Ottoman dynasty

The Ottoman dynasty (Turkish: Osmanlı Hanedanı) was made up of the members of the imperial House of Osman (Ottoman Turkish: خاندان آل عثمان‎, romanized: Ḫānedān-ı Āl-i ʿOsmān), also known as the Ottomans (Turkish: Osmanlılar). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe[nb 1] branch of the Oghuz Turks,[2] under Osman I in northwestern Anatolia in the district of Bilecik Söğüt. The Ottoman dynasty, named after Osman I, ruled the Ottoman Empire from c. 1299 to 1922.

This article is about the historical royal family. For the territorial state over which it ruled, see Ottoman Empire. For current members of the House of Osman, see Osmanoğlu family.

House of Osman
Country Ottoman Empire
Foundedc. 1299
FounderOsman I
Current headHarun Osman
Final ruler
TitlesSultan ul-Mujahidin, Sovereign of the House of Osman, Khan of Khans, Grand Sultan of Anatolia and Rumelia, and of the Cities of Adrianople and Philipopolis
TraditionsSunni Islam (various creeds)
Deposition
State organisation of
the Ottoman Empire
Classic period
Constitutional period

During much of the Empire's history, the sultan was the absolute regent, head of state, and head of government, though much of the power often shifted to other officials such as the Grand Vizier. During the First (1876–78) and Second Constitutional Eras (1908–20) of the late Empire, a shift to constitutional monarchy was enacted, with the Grand Vizier taking on a prime ministerial role as head of government and heading an elected General Assembly.

Rukiye Sabiha Sultan’s wedding day in 1920, left to right: Fatma Ulviye Sultan, Ayşe Hatice Hayriye Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Emine Nazikeda Kadınefendi, Rukiye Sabiha Sultan, Mehmed Ertuğrul Efendi, Şehsuvar Hanımefendi.

The imperial family was deposed from power and the sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922 during the Turkish War of Independence. The Republic of Turkey was declared the following year. The living members of the dynasty were initially sent into exile as persona non-grata, though some have been allowed to return and live as private citizens in Turkey. In its current form, the family is known as the Osmanoğlu family.

Ottoman Ceremonial Barbering Cape (detail), early 18th century, Turkey. LACMA textile collection.

History

The Ottoman dynasty operated under several basic premises: that the Sultan governed the empire's entire territory, that every male member of the dynastic family was hypothetically eligible to become Sultan, and that only one person at a time could be the Sultan.[3] Such rules were fairly standard for monarchic empires of the time. The certain processes through which men rose to the Sultanate, however, were very specific to the Ottoman Empire. To go into greater detail about these processes, the history of succession between Sultans can be divided into two eras: the period between the reign of Orhan (1323–1362), the first person to inherit the Ottoman sultanate, and the reign of Ahmed I (1603–1617); and the period following Ahmed I's reign.

The succession process during the first period was dominated by violence and intra-familial conflict, in which the various sons of the deceased Sultan fought until only one remained alive and, thus, inherited the throne. This tradition was known as fratricide in the Ottoman Empire, but may have evolved from tanistry, a similar succession procedure that existed in many Turco-Mongolian dynasties predating the Ottomans.[4] Sons of the Sultan were often given provincial territories to govern until the Sultan's death, at which point they would each vie for the throne.[5] Each son had to, according to historian H. Erdem Cipa, "demonstrate that his fortune was superior to the fortunes of his rivals", a demonstration that often took the form of military accomplishment and ruthlessness.[6] This violence was not considered particularly unexpected or unusual. As Cipa has noted, the Ottoman words for "successor" and "conflict" share the same Arabic root,[7] and indeed, all but one of the successions in this roughly 200-year period involved a resolution by combat.[8] Over time, the combat became increasingly prevalent and recognized, especially after a Jannissary uprising negated Murad II's attempt to abdicate the throne peacefully to his son, Mehmed II, in 1444. During the eventual reign of Mehmed II (1451–1481), fratricide was legalized as an official practice; during the reign of Bayezid II (1481–1512), fratricide between Bayezid II's sons occurred before Bayezid II himself died;[9] and after the reign of Murad III (1574–1595), his successor Mehmed III executed 19 relatives in order to claim the throne.[10]

