BIOGRAPHY OF DURRUSHEVAR , THE

IMPERIAL PRINCESS OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE, WIFE OF AZAM JAH ,THE ELDEST SON

OF NIZAM (TELANGANA STATE) AGAINST THE

BACKDROP OF MODERNISATION

HER WEDDING WITHTHE NIZAM’S SON WAS THE UNION OF TWO CONTINENTS(TURKEY & EUROPE)

Princess Durru Shehvar, Princess Consort of Berar and Imperial Princess of

the Ottoman Empire

HER IMPERIAL AND EXALTED HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS HATICE HAYRIYE AYŞE

DÜRRÜŞEHVAR SULTAN, IMPERIAL PRINCESS OF THE OTTOMAN

EMPIRE, PRINCESS OF BERAR.

TITLES AND STYLES

BIOGRAPHY

The Princess was born at Tchamlidcha-Scutari on March 12 1913 (or possibly 1914 - the reference books are not clear), the only daughter of Abdülmecid II and his third wife, Mihisti. Her father was Caliph of the Faithful, with the additional titles of Successor of the Prophet Mohammed, Commander of the Faithful and The Shadow of God on Earth. A cultured man who spoke Turkish, Arabic, French and German, he composed music and was a highly proficient painter, producing landscapes and scenes from Ottoman history.

He succeeded as Caliph in 1922, and the family resided in the Dolmabahçe Palace on the European shore of Istanbul.

Princess Shehvar as nine and a half years old, 1923

DAUGHTER OF CALIPH ABDÜLMECID II

Hatice Ayesha Durrushehvar Sultan was a daughter of an Islam Caliph but she didn’t use headscarve and his father never exploited her clothes unlike today’s some Turkish politicians.

ABDULMECID II THE LAST CALIPH

Abdülmecid II, (born May 30, 1868, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]—died August 23, 1944, Paris, France), the last caliph and crown prince of the Ottoman dynasty of Turkey.

Following Ottoman custom, Abdülmecid was confined to the palace until he was 40, during which time his father, Abdülaziz, and three of his cousins reigned. When his fourth cousin took the throne as Mehmed VI in 1918, Abdülmecid became crown prince. He was elected caliph by the Grand National Assembly on November 18, 1922, after the sultanate was abolished, and he lost his title of crown prince after Mehmed left Constantinople on the assumption of power by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk).

Although the caliphate was severed from all political power, Abdülmecid, a gentle and scholarly man, was the living symbol of Turkey’s link to the Islamic-Ottoman past. The forces of tradition and the opponents of Mustafa Kemal’s regime rallied around him. Mustafa Kemal, determined to break with the Islamic past, first proclaimed the Turkish Republic (October 29, 1923), and on March 3, 1924, the Grand National Assembly abolished the caliphate. The next day Abdülmecid was exiled.

THE RISE OF ATATÜRK

The decision of the Ottoman Empire to enter the First World War in 1914 turned out to be a horrible mistake. The empire was run by a dictatorship led by the “Three Pashas” who unilaterally entered the war on the German side, against the British, French, and Russians. The Ottoman Empire was invaded from the south by the British, from the East by the Russians, and by the Greeks in the West. By the end of war in 1918, the empire was divided and occupied by the victorious allies, leaving only the central Anatolian highlands under native Turkish control.

It was in central Anatolia where Mustafa Kemal would rise to become a national hero for the Turks. As an Ottoman army officer, he displayed great leadership in battle, especially at Gallipoli, where the Ottomans managed to turn back a British invasion aimed at the capital, Istanbul. After the war, however, Kemal made clear about his priorities .

Mustafa Kemal, the hero of the War of Turkish Independence, took on the title of “Atatürk”, meaning “Father of the Turks”.

His main goal was the establishment of Turkish nationalism as the unifying force of the Turkish people. Unlike the multi-ethnic and diverse Ottoman Empire, Kemal aimed to create a monolithic state based on Turkish identity.

Mustafa Kemal in 1918

REPLACEMENT OF ARABIC WITH LATIN

Atatürk introducing the new Latin script in 1928.

