, and they were deprived of Turkishcitizenship.
The fate of each member of the Ottoman family has developed in its own way. Some died of hunger and poverty, others adapted to the life of ordinary people in the countries that adopted them. There were also those who were able to get along with representatives of the royal families from other states, such as India and Egypt.
The Turkish government allowed the representatives of the female dynasty to return to their homeland in the fifties of the twentieth century. And men were allowed to enter the country only after 1974. By that time, many of the Ottoman family had already died.
The last direct descendant of the Ottomans was Ertogrud Osman, who died in 2009. In 2012, Nazlishah Sultan died, whose grandfather was Mehmed VI Vahideddin (Osman Sultan). She was known for being born before the Ottoman Empire officially fell.
However, the Imperial House of the Ottomans continues to exist. To date, its head is Bayezid Osman Efendi.