During the second period, the tradition of fratricide was replaced by a simpler and less violent procedure. Starting with the succession from Ahmed I to Mustafa I in 1617, the Ottoman throne was inherited by the eldest male blood relative – not necessarily son – of the Sultan, regardless of how many eligible family members were alive.[11] The change in succession procedure was likely instigated by numerous factors, including fratricide’s decline in popularity among Ottoman elites[12] and Ahmed I’s decision not to kill Mustafa when inheriting the throne from Mehmed III in 1603. With the door opened for a change in policy, a political debate arose between those who supported unrestricted Sultanic privilege and those who supported a stronger, centralized law system that would supersede even the Sultan’s power to an extent. Historian Baki Tezcan has argued that the latter faction – with the help of the influential şeyhülislam Hocasadeddinzade Esad Efendi – was able to prevail in this instance.[11] The bloodless succession from Ahmed I to Mustafa I in 1617 "provided a reference for the eventual stabilization of the rule of Ottoman succession, the very regulation of which by an outside force was in effect a constitutional check on the dynastic prerogative," Tezcan has written.[13] The precedent set in 1617 stuck, as the eldest living family member successfully inherited the throne in each of the following 21 successions, with relatively few instances of a son inheriting the throne.[14]

Succession practices
See also: List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire

From the fourteenth through the late sixteenth centuries, the Ottomans practiced open succession – something historian Donald Quataert has described as "survival of the fittest, not eldest, son." During their father's lifetime, all adult sons of the reigning sultan obtained provincial governorships. Accompanied and mentored by their mothers, they would gather supporters while ostensibly following a Ghazi ethos. Upon the death of the reigning sultan, his sons would fight amongst themselves until one emerged triumphant. A Prince's proximity to Constantinople improved his chances of succession, simply because he would hear of his father's death and declare himself Sultan first. A Sultan could thus hint at his preferred successor by giving a favourite son a closer governorship. Bayezid II, for instance, had to fight his brother Cem Sultan in the 1480s for the right to rule.

Occasionally, the half-brothers would begin the struggle even before the death of their father. Under Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566), strife between his sons Mustafa and Selim caused such internal turmoil that Suleiman ordered the deaths of both Mustafa and another son, Bayezid, leaving Selim the sole heir.

During the reigns of Suleiman and Selim II, the Haseki Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: خاصکى سلطان) or chief consort rose to greater prominence. Gaining power within the Imperial Harem, the favourite was able to manoeuvre to ensure the succession for one of her sons. This led to a short period of effective primogeniture. However, unlike the earlier period, when the sultan had already defeated his brothers and potential rivals for the throne in battle, these sultans had the problem of many half-brothers who could act as the focus for rival factions. Thus, to prevent attempts at seizing the throne, reigning sultans practiced fratricide upon accession, starting with Murat I in 1362.[15] Both Murad III and his son Mehmed III had their half-brothers murdered. The killing of all the new sultan's brothers and half-brothers (which were usually quite numerous) was traditionally done by manual strangling with a silk cord. As the centuries passed, the ritual killing was gradually replaced by lifetime solitary confinement in the "Golden Cage" or kafes, a room in the harem from where the sultan's brothers could never escape, unless perchance they became heir presumptive. Some had already become mentally unstable by the time they were asked to reign.