Turkish was written in Arabic letters for hundreds of years after the conversion of the Turks to Islam in the 900s. Because Turkish was written in the Arabic script, Turks could read the Quran, and other Islamic texts with relative ease, connecting them to an Islamic identity – which Atatürk saw as a threat.In addition to the introduction of the Latin letters, Atatürk created a commission charged with the replacement of Arabic and Persian loanwords in Turkish. In keeping with his nationalist agenda, Atatürk wanted a language that was purely Turkish, which meant old Turkish words, that had become obsolete during the Ottoman era, came back into use instead of Arabic words. For example, the Turkish War of Independence, formerly known as the Istiklal Harbi, is now known as Kurtuluş Savaşı, because “istiklal” and “harb” are Arabic loanwords in Turkish.

With the caliphate out of the way, the Turkish government had more freedom to pursue policies that attacked Islamic institutions. Islamic education was banned in favor of secular, non-dogmatic schools.

Everyday life for Turks was also dictated by Atatürk’s secular ideas:

Traditional Islamic forms of headdress such as turbans and the fez were outlawed in favor of Western-style hats.The hijaab for women was ridiculed as a “ridiculous object” and banned in public buildings.The calendar was officially changed, from the traditional Islamic calendar, based on the hijrah to the Gregorian calendar which is based on the birth of Jesus Christ.

In 1932, the adhan – the Muslim call to prayer – was outlawed in Arabic. Instead, it was rewritten using Turkish words and forced upon the country’s thousands of mosques.

Friday was no longer considered part of the weekend. Instead, Turkey was forced to follow European norms of Saturday and Sunday being days off from work.

WOMEN IN TURKEY

During the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, educated women within the elites of Istanbul began to organize themselves as feminists. With the Tanzimat reforms, improving women's conditions was considered as part of a wider efforts towards modernization.

They fought to increase women's access to education and paid work, to abolish polygamy, and the peçe, an Islamic veil. Woman magazines were published by early feminists in various languages and established different organizations dedicated to the advancement of women.

The first women's association in Turkey, the Ottoman Welfare Organization of Women, was founded in 1908 and became partially involved in the Young Turks Movement.

Safiye Ali, the first Turkish female doctor.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

The unification of education, along with the closure of the old-style universities, and a large-scale program of science transfer from Europe; education became an integrative system, aimed to alleviate poverty and used female education to establish gender equality. Turkish education became a state-supervised system, which was designed to create a skill base for the social and economic progress of the country.

EQUAL PARTICIPATION

The Ottoman society was a traditional one and the women had no political rights, even after the Second Constitutional Erain 1908. During the early years of the Turkish Republic educated women struggled for political rights. One notable female political activist was Nezihe Muhittin who founded the first women's party in June 1923, which however was not legalized because the Republic was not officially declared. With intense struggle, the Turkish women achieved voting rights in local elections by the act of 1580 on 3 April 1930

SPOUSE

Nawab Azam Jah, Prince of Berar, by Bassano Ltd, 21 May 1937 was the Eldest son of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII and his first wife Dulhan Pasha Begum.

Nawab Azam Jah, Prince of Berar, Art by Bassano Ltd

Circa 1946: Prince of Berar, heir to the throne of Hyderabad, posing in his palace. (Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)Credit: Margaret Bourke-White / contributor

Azam Jah born in February 1907 was groomed to become the next Nizam. He was granted the title of Prince of Berar in 1936 under an agreement with the British, though Berar ceased to be part of Hyderabad State in 1853. Obviously it was the British way of satisfying the ego of the Nizam. As a young prince, he led an impressive parade and he was made Commander-in-Chief, a post that enabled him to live in the `official residence' Bella Vista.

The Prince married Dur-e-Shehvar, arguably one of the most beautiful women of her times, the daughter of the former Sultan of Turkey and the last Caliph , Abdul Majid Khan at Nice in France. Simultaneously, his brother, Prince Moazzam Jah, got married to Dur-e-Shevar's cousin, the equally beautiful Niloufer, also at Nice.

M A R R I A G E

In 1924 the Palace was surrounded by troops, and Adnan Adivar, adviser to Ataturk, warned the Caliph that he was to be deposed by the National Assembly and that he and his family must go. The family began their exile in Paris and Nice.

