H.I.H. Hatice Hayriye Ayse Durrusehvar Sultan, Princess of Berar

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Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Sultan (26 Ocak 1914- 7 Şubat 2006) son Osmanlı halifesi II. Abdülmecit'in kızıydı.

Dürrüşehvar Sultan 26 Ocak 1914'te babasının Çamlıca semtindeki köşkünde dünyaya geldi. Babası Şehzade Abdülmecit Efendi, annesi ise Mehisti Kadın Efendi idi. Çocukluğu Dolmabahçe Sarayı'nda geçti. Resmi unvanı Devletlu ismetlu Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Sultan Aliyyetüş-şan Hazretleri idi. 1 Kasım 1922'de saltanat kaldırıldıktan sonra babası Abdülmecit Efendi 15 ay halifelik yaptı. Bu dönemde babası cuma selamlıklarına çıktığında Dürrüşehvar Sultan'ı da arabasına bindirirdi. Bu İstanbul halkı arasında eleştiri konusu olmuştu.

3 Mart 1924 tarihinde TBMM hilafetin kaldırılması ve Osmanlı Hanedanı'nın sınırdışı edilmesi kanununu kabul etti. Hanedanın çoğu üyelerine Türkiye'yi terketmeleri için 48 saat verilmesine karşılık Abdülmecit Efendi, eşleri iki kadınefendi, oğlu Ömer Faruk Efendi, Dürrüşehvar Sultan ve iki kalfaya Türkiye'yi hemen terk etmeleri bildirildi. Sabah saat beş civarında Dürrüşehvar Sultan'ın ailesi bir otomobile bindirilerek Bulgar sınırına, oradan da Orient-Express ile sınır dışına gönderildiler. Bir süre İsviçre'de yaşayan aile, daha sonra Güney Fransa'nın Nice kentine yerleşti.

Dürrüşehvar Sultan Nice'de Kasım 1931 tarihinde dünyanın en zengin hükümdarlarından biri olan Haydarabad Nizamının oğlu Azam Cah ile evlenerek Berar Prensesi unvanını aldı ve Hindistan'ın Haydarabad kentinde yaşamağa başladı. Bu evlilikten halen sürgündeki Haydarabad Nizamı olan Bereket Cah ile Keramet Cah dünyaya geldi. Babası Abdülmecit Efendi 23 Ağustos 1944'te Paris'te vefat ettiğinde babasının Türkiye topraklarında gömülmesini isteyen Dürrüşehvar Sultan bunun için dönemin Cumhurbaşkanı İsmet İnönü ile uzunca bir süre mektuplaştı. Bu dönemde birkaç defa Türkiye'ye geldi. Bir defasında İsmet İnönü ve eşi Mevhibe hanım'ı Çankaya köşkünde ziyaret etti. Abdülmecit Efendi'nin naaşı 10 yıl Paris'te bir camide bekledi ama meclis Türkiye'de gömülmesine izin vermedi. Bunun üzerine Abdülmecit Efendi'nin naaşı 1954 yılında Medine'de gömüldü.

1948 yılında Hindistan Haydarabad'ı işgal ederek topraklarına kattıktan sonra eşinin ailesinin Haydarabad'daki saltanatı bitti. 1954 yılında da eşinden ayrılarak Londra'da yerleşti. Ama yıllar boyunca Türkiye'yi ziyaret etmeğe devam etti. Türkiye'ye geldiğinde genellikle Enver Paşa'nın kızı Mahpeyker Hanım'da bir ay kadar kalıyordu. Yazların bir kısmını ise ağabeyi Ömer Faruk Efendi 'nin Kuşadası'nda yaşayan kızı Hanzade Sultan'da geçirmekteydi. Dürrüşehvar Sultan 7 Şubat 2006 tarihinde 92 yaşında Londra'da vefat etti. Londra'daki Brookwood Mezarlığı'nda 1966'dan beri yatmakta olan annesi Mehisti Hanım’ın yanına defnedildi.

Princess Durru Shehvar

Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar, Her Imperial Highness, (Khadija Khayriya Ayesha Dürrühsehvar, خدیجہ خیریہ عائشہ در شہوار or Turkish: Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar), also known as Durru Shevar (born January 26, 1914 in Çamlıca, Üsküdar, İstanbul, Turkey – died February 7, 2006) was the daughter of Abdul Mejid Efendi of Turkey, son of Sultan Abdülâziz and the last heir apparent to the Ottoman throne and the last Caliph of the Muslim world. She held the titles of Princess of Berar and Princess of the Ottoman Empire.

Youth

The princess was born in Turkey when the Ottoman Empire was passing through its last phase. Her father, Caliph Abdul Mejid, went into exile in the south of France after the abolition of the Caliphate by Kemal Ataturk in 1924.

Marriage

On the family's exile to France in 1924, she was sought by the Shah of Persia and King Fuad I of Egypt as a bride for their respective heirs, Mohammed Reza and Farouk, and by Prince Azam Jah (1907 - 1970), the eldest son and heir of the last Nizam of Hyderabad State, Osman Ali Khan, Asif Jah VII, whom she married in Nice, France, on November 12, 1931. Her first cousin Princess Niloufer, was married to Prince Moazzam Jah, the second 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.

Later life

Following the birth of her sons Prince Mukarram Jah in 1933 and Prince Muffakham Jah in 1936, she took charge of their upbringing, the two princes being educated in Britain and also marrying Turkish ladies. The last Nizam later bypassed his own son and nominated her first son and his grandson, as his successor.

The Princess became the first woman to inaugurate an airport when she inaugurated the airport in Hyderabad in the 1940s. She is also credited with inaugurating the Osmania General Hospital. She set up the Durru Shehvar Children'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.

Princess Dürrühsehvar of Berar

Her Imperial Highness Princess Dürrühsehvar, Princess of Berar, who died in London on Tuesday night aged 92, was a member of the Turkish royal house; after her family had been sent into exile, she married an Indian prince.

Although statuesque and grand, she was also shy, sensitive and cultured. 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".

He also photographed the Princess when she was in London for the 1937 Coronation, and she happened to be in New York in 1948 at the time of his affair with Garbo - Beaton and Garbo referred to her as "our Turkish friend". In the summer of 1949 he reported to Garbo that he had lunched with the Princess at her London home, Hyderabad House on Palace Green: "It was like being in Hyderabad again, with a wonderful Indian meal lasting much too long & everything so delayed that the afternoon was almost over before we'd finished the Turkish coffee. The Princess, in European clothes was very shy & giggly but very charming & interesting when given time & the chance."

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 (which his daughter went to great lengths to buy when they came up at auctions).

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

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 Nilüfer married another son of the Nizam.

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.

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.

During her time in Hyderabad, the Princess made a considerable 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."

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". 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.

The Nizam died in 1967 and was succeeded by his grandson. The Prince of Berar died in 1970. For many years the Princess lived at Hyderabad House in Kensington Palace Gardens, later moving 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.

In the 1990s she opened a hospital she had established at Purani Haveli in India. The crowds were keener to see her than the Chief Minister of Andhura Pradesh, NT Rama Rao, himself a film star.

There was an occasion when she was lunching with a friend in Oxfordshire, at which Princess Margaret was also a guest. The weather was inclement, and both Princesses were invited to plant cedars of Lebanon. Princess Margaret eventually did so - 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.