Mehmed VI Vahidedin - the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Mehmed VI is known as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, on which the reign of his dynasty was completed. On the throne, he sat down as the thirty-sixth ruler. The years of his life - 1861-1926, the years of government - 1918-1922. His father was Abdul-Majid the First, who ceased to be Caliph since 1861. But Mehmet the Six came to power only after fifty-seven years, letting four representatives of his kind pass ahead: one uncle and three brothers.

The ancestors of the Ottoman dynasty

Mehmed VI Vahidedin, whose biography is considered in the article, was a descendant of the oldest dynasty in the world. The Ottoman dynasty was founded in the beginning of the fourteenth century. According to some Turkish chronicles and legends, the ancestors of this kind appeared even earlier.

Those who started the conquests that formed the Ottoman Empire are considered to be Osman First Gazi. He ruled in the period from 1281 to 1324, until he died and was not buried in a burial vault in Bursa. This place became the center of pilgrimage among Muslims. All subsequent sultans of the Ottoman Empire voiced a prayer at the grave of Osman when he ascended to the throne. She called for the promotion of justice and the same virtues as the first ruler.

The situation in the empire before the coming to power of Mehmet the Sixth

By 1909, the ruling sultan Abdul-Hamid II was overthrown. Thus the absolute monarchy in the empire ceased to exist. The power was previously earned by the brother of the deposed ruler Mehmed 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 experienced a crisis for fifteen years and took part in several wars.

Wars with the Ottoman Empire:

1. Italian-Turkish was held from 1911 to 1912.
2. The Baltic Wars lasted from 1911 to 1913.
3. First World War (in alliance with Germany) from 1914 to 1918.

All this seriously weakened the state.

The rule of Mehmet the Sixth

The last Ottoman sultan was Mehmed VI Vahidedin, who took the throne in 1918. By this time he turned fifty-seven years old, and the state was at the final stage of the First World War, which seriously weakened it.

The Turkish army was compelled to fight simultaneously on several fronts and was exhausted. The Sultan feared the revolution, so he sought to reach an armistice with the Entente states. The concluded peace in Mudros was extremely unprofitable for the empire:

• The army was demobilized;
• Warships surrendered to the Entente;
• Istanbul and part of Anatolia occupied the troops of Britain, France, Greece;
• Control over the straits, communications, the railway received England and France.

The inhabitants of Turkey were occupied by foreign troops. In fact, this was the end for the Ottoman Empire.

In December 1918, Mehmet the Sixth dissolved the parliament. His new government became a puppet for the occupation authorities. Since that time Mustafa Kemal Pasha started his activity, which already by 1919 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 government. The troops of the Kemalists were unable to subdue either the Greek army or the caliphate army.

The abolition of the Sultanate

10/01/1922 Mejlis passed a law on the division of the Sultanate and the Caliphate. The sultanate was abolished. This concludes the history of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted more than six hundred years.

Mehmed VI formally remained a Caliph until 16.10.1922, until he asked the British authorities to take him away from Constantinople. He was taken to Malta on the battleship of Great Britain "Malaya", and a day later the Majlis stripped the fugitive of the title of caliph.

Since October 1923, Turkey was proclaimed a republic, and its ruler was Mustafa Kemal Pasha, known to all as Ataturk.

After the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1923, the former Sultan moved to Italy. He died three years later in San Remo. They ravaged him in Damascus.

Family and Children

Mehmed VI for his life had five legitimate wives. From Emine Nazikeda he had two daughters: Fatma Ulvie, Rukie Sabiha. From Shadia Muveddet the son of Mehmed Ertugrul was born to the sultan. With fifth wife Nimed Nevzad the children were not with the sultan.

With Senia Inshirah, the ruler divorced in 1909, and with Aisha Leylay Nevvar stopped relations in 1924.

What happened to the family and closest associates of the escaped Caliph?

The 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, was not the only one who had to leave the country. Another hundred and fifty-five members of his family went to emigrate. Those who had the priority right to the succession were given from twenty-four to seventy-two hours. The remaining relatives were ordered to leave Turkey within seven to ten days. Wives and distant relatives got the right to stay in the country. At the station in Istanbul between 5 and 15 March each of the representatives of the Osman dynasty was issued a passport and an amount of two thousand British pounds. After that, they were put on a train, and they were deprived of Turkish citizenship.

The fate of each member of the Osman clan took shape in its own way. Some have died of hunger and poverty, others have adapted to the lives of ordinary people in their host countries. There were also those who could come together with representatives of royal families from other countries, for example, India and Egypt.

The government of Turkey allowed to return to the representatives of the female dynasty 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 Osman family had already died.

The last direct descendant of the Osmanians was Ertogrud Osman, who died in 2009. In 2012 Nazlisah Sultan died, whose grandfather was Mehmed VI Vahidedin (Sultan of the Osmanovs). 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 Bayazid Osman Efendi.