During this time they were supported by Asaf Jah VII, Nizam of Hyderabad, one of the richest men in the world, who dressed shabbily but made many charitable benefactions. He gave the Caliph a stipend of £4,000 a year.

The Caliph led life "apart from the worldly vanities", as he put it, and was often observed on the beach in Nice wearing bathing trunks and holding a parasol. During this time Reza Shah Pahlavi (the Shah of Persia), King Fuad I of Egypt and the Nizam of Hyderabad vied with each other to secure the princess as bride for their respective heirs. The Nizam won. It was in Nice that the princess married, on November 12 ,1931, Hymayat Ali Khan Azam Jah, Prince of Berar, son and heir of the Nizam. At the same ceremony her cousin Princess Niloufer married another son of the Nizam.

The marriage of the princess was performed, in the south of France, by the good offices of Maulana Shaukat Ali, brother of Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar, the leader of the Khilafat Movement in India.

It was believed at that time that the matrimonial alliance between the Nizam, the richest ruler in the world of his time, and the deposed Caliph would lead to the emergence of a Muslim ruler who could be acceptable to the world powers in place of the Ottoman sultans. Princess Durru Shahvar, whose father was raised by a branch of the Ottoman monarchy deeply interested in modernizing reforms and believed in modern education for women including his wives and daughter, became a popular public figure after her arrival in Hyderabad. She believed that women should earn their own living, and helped to remove the practice of purdah.

MARRIAGE THAT BROUGHT THE CONTINENTS CLOSER

It was believed at that time that the matrimonial alliance between the Nizam, the richest ruler in the world of his time and the deposed Caliph would lead to the emergence of a Muslim ruler who could be acceptable to the world powers in place of the Ottoman sultans.

Prince of Barar Wali Ahed, Azam Jah (Mir Himayet Ali Khan) pen name Azam, Princess Durreshewar daughter of Caliph Abdul Majid II (In centre) of Ottoman empire, Princess Nilofer, Prince Mauzam Jah (Mir Shuja’at Ali Khan)

There was none of the normal oriental splendour characteristic of such occasions; rather it was a simple ceremony of Islam, attended by members of the two families and friends. The Caliph presided over both weddings.

The two couples travelled to Hyderabad, where the Nizam broke protocol to greet them.

There was wild applause and shouts of blessing as the royal party made its way to the Palace. Both couples settled in the lakeside palace of Bella Vista, and attended state banquets of welcome, the guests eating off gold plates.

HOLIDAY IN HYDERABADThe Nizam could not attend the wedding. Instead, a holiday was declared in Hyderabad. Newspapers brought out special editions.

First the news sounded too romantic to be true, for when the young princes, Azam Jah and Moazzam Jah, left Hyderabad for a holiday, no one imagined that they would return married. Coinciding with the royal wedding in Nice, a holiday was declared in Hyderabad. And when the two royal couples returned to Hyderabad after a long journey, there was a tumultuous welcome. The city was decked up. It was said that all communities joined to contribute to the building of a "shadikhana" as a permanent memorial. People from neighbouring villages poured into the city to catch a glimpse of the newly married couples.

The royal reception was in the stately Chowmohalla palace and the then British Resident, Lt. Col. T. H. Keyes, proposed a toast.

THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDES Caliph Abdul Medjid II and his beauteous daughter Princess Dur-e-Shawar and his Beauteous niece the Sultana Nilofar Hanim, great-granddaughter of

Turkish Sultan Murad V

Apparently, the two pretty girls were a first-class match for the two sons of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Off these princes—Azam Jah and Moazam Jah—were packed to Europe—the first royal Hyderabad males ever to marry outside India.

HIGHLY ACCOMPLISHED

Writers of those days recorded it as an "event of unparalleled interest and importance not only for Hyderabad but also for the world at large." From the day of their betrothal to the day of the wedding, stirring the imagination of people all over the world beyond measure."