Mehmed III was the last sultan to have previously held a provincial governorship. Sons now remained within the harem until the death of their father. This not only denied them the ability to form powerful factions capable of usurping their father, but also denied them the opportunity to have children while their father remained alive. Thus, when Mehmet's son came to the throne as Ahmed I, he had no children of his own. Moreover, as a minor, there was no evidence he could have children. This had the potential to create a crisis of succession and led to a gradual end to fratricide. Ahmed had some of his brothers killed, but not Mustafa (later Mustafa I). Similarly, Osman II allowed his half-brothers Murad IV and Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire to live. This led to a shift in the 17th century from a system of primogeniture to one based on agnatic seniority, in which the eldest male within the dynasty succeeded, also to guarantee adult sultans and prevent both fratricides as well as the sultanate of women. Thus, Mustafa succeeded his brother Ahmed; Suleiman II and Ahmed II succeeded their brother Mehmed IV before being succeeded in turn by Mehmed's son Mustafa II. Agnatic seniority explains why from the 17th century onwards a deceased sultan was rarely succeeded by his own son, but usually by an uncle or brother. It also meant that potential rulers had to wait a long time in the kafes before ascending the throne, hence the old age of certain sultans upon their enthronement.[16] Although attempts were made in the 19th century to replace agnatic seniority with primogeniture, they were unsuccessful, and seniority was retained until the abolition of the sultanate in 1922.[17]

Chronology of Sultans

The Ottoman Dynasty had unusual succession practices compared to other monarchies.[18] Those succession practices changed over time, and ultimately the sultanate was abolished in 1922. Later, the House of Osman (Turkish: Osmanoğlu Ailesi) continued the latest succession practice for the head of the family.

List of heirs since 1922

The Ottoman dynasty was expelled from Turkey in 1924 and most members took on the surname Osmanoğlu, meaning "son of Osman."[19] The female members of the dynasty were allowed to return after 1951,[19] and the male members after 1973.[20] Below is a list of people who would have been heirs to the Ottoman throne following the abolition of the sultanate on 1 November 1922.[20] These people have not necessarily made any claim to the throne; for example, Ertuğrul Osman said "Democracy works well in Turkey."[21]

  • Mehmed VI, last Ottoman Sultan (1918–1922) then 36th Head of the House of Osman in exile (1922–1926).[20]
  • Abdulmejid II, cousin of Mehmed VI. Last Ottoman Caliph (1922–1924) then 37th Head of the House of Osman following Mehmed VI Vahideddin's death (1926–1944).[20]
  • Ahmed Nihad, 38th Head of the House of Osman (1944–1954), grandson of Sultan Murad V.[20]
  • Osman Fuad, 39th Head of the House of Osman (1954–1973), half-brother of Ahmed IV Nihad.[20]
  • Mehmed Abdulaziz, 40th Head of the House of Osman (1973–1977), grandson of Sultan Abdülaziz I.[20]
  • Ali Vâsib, 41st Head of the House of Osman (1977–1983), son of Ahmed IV Nihad.[20]
  • Mehmed Orhan, 42nd Head of the House of Osman (1983–1994), grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.[22]
  • Ertuğrul Osman, 43rd Head of the House of Osman (1994–2009), grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.[21]
  • Bayezid Osman, 44th Head of the House of Osman (2009–2017), great-grandson of Sultan Abdulmejid I.[23]
  • Dündar Ali Osman, 45th Head of the House of Osman (2017–2021), great-grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
  • Harun Osman, 46th Head of the House of Osman (2021–present), great-grandson of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

Family tree, showing relationships among the heads of the Ottoman dynasty
  • Mahmud II (1785–1839; 30th Sultan and 23rd Ottoman Caliph: 1808–1839)
    • Abdulmejid I (1823–1861; 31st Sultan and 24th Ottoman Caliph: 1839–1861)
    • Abdülaziz (1830–1876; 32nd Sultan and 25th Ottoman Caliph: 1861–1876)
      • Abdulmejid II (1868–1944; 30th and last Ottoman Caliph: 1922–1924; 37th Head of the House of Osman: 1926–1944)[20]
      • Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin Efendi (1874–1927)[24]

