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 - 1861-1926, the years of rule - 1918-1922. His father was Abdul-Majid the First, who ceased to be a caliph since 1861. But Mehmed the Sixth came to power only fifty-seven years later, letting forward four representatives of a kind: one uncle and three brothers.
Ancestors of the ottoman dynasty
Mehmed VI Wahideddin, whose biography is considered 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, ancestors of this kind appeared even earlier.
Those who began the conquests that formed the Ottoman Empire are considered the Ottoman First Gazi. He ruled from 1281 to 1324, until he died and was buried in the tomb in Bursa. This place has become a pilgrimage center among Muslims. All subsequent sultans of the Ottoman Empire voiced a prayer at the grave of Ottoman upon accession to the throne. She called for the promotion of justice and 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. So the absolute monarchy in the empire ceased to exist. The power went to the previously disenfranchised brother of the ousted ruler Mehmed the Fifth. Under his reign, 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 for fifteen years was in crisis and took part in several wars.
Ottoman wars:
- Italo-Turkish was held from 1911 to 1912.
- The Baltic 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 Wahideddin, who took the throne in 1918. By this time he was fifty-seven years old, and the state was at the final stage of the First World War, which seriously weakened him.
The Turkish army was forced to fight simultaneously on several fronts and was exhausted. The Sultan was afraid of revolution, so he sought to achieve a truce with the states of the Entente. The peace concluded in Mudros was extremely disadvantageous for the empire:
- the army was demobilized;
- warships surrendered to the Entente;
- Istanbul and part of Anatolia were occupied by the troops of Britain, France, Greece;
- control of the straits, communications, railway received 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 the parliament. His new government became a puppet for the occupation authorities. Since that time, Mustafa Kemal Pasha began his activity, which by 1919 had concentrated his power practically 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. Neither the Greek army nor the Caliphate could pacify the Kemalist troops.
Abolition of the sultanate
10/01/1922 the Mejlis passed a law on the division of the sultanate and the caliphate. The Sultanate was abolished. This concluded the history of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted more than six hundred years.
Mehmed VI formally remained a caliph until 10/16/1922, until he asked the British authorities to take him from Constantinople. He was taken to Malta by the Malaya battleship of Great Britain, and a day later the Majlis deprived the fugitive of the caliph's title.
Since 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. The son of Mehmed Ertugrul was born from the Sultan from Shadia Myuveddet. With the fifth wife, Nimed Nevzad, the Sultan did not have children.
The ruler divorced Senia Inshirah in 1909, and ended relations with Aisha Leilay Nevvar in 1924.
What happened to the family and the closest associates of the escaped caliph?
Dynasty after 1922
In March 1924, a law was passed in Turkey, according to which the property of representatives of the Osman family was confiscated. The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, is not the only one who was supposed to leave the country. Another hundred and fifty-five members of his family went into exile. Those who had the primary right of succession to the throne were given from twenty-four to seventy-two hours. The remaining relatives were given the condition to leave Turkey within seven to ten days. Wives and distant relatives received the right to stay in the country. At a train station in Istanbul between March 5 and 15, each of the representatives of the Osman dynasty was given a passport and an amount of two thousand British pounds. After that, they were put on a train, and they lost their Turkish citizenship.
The fate of each member of the Ottoman clan has developed in its own way. Some died of hunger and poverty, others adapted to the lives of ordinary people in their host countries. There were those who were able to converge with representatives of 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 clan 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 Wahideddin (Sultan Osmanov). She was known for being born before the Ottoman Empire officially fell.
However, the Ottoman Imperial House continues to exist. Today, its head is Bayazid Osman Effendi.