Princess Durrushevar in her wedding gown

During her time in Hyderabad, the Princess made an indelible impression. Philip Mason, of the Indian Civil Service, described her as "a commanding figure, handsome of feature, with a clear fair complexion and auburn hair… No one could ignore her or slight her. She was always essentially and indefinably royal, and it seems to me that if fate had so willed she might have been one of the great queens of the world."

Princess Durru Shehvar Berar, only daughter of the former Sultan of Turkey, photographed wearing a jewelled sari in India. Princess Durru Shehvar Berar, only daughter of the former Sultan of Turkey, photographed wearing a jewelled sari in India by Cecil Beaton. . The blouse she was wearing was boat shaped which was quite popular in 1940s.

VINTAGE INDIAN CLOTHING

Though statuesque and grand, the princess was also shy, sensitive and sophisticated. Letters from her arrived in perfect calligraphy. She shunned publicity, and will probably be best remembered for her striking image in profile taken by Cecil Beaton on his wartime visit to Bombay in March 1944.

The picture captures a handsome and autocratic-looking lady wearing a white sari, serene on the terrace of her palace, and was in stark contrast to the normal images of war that were emerging from elsewhere in India.

Beaton was impressed by her "sensational" looks, the "climate of restfulness and serenity" she created about her, as well as by her love for philosophy and literature, her proficiency in many languages and the "Ottoman perfection of her taste".

The Princess of Berar soon adopted Indian ways. She spoke Urdu like a native and had fluent English.

But she was modern in her approach, believing that women should earn their own livings, and she helped to remove the habit of purdah in Hyderabad.

She and the Prince had two sons, Prince Mukarram Jah, the present de jure Nizam, and Prince Muffakham Jah

1934 First official photograph of Asaf Jah VIII, with his mother Dürrühshehvar, daughter of the last Ottoman caliph. He would have become Nizam of Hyderabad after the death of his grandfather Asaf Jah VII. He instead operated a sheep station in Western Australia

Prince Mukhfam Jah Bahadur

When Walter Monckton arrived in Hyderabad in 1946 to try to disillusion the Nizam of the idea that Hyderabad could remain independent, he judged the princess "a woman tranquil yet resolute, whose personality dominated any room she entered"

This is an image from the national Portrait Gallery, London.

Pictured is Nawab Azam Jah, Prince of Berar (1907-1970), Son of the Nizam of Hyderabad, his wife, Princess Durruhsehvar, Princess of Berar (1914-2006), and the Princesses father, Caliph Abdulmecid Khan II of Turkey (1868-1944).

The Ottoman Sultan nurtured high hopes that at the turn of the 20th century for the marriages with the Nizam's family would provide access to enormous wealth to fund the Empire's modernization and renewal. Incidentally, the 8th Nizam's fortune was estimated at ~$200 billion in the 1960s, making him something like the 6th richest man in history.

Prince Azam Jah with trophies presented to him

Azam Jah (Prince of Berar) Eldest Son of Last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan Asif Jah VII (Operation Polo / Hyderabad Police Action 1948 Pic)

Azam Jah (Prince of Berar) Eldest Son of Last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan Asif Jah VII (Operation Polo / Hyderabad Police Action 1948 Pic)

Azam Jah (Prince of Berar) Eldest Son of Last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan Asif Jah VII (Operation Polo / Hyderabad Police Action 1948 Pic)

Azam Jah (Prince of Berar) Eldest Son of Last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan Asif Jah VII (Operation Polo / Hyderabad Police Action 1948 Pic)

The Prince of Berar Posing with His Pipe Premium Photographic Print

Azam Jah. Circa 1946: Prince of Berar, member of the Nizam royal family & heir to the throne of Hyderabad, relaxing with his wife Durru Shevar as their servants serve.

A10gA group photograph taken at the Madras Airport prior tot he departure of the members of the Turkish Press Delegation from Madras on March 1, 1952.

The Nizam died in 1967 and was succeeded by his grandson. The Prince of Berar died in 1970. For quite some time, the Princess resided at Hyderabad House in Kensington Palace Gardens, later shifted to an apartment where all the old-fashioned royal standards were maintained. It was noted that, even if she arrived in the country in a less than grand car, the driver still wore the livery of Hyderabad, with knee-boots.

