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Two Ottoman Women from the History of My Family: Nevrestan Osmanoğlu and Mrs. Nezihe

 Nevrestan Osmanoğlu and her sister Mrs. Nezihe

This article is an attempt to note the lives of two Ottoman women from my family history. Compiling the knowledge and information that has been passed onto me through the family history and that I have gained through my personal research about my paternal grandmother Mrs. Nezihe (Doğrusöz) and her sister Nevrestan Osmanoğlu, I aim to shed light on the late Ottoman history and the years of exile for the Ottoman dynasty following the declaration of the Republic.

Circassian Girls in the Palace

 

It is known that Circassian girls were often taken to the harem, particularly since the 19th century. Historians explain this with the Circassian girls’ adaptability to court life and loyalty to the Ottoman house. Nevrestan Osmanoğlu, my father’s aunt, said in an interview that Circassian girls were taken to the palace between the ages of four and ten. The girls were hand-picked by the Sultan, and given “appropriate” and easy-to-remember names before they were received to the harem. My father’s aunt was originally called Sıdıka, as we know from the genealogy records. When admitted to the palace, she was re-named as Nevrestan.

An Abkhazian Dynasty: The Atzambas

My grandmother and her sister belonged to a royal Abkhazian family who escaped Russian persecution after the war in 1864 to seek refuge in the Ottoman land. Russia, seeking domination over the fertile lands of the Caucasian people, killed hundreds of thousands of Circassians in the war to subjugate the Caucasian people and capture their lands. Russia defeated the Caucasian independence warriors on May 21, 1864, to invade the Caucasus completely. Banished from their homeland, Caucasian people were exiled to the Ottoman land in rickety boats from the ports of Tuapse, Sochi, and Sukhumi. A Russian soldier describes what happened:

“We burned down the Circassian villages, slaughtered their livestock, rode out horses over their crops, killed their children ruthlessly… and the Tsar awarded us with medal of honor for these massacres; what honor? What honorable person would do that? I pray the God for forgiveness every day. They defended their homeland, and they were brave. We were no more than inhuman freaks. When we stood side by side with the captive Circassians, we looked like the ones who were captured. They stood solid and dignified.”(Ayça Yolkolu Öksüz, Hüzün Aş Olunca [When You Cook with Sorrow], İstanbul: Yediveren Yayınları, 2016, pp:24-25)

The war and exile of 1864 certainly left deep marks of trauma on the peoples of Caucasus. Departing from Caucasus, hundreds of thousands of children, young people, men and women, sailed through the fierce waters of Black Sea towards the Ottoman shores in unsafe boats with barely anything to put in their mouths. Those who managed to set foot in the Ottoman land were mourning their children, spouses, and parents whom they had to abandon to the dark waters of the Black Sea as they headed towards a journey of survival on a foreign land where they did not know the language or the culture. I have been surprised to find out that this mourning process still continues. The Caucasian people still gather in Kefken on the shore of the Black Sea to commemorate their ancestors around big fires on the 21st of May, the day when their ancestors had arrived on this land coming from the far-away land of the Cafcuh.

A view from the commemorations in Kefken

Although I knew that my grandmother and her sister were Circassian, I did not know that all Caucasian people were called “Circassian” by the Ottomans, and that the elders of my family were originally Abkhazian, coming from a royal Abkhazian family, namely Atzambas. I came across all these facts while looking up the traces of my family in various resources. For example, Mr. Aziz, one of my grandmother’s brothers, had assumed the surname of Atzamba when he was exiled abroad together with Nevrestan Osmanoğlu and settled in France.

Abkhazia, Lake Ritsa

In my journey to Abkhazia in 2014 following its recent declaration of independence, I sought traces of this royal family. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone from the Atzamba family, who were among the first to be massacred in Sochi.

Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess

Princess Leyla Açba

I found out that there was a caste system in Abkhazia since the middle ages, along with a strong aristocracy, and they “gave away daughters” in the Ottoman Imperial harem on many occasions. For further reading on this subject, please refer to the Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess by Ms. Leyla Açba.

Image used for the interview with Nevrestan Osmanoğlu in RichtigReisen İstanbul

My father’s aunt Nevrestan Osmanoğlu mentioned in her interview for the book titled“Richtig Reisen” İstanbul that Atzamba family had previously given “brides” to the Ottoman palace, too.