Line of succession in November 1922
  • Mahmud II (1785–1839; 30th Sultan and 23rd Ottoman Caliph: 1808–1839)
    • Abdulmejid I (1823–1861; 31st Sultan and 24th Ottoman Caliph: 1839–1861)
      • Murad V (1840–1904; 33rd Sultan and 26th Ottoman Caliph: 1876)
      • Abdul Hamid II (1842–1918; 34th Sultan and 27th Ottoman Caliph: 1876–1909)
        • (2) Şehzade Mehmed Selim Efendi (born 11 January 1870)
          • (23) Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkarim Efendi (born 27 June 1906))[24]
        • (6) Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir Efendi (born 16 January 1878)
          • (25) Şehzade Mehmed Orhan Efendi (born 11 July 1909)[22]
          • (32) Şehzade Necib Ertuğrul Efendi (born 1914 (or 27 March 1915))[24]
          • (34) Şehzade Alaeddin Kadir Efendi (born 2 January 1917)
        • (7) Şehzade Mehmed Ahmed Nuri Efendi (born 12 February 1878)
        • (9) Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin Efendi (born 19 December 1885)[24]
          • (27) Şehzade Mehmed Fakhreddin Efendi (born 14 November 1911)
          • (28) Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi (born 18 August 1912)[21]
        • (12) Şehzade Abdur Rahim Hayri Efendi (born 15 August 1894)
        • (16) Şehzade Ahmed Nureddin Efendi (born 22 June 1901)
        • (22) Şehzade Mehmed Abid Efendi (born 17 September 1905)
      • Mehmed V Reşâd (1844–1918; 35th Sultan and 28th Ottoman Caliph: 1909–1918)
        • (3) Şehzade Mehmed Ziayeddin Efendi (born 26 August 1873)
          • (26) Şehzade Mehmed Nazim Efendi (born 26 October 1910)
          • (30) Şehzade Ömer Fawzi Efendi (born 13 November 1912)
        • (10) Şehzade Ömer Hilmi Efendi (born 2 March 1888)
          • (31) Şehzade Mahmud Namik Efendi (born 1913 (or 25 February 1914))[24]
      • Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin Efendi (1849–1876)[24]
        • (5) Şehzade Ibrahim Tewfik Efendi (born 25 September 1874)
          • (36) Şehzade Burhaneddin Cem Efendi Efendi (born 1920)[24]
      • Şehzade Selim Süleyman Efendi (1860–1909)
        • (13) Şehzade Mehmed Abdul-Halim Efendi (born 28 September 1894)
        • (20) Şehzade Damad Mehmed Cerifeddin Efendi (born 19 May 1904)
      • Mehmed VI Vahideddin (born 2 February 1861)[20]
        • (29) Şehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul Efendi (born 10 September 1912)
    • Abdülaziz I (1830–1876; 32nd Sultan and 25th Ottoman Caliph: 1861–1876)
      • Şehzade Yusef Izzeddin Efendi (1857–1916)
        • (24) Şehzade Mehmed Nizameddin Efendi (born 18 December 1908)
      • (1) Devletlû Najabatlu Veli Ahd-i Saltanat Şehzade-i Javanbahd Abdulmejid II (born 29 May 1868)
        • (15) Şehzade Ömer Faruk Efendi (born 29 February 1898)
      • Şehzade Mehmed Şevket Efendi (1872–1899)[24]
        • (11) Şehzade Mehmed Celaleddin Efendi (born 1890 (or 1 March 1891))[24]
          • (33) Şehzade Mahmud Hushameddin Efendi (born 25 August 1916)
          • (35) Şehzade Süleyman Sadeddin Efendi (born 20 November 1917)[24]
      • (4) Şehzade Mehmed Seyfeddin Efendi (born 22 September 1874)
        • (17) Şehzade Mehmed Abdulaziz Efendi (born 26 September 1901)[20]
        • (18) Şehzade Mahmud Shavkat Efendi (born 30 July 1903)
        • (21) Şehzade Ahmed Davut Efendi (born 2 December 1904)[24]

See also

Notes
  1. A claim which has come under criticism from many historians, who argue either that the Kayı genealogy was fabricated in the fifteenth century, or that there is otherwise insufficient evidence to believe in it.[1]