Princess Durru Shevar (1914 – 2006)

daughter of the third marriage of Sultan

Abdul Mejid Efendi of the Ottoman

Empire, son of His Imperial Majesty The

Sultan Abdülâziz, Emperor of the

Ottomans and the apparently last heir to

the Imperial Ottoman throne and the

last Caliph of the Muslim world. She held

the titles of Princess of Berar and

Imperial Princess of the Ottoman, Wife

of Azam Jah eldest son of the seventh

and last Nizam of Hyderabad.

“Photograph by Margaret Bourke-

White”.

Portrait of Indian Princess Durru Shehvar, 1950.

There was an occasion when the princess was lunching with a friend in Oxfordshire, at which Princess Margaret was also a guest. The weather was rough that day. Both the Princesses were invited to plant cedars of Lebanon. Princess Margaret eventually planted reluctantly while the Princess of Berar performed her duty with her customary quiet dignity.

Today Princess Margaret's tree struggles, while the Princess of Berar's thrives.

The Princess relaxing in the garden

Durrushevar, the princess of Berar was a handsome and autocratic looking lady.

When she was living in Hyderabad people would throng to see her than the film star and former Chief Minister, Mr. N.T.Rama Rao.

Her life was the stuff of fairy tales.

Despite being member of Ottoman royal family she refused to be buried in Turkey since she was upset that the Turkish Government refused her father's burial in 1944 in Istanbul. She divided her time predominantly between Hyderabad and London, where she breathed her last, attended by her two sons. Her Imperial and Exalted Highness The Princess Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire, Princess of Berar

The Prince and Princess of Berar were also well known internationally. In 1937 they were amongst the relatives of ruling princes who attended the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and were seated in the North Choir Gallery of Westminster Abbey.

In the 1990s, she opened a hospital that she had established at Purani Haveli, in Hyderabad, India.

Inside Princess Durrushehvar’s hospital

Azam JahCirca 1946: Prince of Berar, member of the Nizam Royal family & heir to the throne of Hyderabad, relaxing with his wife Durru Shevar as their servants serve them 'high' tea in their palace.

The Princess of Berar presents a souvenir to Nawab Khusro Jang at a polo match

The Princess became the first woman to inaugurate an airport when she inaugurated the airport in Hyderabad in the1940s.

She is also credited with inaugurating the Osmania General Hospital. She set up the Durru ShehvarChildren's & General Hospital for women and children in the old city of Hyderabad.

Her last public appearance in the city was when she presided over the opening ceremony of the Nizam’s Silver Jubilee Museum in 2000.

She last visited Hyderabad in 2004.

Princess Durre Shehwar with members of the Ladies Club

CONCERN FOR THE POOR

She was fond of providing medicare to the poor and needy.She set up the Durru Shehvar Children's Hospital at Purani Haveli.

Highly respected and well-educated lady, the princess was fluent in French, Turkish, English. She also established a junior college for girls in her name, Baghe-jahan-ara, Yakutpura.

The Princess aged 92 passed away in London on February 7, 2006.

Princess Durru Shevar with her grandchildren Prince Azmath Jah, Princess Shehkyar and favourite daughter-in-law Esra

REFERENCES

1.Wikipedia2.www.thetelegraph.co.uk3.www.pininterest.com4.www.telegraphindia.com5.www.thehindu.com6.www.maqsoodqureshi.blogspot.in7.www.thehindu.com, February 6, 2006

Ms. Dayamani Surya holds Master’s Degree in the English Literature from Osmania University, Hyderabad, Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching of English from CIEFL, Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching of English from CIEFL, Bachelor’s degree in Science and Bachelor’s degree in Education.

She holds online professional certifications like:•Project Management•Human Resource Management•Financial Accounting• Management and Accounting• Business Process Outsourcing•Advance Learning Certificate in English Literature Analysis from Ireland.

As a Research Associate in the District Centre for English Scheme, Department of Training and Development, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad since 1 May 2007, her work focuses on administration, curriculum development and teaching in the International Training Programme for Foreign Students at the University.

She works online as a mentor, helps the scholars in their project work, compilation of articles and research papers, contributes to the publication of articles and international peer reviewed journals.