In my genealogy researches, I found out that my grandmother and her family had settled in the Harmanlı village of Karapürçek town of Sakarya. When I visited this village in 2015, I was quite surprised to see that there was still an Abkhazian population who spoke Abkhazian fluently and maintained the Abkhazian traditions. The Abkhazian culture is very dedicated to the tradition and recognizes you with the “family line”. Another astonishing aspect of the village was that the natural environment was incredibly similar to that of Abkhazia. Under the grand trees of the village of Harmanlı, you suddenly feel as if you are in Abkhazia.

According to the birth register, my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe was born in 1890 in Circassia. The people who migrated from the Caucasian region to the Ottoman land were called “Circassians”, and their “homeland” was called Circassia. My grandmother’s younger sister Mrs. Nevrestan was born in 1893 in Adapazarı, according to the register.

My father’s mother Mrs. Nezihe and aunt Nevrestan Osmanoğlu had a mother named Fatma, according to the register. However, we know that this lady was called Şazende in the palace, and was the head kalfa in the harem of Murat V. She raised her two daughters –Mrs. Nezihe and Mrs. Nevrestan– in the imperial harem.

Mrs. Şazende married twice. Mr. Tahir was my grandmother’s stepfather and Mrs. Nevrestan’s biological father, and was an officer in the Ottoman army.

When I had the long-standing royal decrees on our walls translated in 2015, I found out that one of them was a commendation issued by Abdul Hamid for Tahir, the son of Aslan, for his heroic deeds in the war against the Greek army in 1898. It does not surprise me at all because we know from the history books that Caucasian men migrating from Caucasia to the Ottoman were sent to the front line to fight for the Ottoman cause. 

Understanding the Harem

Murat V’s daughter Fehime Sultan (1875-1928) in the harem

There is limited first-hand information regarding the harem, i.e. Sultan’s home, which means “inviolable” in Arabic. We know that Abdul Hamid II had a large album of 35,000 photographs taken in every corner of the Yıldız Palace, but did not allow any photographs to be taken in the harem.

A detail from the Sultan’s Chalet at Yildiz Palace

Yildiz Palace Theatre where Abdulhamit II – Murat V’s brother who imprisoned him to a life

long sentence in Ceragan Palace – watched plays as the sole spectator

Gate of the Harem – Yildiz Palace

The Sultan’s wives, sons, mother, and concubines lived in the privacy of the harem. We do not have any first-hand information about the harem, except for the few memoirs by the wives of foreign delegates, and court ladies who wrote down their memories that were printed posthumously. My mother Güner Doğrusöz, who was very close with my grandmother, told that my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe, who had spent her childhood and youth in the harem and married to a prince, would never talk about the harem. Contrary to the extreme transparency of private life today, the court ladies enormously respected the privacy of the life in harem, and believed in the notion of privacy. I can also ascribe the same sensitivity to the generation of my mother who was born in 1930.

We know from the history books that the harem was called the “imperial harem”. Harem was a school for the princes and the girls raised to be the sultan’s wife. Although the literacy rate was very low in general public, especially among women, the girls in the harem could learn to read and write. The concubines raised in the harem were as literate as the princes. In addition to formal education, concubines were taught in crafts like needlework, and trained in a branch of art that they were talented. Concubines learned to play the piano or the violin, and were trained to join the court chorus if they could sing.

My father’s aunt Nevrestan Osmanoğlu’s interview gives clues regarding the training and discipline in the harem. Mrs. Nevrestan says, “The concubines were subjected to a very fine but strict training in the harem because they needed to perform well later in the company of the sultan and the princes.” (Klaud and Lissi Barisch, “Richtig Reisen” Istanbul, Köln: DuMont, 1976, p. 70)

Mrs. Nevrestan, following her basic education, received training on ladyship and court ceremony. Having taken courses on French, singing, oud and violin, Mrs. Nevrestan soon joined the harem chorus of 60 women.

Growing up in the Harem of Murat V – Çırağan Palace

Çerağan Palace

One of the few photographs of Çerağan Palace  Interior taken before the fire

In Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess, it is written that my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe and her sister Nevrestan Osmanoğlu grew up with their mother Mrs. Şazende in the harem of Murat V. This piece of information does not surprise me because I know that my grandmother lived in the Çırağan Palace from the family history recounted for years by my father Mustafa Feridun Doğrusöz.

