Burial Yahya Efendi cemetery Father Ismail Çikotua Religion Islam | Issue Refia Sultan Mother Aliye Dziapş-lpa Spouse Mehmed V | |
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House House of Çikotua (by birth)
House of Osman (by marriage) Died 9 March 1929, Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey Similar Mehmed V, Kamures Kadın, Abdul Hamid II, Abdulmejid I, Mehmed VI | ||
Nazperver Kadın (12 June 1870 – 9 March 1929; birth name Princess Emine Rukiye Çikotua; meaning "Breeder of grace") was the fourth wife of Sultan Mehmed V, and the mother of Refia Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
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Early life and education
Empress Nazperver Kadın was born on 12 June 1870 in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, to an Abkhazian princely family. Born as Emine Çikotua, she was the daughter of Prince Ismail Çikotua, and his wife Princess Aliye Dziapş-lpa, the daughter of Prince Mahmud Dziapş-lpa, and hence the niece of Empress Dürrünev Kadın, wife of Sultan Abdülaziz. Through her father, she was the relative of Empress Pesend Hanım, wife of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and Princess Mihri Müşfik Hanım, a renowned Turkish female painter.
At the age of four Emine and her sister Behiye Hanım, were taken to Istanbul, where they were delivered at the court of the Ottoman Sultan and were given in the care of Dürrünev Kadın. She was renamed Nazperver and was given a thoroughly Turkish and Muslim education in the harem department of the palace. She was also taught French by her aunt. She was also one of the witnesses of the murder of Sultan Abdülaziz. After Abdülaziz's death she and her aunt, settled in the Feriye Palace.
Marriage to Mehmed
One evening at the dinner in the Feriye Palace, Şehzade Mehmed Reşad took notice of Nazperver, and they married in 1888 in the Veliahd Palace. A year after the marriage, she gave birth to her only daughter, Refia Sultan, but the girl died in infancy. During the second world war, she founded an organization by the name of Istihlak-i Milli.
Upon the death of Empress Dürrüaden Kadın, Nazperver was raised to the rank of third wife. She was plump, as were the other wives, and tall. Although Nazperver did not appear particularly learned, she did have a refined and kindly air about her that made a good impression. It seems that having no children weighed heavily upon her, despite the fact that the Sultan treated her most kindly and graciously, and so she lived out her life in this rather downhearted fashion. She was also visited by Safiye Ünüvar, a teacher at the Palace School. After Mehmed's death in 1918, Nazperver moved to Vaniköy.
Death and burial
Nazperver died on 9 March 1929 at Vaniköy, Üsküdar, and was buried in the royal mausoleum of Yahya Efendi, Istanbul.
Titles and styles
Devletlu İsmetlu Nazperver Dördüncü Kadınefendi Hazretleri (Her Highness The Fourth Imperial Lady Consort Nazperver)
Devletlu İsmetlu Nazperver Üçüncü Kadınefendi Hazretleri (Her Highness The Third Imperial Lady Consort Nazperver)