References
  1. Kafadar, Cemal (1995). Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-520-20600-7. That they hailed from the Kayı branch of the Oğuz confederacy seems to be a creative "rediscovery" in the genealogical concoction of the fifteenth century. It is missing not only in Ahmedi but also, and more importantly, in the Yahşi Fakih-Aşıkpaşazade narrative, which gives its own version of an elaborate genealogical family tree going back to Noah. If there was a particularly significant claim to Kayı lineage, it is hard to imagine that Yahşi Fakih would not have heard of it
    • Lowry, Heath (2003). The Nature of the Early Ottoman State. SUNY Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-7914-5636-6. Based on these charters, all of which were drawn up between 1324 and 1360 (almost one hundred fifty years prior to the emergence of the Ottoman dynastic myth identifying them as members of the Kayı branch of the Oguz federation of Turkish tribes), we may posit that...
    • Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 13. The problem of Ottoman origins has preoccupied students of history, but because of both the absence of contemporary source materials and conflicting accounts written subsequent to the events there seems to be no basis for a definitive statement.
  2. Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 13.
  3. Çıpa, H. Erdem. The Making of Selim: Succession, Legitimacy, and Memory in the Early Modern Ottoman World. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2017. Page 29.
  4. Fletcher, Joseph. Turco-Mongolian Monarchic Tradition in the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Ukrainian Research Institute, 1979. Pages 236–251.
  5. Tezcan, Baki. The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Page 46.
  6. Çıpa. The Making of Selim. Page 31.
  7. Çıpa. The Making of Selim. Page 29.
  8. Peirce, Leslie P. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Studies in Middle Eastern History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Page 21.
  9. Tezcan. The Second Ottoman Empire. Page 46.
  10. Çıpa. The Making of Selim. Page 30.
  11. Tezcan. The Second Ottoman Empire. Page 47.
  12. Peirce. The Imperial Harem. Page 102.
  13. Tezcan. The Second Ottoman Empire. Page 77.
  14. Peirce. The Imperial Harem. Page 22.
  15. Quataert 2005, p. 91
  16. Quataert, p. 92
  17. Karateke 2005, p. 37–54
  18. Quataert 2005, p. 90
  19. Brookes, Douglas (2008). The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. pp. 278, 285. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
  20. Opfell, Olga (2001). Royalty who wait: the 21 heads of formerly regnant houses of Europe. McFarland. pp. 146, 151. ISBN 978-0-7864-5057-2.
  21. Bernstein, Fred. “Ertugrul Osman, Link to Ottoman Dynasty, Dies at 97”, The New York Times (24 September 2009).
  22. Pope, Hugh. "Oldest Ottoman to come home at last", The Independent (22 July 1992).
  23. "'Osmanoğulları'na insanlık şehadet edecek' Archived 14 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine", Zaman (27 September 2009).
  24. "Osmanoğulları: Sürüldüler Ama Bitmediler (Hayattaki Osmanoğullarının soy agaci)". tarihvemedeniyet.org (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  25. "Hayatta Olan Şehzadeler". Foundation of the Ottoman Dynasty. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  26. "Osmanlı Hanedanı vakıf çatısı altında toplanıyor". Sabah. 13 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  27. İbrahim Pazan (15 September 2009). "Osmanoğullarının yeni reisi Osman Bayezid Efendi Hazretleri". Netgazete. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  28. Almanach de Gotha (184th ed.). Almanach de Gotha. 2000. pp. 365, 912–915.
  29. Burke's Royal Families of the World (2 ed.). Burke's Peerage. 1980. p. 247.
  30. "Current Living Şehzades". Official Ottoman Family Website. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

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House of Osman
New Dynasty
 Ruling house of the Ottoman Empire
c. 1299 – 19 November 1922		 Vacant
Preceded by
‘Abbāsid dynasty		 Caliphate dynasty
1517–3 March 1924
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