Çırağan Palace was called Çereğan Palace in the Ottoman period. Unfortunately, like many things that have been degenerated and lost their originality over the years, the name of Çerağan has been transformed into Çırağan in colloquial language.

Çelik Gülersoy mentions in his book Çerağan Palaces that the palace was named after the Çerağan festivities held during the Tulip Age. Çerağan means “light” in Persian. Torches were used to illuminate the festivities in the area during the Tulip Age. The palace’s name was inspired by the “light” of these festivities.

Çerağan Festivities

The building where my grandmother and her sister grew up, and that has now become Çırağan Kempinski Hotel was built by Abdülaziz, a progressive sultan who also had the reputable high schools of Galatasaray and Darüşşafaka built, was interested in painting and Western music, took music lessons from Donizetti Pasha, and composed waltzes.

Sarkis Balyan was assigned with the task of the construction of the palace, which lasted for 12 years, and was completed in 1872. The palace has a neo-classical exterior, and classical Ottoman features in the main building. The palace yards are interconnected in the old Ottoman ways with novel materials. Sedat Eldem, professor of architecture, points out to the Maghrebian inspiration in the arch rings and pillar heads of the palace where precious stones such as white, red and green marble was used. You may refer to the Alhambra Palace in Andalusia to view the Maghrebian architecture.

Alhambra Palace details

Today we only consider the main building as the Çırağan Palace. However, it was an expansive living complex “covering a shoreline of 1,300 meters, comprising nearly ten detached buildings including Feriye Palaces, kitchens, bridges, and outbuildings” (Çelik Gülersoy, Çerağan Sarayları (Çerağan Palaces), İstanbul: İstanbul Kitaplığı, 1992, p. 68)

The harem building of the palace is used as Beşiktaş Anatolian High School today.

Çerağan Palace Harem Quarters – currently Beşiktaş Anatolian High School

Because Çerağan Palace was burnt down in 1910, there is nothing left from the authentic structure of the main building except for the hamam.

The only authentic interior surviving from Ceragan Palace; the hamam

Rescued from the destroyed Çerağan Palace and installed in the dining hall of Yıldız Palace, the doors inlaid with pieces of mother-of-pearl may give us clues about the texture and aesthetics of the Palace.

       Mother-of-Pearl Hall – Yıldız Palace

We know from the family history that my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe received violin and piano lessons in the harem, and had a beautiful voice. Leyla Açba describes my grand mother in Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess:

“Mrs. Nezihe was the second wife of the Prince Nihat. Even though I heard of her many times –as she had a beautiful voice and sang beautifully– I could never actually meet her…her face was as beautiful as her voice.” (LeylaAçba, Bir Çerkes Prensesinin Harem Hatıraları (Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess), İstanbul: TimaşYayınları, May 2010, p. 250)

In Memoirs of a Prince, Mr. Ali Vasib mentions taking the piano lessons together with Mrs. Nezihe:

“I had just begun to receive piano lessons from a teacher named Ms Kevser. Mrs. Nezihe, the father’s wife, would join in the lessons with me.” (Ali Vasib, Bir Şehzadenin Hatıratı (Memoirs of a Prince), ed. Osman Selahaddin Osmanoğlu, İstanbul: YKY Yayınları, 2004, p. 63)

Mrs. Nezihe’s violin teacher at the harem

I remember being surprised at seeing in our family photo album the violin teacher’s photograph signed for my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe.

Written on the back of the photograph of Mrs. Nezihe’s violin teacher is

“To respectable and appreciative Mrs.Nezihe, a verse remains as my souvenir”.

Prince Ahmet Nihat

 

A portrait of Murat V in his youth

Growing up in the harem of Murat V, my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe marries the Prince Ahmet Nihat, the grandson of Murat V.

Murat V reigned for the shortest period of time among the Ottoman sultans. After three months of ruling, he was dethroned for alleged mental illness to be replaced by his brother Abdul Hamid II who imprisoned him in the harem of Çırağan Palace. Murat V was quite fond of classical music, and composed highly lyrical songs, some of which are recorded in the album titled European Music at the Ottoman Court directed by Emre Aracı.

Fikirtepe, the long-standing slum area and currently undergoing urban transformation, was the field of the hunting lodge of Murat V.

Mansion of Murat V

Unfortunately, the only remnants of this mansion are parts of the hamam and the door that is transformed into a water fountain.

Surviving parts of the hamam of the mansion of Murat V

After being dethroned, Murat V lived a life of imprisonment for 28 years in the harem of Çerağan Palace. Having spent his days composing songs in the harem quarters of Çerağan Palace, Murat V passed away in 1904.

The Ballet of Murat V, recounting the life of Murat V featuring his own compositions, was put on the stage by Antalya Directorate of Opera and Ballet in 2012.

Murat V’s grandson Prince Ahmet Nihat was an Ottoman intellectual who was highly interested in architecture, and accomplished in literature, music, and painting. Tevfik Fikret was one of his close friends.

Prince Ahmet Nihat

A composition by Prince Ahmet Nihat,

dedicated to his grandfather Murat V –September 10, 1902

The view from the mansion of the Prince Ahmet Nihat

We know that Prince Ahmet Nihat and his close friend Tevfik Fikret together drew the sketches of his scenic mansion built at the intersection of Kılıç Ali Slope and Serencebey Slope above Çırağan Palace. Prince Ahmet Nihat also received painting and history lessons from Tevfik Fikret. His son describes him in his book: “My father was later interested in painting, and made oil paintings. He was trained by the famous poet Tevfik Fikret. After the commencement of the constitutional monarchy, he would visit twice a week for history lessons with my father.” (Ali Vasib, Bir Şehzadenin Hatıratı (Memoirs of a Prince), ed. Osman Selahaddin Osmanoğlu, İstanbul: YKY Yayınları, 2004, p. 29)

Poet Ms.Nigar

Prince Ahmet Nihat also received French lessons from Mr. Feridun, a teacher at the Robert College and the son of Ms. Nigar the poet.

Halide Edip Adıvar, in her novel Sinekli Bakkal that was placed at the time of Abdul Hamid II, used the mansion of the Prince AhmetNihat as the place where Rabia the heroine was invited.

My grandmother Mrs. Nezihe is the second wife of the Prince Ahmet Nihat. His first wife was Mrs. Safiru. There were writings in Ottoman language on the photographs that have been in our family album for many years. When I had those writings translated, I realized that one of the pictures belonged to Mrs. Safiru. “To my dear sister Nezihe” was written on the photo. These two Ottoman women, sharing a common fate, regarded one another as “sister” in a way that is incomprehensible to our modern mind.

Mrs. Safiru writes on the picture “To my sister Nezihe”

Prince Ahmet Nihat is in the circumcision ceremony of his son Ali Vasib

My grandmother did not have any children with the Prince Ahmet Nihat. He had Ali Vasip with his other wife Mrs. Safiru. Mr. Ali Vasip is an Ottoman prince who wrote down his memories that were later prepared for publication by his son Osman Selahattin Osmanoğlu and published by Yapı Kredi Publishing under the title of “Memoirs of a Prince”.

The only feeling that was carried over to me from my grandmother’s years in the harem was a feeling of “captivity”. Even though my grandmother never spoke of the privacy of the harem years, my mother had told me that my grandmother remembered the years of captivity when she looked at the stars at night. “The stars remind me of the captivity in the harem,” said my grandmother Mrs. Nezihe, and I feel that I understand her.

In my journey to Abkhazia, I realized how free-spirited and strong the Abkhazian women were, and how they enjoyed a high status in the society. Life at the harem that was isolated from the outside world with huge walls, inspite of all its privileges, must have taken a heavy toll on this “Abkhazian” woman with a free spirit.

Sisters Separated by a Marriage

Prince Ahmet Nihat married Ms. Nevrestan, my grandmother’s sister, on April 10, 1915. I know the precise date from my correspondences with Edhem Eldem, the Head of History Department at Boğaziçi University, who conveyed me the date of marriage from the manuscripts of Prince Ahmet Nihat.

This situation hurt my grandmother’s pride, and she decided to leave the Prince Ahmet Nihat and the Palace. However surprising we may find it for a woman of the court to have the right to discontinue an unwanted marriage and to have the courage and determination to speak it out, it was possible at the time. I have found out from my researches about the “right of virtue” practiced in royal marriages for centuries, i.e. “the woman, not the man, holding the right to divorce” (Murat Bardakçı, Neslişah, Cumhuriyet Döneminde Bir Osmanlı Prensesi (Neslişah: An Ottoman Princess in the Republican Era), İstanbul: Everest Yayınları, p. 46). However, this right was only accorded to the women of the Ottoman royal family. My grandmother, despite not coming from the Ottoman family line, requested to divorce her husband, Prince Ahmet Nihat.

This sad event is described in the book by Leyla Açba:

“Mr. Nihat divorced Mrs. Nezihe around 1916. Because Mr. Nihad married Ms. Nevrestan, the sister of Mrs. Nezihe, this state of affairs saddened Mrs. Nezihe deeply, and she wanted to separate. Thus, their divorce took place.” (LeylaAçba, Bir Çerkes Prensesinin Harem Hatıraları (Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess, İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları, May 2010, p. 250)

In accordance with the conventions of the time, my grandmother leaves the Palace with her personal belongings and furniture to move to a house in Akaretler Slope usually resided by the “court gentry”.

Akaretler Slope, early 20th century

I spend the years of my childhood and youth in a “museum house” furnished by my grandmother’s belongings from the palace.  always had an animated curiosity for history, growing up in a house undetached from the past, filled with tiled stoves, 19th century Viennese sofa suites, madder carpets, Ottoman family portraits, large mirror cabinets, royal decrees, sculptures, and porcelain trinkets. 

Ali Fehmi Doğrusöz

After my grandmother left the palace, she had her second marriage with my grandfather Ali Fehmi Doğrusöz, an Ottoman officer, a marriage mediated by Mrs. Kimya who was working at the palace.

Mrs. Kimya

My father Feridun Doğrusöz, the son of a court lady and an Ottoman officer, was fascinated by history. I grew up hearing his conversations imbued with the past. It may be wrong to say that it was the past. It was the story of a history living with us day by day with the furniture, documents, and photographs surrounding us.

My father Mustafa Feridun Doğrusöz

However, I know from the family stories that even though the sisters were separated physically upon Prince Ahmet Nihat’s choice of marriage, their mutual affection and respect remained intact. They remained emotionally attached till the end of their lives.

Nevrestan Osmanoğlu and the Years of Exile

Beylerbeyi Palace

Mrs. Nevrestan tells in her interview that she lived in the harem of Beylerbeyi Palace with her husband Prince Ahmet Nihat.

Beylerbeyi Palace was built by Sultan Abdülaziz as the summer residence blending the eastern and western styles. Beylerbeyi Palace is the place where Abdul Hamid II, dethroned after 30 years of ruling in 1909, lived in captivity for the last six years of his life until he passed away in 1918.

Mrs. Nevrestan’s life in Beylerbeyi Palace was traumatically disrupted upon the declaration of the Republic, and the exile of the Ottoman royal family on March 3, 1924. The law no. 431 required deportation of the remaining 155 Ottoman family members, including Prince Ahmet Nihat and his wife Mrs. Nevrestan. Hence began the long years of exile for Mrs. Nevrestan together with her husband Prince Ahmet Nihat and her brother Mr. Aziz who attended the Robert College at the time.

Mr. Aziz took on the surname of Atzamba upon his settlement in France.

In his book “Memoirs of a Prince,” Mr. Ali Vasib describes the scene in the Sirkeci train station on the morning of March 3, 1924. Even the security officials assigned with the task of sending the Ottoman royal family abroad could not hold back tears during this extremely sad goodbye, which marked a journey of no return for most Ottoman family members who were exiled from their homeland.

“By mid-March, there was no single descendant of Fatih, Yavuz, and Kanuni within the boundaries of Turkey.” (Murat Bardakçı, Neslişah, Cumhuriyet Döneminde Bir Osmanlı Prensesi (Neslişah: An Ottoman Princess in the Republican Era), İstanbul: Everest Yayınları, October 2011, p. 84)

Nice, 1920’s

Mrs. Nevrestan and her husband Prince Ahmet Nihat first went to Budapest, then to Nice. The weather of Nice was similar to that of Istanbul, which appealed to many members of the Ottoman royal family. Most members of the dynasty chose to live in that city.

Mrs. Nevrestan, her husband Prince Ahmet Nihat

and his brother Mr. Osman Fuat, Nice

The years of exile have been utterly traumatic. Mrs. Nevrestan described in her interview the challenges of adaptation to Europe for the royal family members who were raised according to the Ottoman conventions. Ottoman women, who did not even see an unpeeled whole fruit in the harem, had to learn how to live in Europe and how to cope with daily life at the same time.

Ottoman Dynasty members lived in a status of “heimatlos,” i.e. stateless for many years, pursuing a life in limbo without any chance of returning to the land that exiled them nor being a citizen of the land that embraced them.

Prince Osman Fuad

“We know that Mustafa Kemal sent a message to only one person of the Ottoman family after the dynasty was deported, expressing his regrets for the decision of exile but that he was obliged to do so. The message was sent to the Prince Osman Fuad, who was a professional soldier and the grandson of Murat V.” (Murat Bardakçı, Son Osmanlılar (Last Ottomans), İstanbul: İnkılap Yayınları, 2008, pp. 178-179). Osman Fuad was the brother of the Prince Ahme tNihat. Mr. Osman Fuad said in an interview with Doğan Uluç from Hurriyet newspaper in Paris in 1970 that Atatürk had sent a message to his former comrade in arms by military courier: “I deeply regret that you are away from the homeland. I could not make any exceptions. The law was universal” (Murat Bardakçı, Son Osmanlılar (Last Ottomans), İstanbul: İnkılap Yayınları, 2008, pp. 178-179).

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

“The dynasty members believed that the exile would not last for more than a few years, never anticipating the term prescribed for return to be 28 years for women, and 50 years for men” (Murat Bardakçı, Son Osmanlılar (Last Ottomans), İstanbul: İnkılap Yayınları, 2008, p. 188)

Most male members of the Ottoman dynasty died abroad desperately longing for the homeland. Prince Ahmet Nihat became the Head of the Ottoman Dynasty on December 23, 1944 as the eldest family member until he died on June 4, 1954. Having lived in Beirut with his wife Nevrestan Osmanoğlu in the last years of his life, Prince Ahmet Nihat was buried in the Ottoman Cemetery in Damascus in 1954.

Beirut, 1950’s

Female members of the Ottoman dynasty were allowed to return to Turkey in 1952. Nevrestan Osmanoğlu then moved to İstanbul to live in the mansion of Mrs. Kimya in Serencebey Slope resided by the court people.

Growing up in the secluded world of the harem, Mrs. Nevrestan returned from Europe as an independent adult woman to explore her city “for the first time,” and passed away in 1983, eleven years after her older sister Mrs. Nezihe.

  Legacy

I have inherited a deep-rooted interest in the Ottoman history and a great sense of courage from these two women from the history of my family: my grandmother and my father’s aunt. I have always been inspired by the strong stance and bravery of these two Abkhazian women in the face of all the challenges they faced in their journey extending from the far-away land of the Cafcuh to the Ottoman Dynasty.

Let them rest in peace…

References:

Açba Leyla, Bir Çerkes Prensesinin Harem Hatıraları (Harem Memoirs of a Circassian Princess), İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları, May 2010

Ali Vasib Efendi, Bir Şehzadenin Hatıratı (Memoirs of a Prince), ed. Osman Selahaddin Osmanoğlu, İstanbul: YKY, 2004

Barisch Klaud and Lissi, “Richtig Reisen”, Istanbul, Köln: DuMont, 1976

Bardakçı Murat, Son Osmanlılar (Last Ottomans), İstanbul: İnkılap Yayınları, 2008

Bardakçı Murat, Neslişah, Cumhuriyet Döneminde Bir Osmanlı Prensesi (Neslişah: An Ottoman Princess in the Republican Era), İstanbul: Everest Yayınları, October 2011

Candemir Murat, Yıldız’da Kaos ve Tasfiye (Chaos and Discharge in Yıldız), İstanbul, İlgi Kültür ve Sanat, 2007

Ekdal Müfid, Kadiköy Konakları (Mansions of Kadıköy), İstanbul: YKY, 2005

Gülersoy Çelik, Çerağan Sarayları (Çerağan Palaces), İstanbul: İstanbul Kitaplığı, 1992

Göncü T. Cengiz, Beylerbeyi Sarayı (Beylerbeyi Palace), Ankara: TBMM Basımevi, 2013

Mansel Philip, Sultans in Splendour, NY: Orientel Press, 1988

Öksüz Ayça Yolkolu, Hüzün Aş Olunca (When You Cook with Sorrow), İstanbul: YediverenYayınları, 2016

My heart felt thanks to Mr. Mustafa Çakıcı and Umut Soysal for their generous help with the Ottoman-Turkish translations…

Translated by Menekşe Arık

June 2016  ©  Mahan Doğrusöz