47 Facts About Mehmed VI

Mehmed VI acceded to the throne after the death of Mehmed V Mehmed VI was girded with the Sword of Osman on 4 July 1918 as the 36th padishah and 115th Islamic Caliph.

Mehmed VI's reign began with the Ottoman Empire suffering defeat by the Allied Powers with the conclusion of World War I The subsequent Armistice of Mudros legitimized further Allied incursions into Ottoman territory, resulting in an informal occupation of Istanbul and other parts of the empire.

The Allies militarily occupied Istanbul on 16 March 1920, and pressured Sultan Mehmed VI to dissolve the Nationalist dominated Chamber of Deputies and suspend the Constitution, when the Turkish nationalists stood against Allied designs for a partition of Ottoman Anatolia.

Mehmed VI condemned the nationalist leaders as infidels and called for their execution, though the provisional government in Ankara claimed it was rescuing the Sultan-Caliph from manipulative foreigners and ministers.

Mehmed VI Vahdeddin was born at the Dolmabahce Palace, in Constantinople, on 14 January 1861.

Mehmed VI's father was Abdulmejid I, who died when he was only five months old.

Mehmed VI trained himself by taking lessons from private teachers and attending some of the lessons given at the Fatih Madrasa.

Mehmed VI grew up with nannies, servant girls, and tutors.

Mehmed VI was given his own mansion in Cengelkoy which bore his name: the Vahdettin Pavilion, and built another house next to it on the estate for his adoptive mother Sayeste.

Mehmed VI read a great deal, and was interested in various subjects, including the arts, which was a tradition of the Ottoman family.

Mehmed VI took courses in calligraphy and music and learned how to write in the naskh script and to play the qanun.

Mehmed VI became interested in Sufism and, unknown to the Palace, he attended courses at the madrasa of Fatih on Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic theology, interpretation of the Quran, and the Hadiths, as well as the Arabic and Persian languages.

Mehmed VI attended the dervish lodge of Ahmed Ziyauddin Gumushanevi, located not far from the Sublime Porte, where Omer Ziyauddin of Dagestan was the spiritual leader, and he became a disciple of the Naqshbandi order.

Mehmed VI held a quiet rivalry with his brother Crown Prince Yusuf Izzeddin and repeatedly requested that his brother Sultan Mehmed V Reshad retract Izzeddin as heir apparent.

Mehmed VI held his Culus the day after and delivered an oath to the Ottoman National Assembly.

Now dealing with an existential crisis over the Ottoman state, Sultan Mehmed VI hoped to pursue a policy of close cooperation with Britain and France in order to rehabilitate Turkey into the international community and sign a lighter peace treaty.

Mehmed VI witnessed many of the monarchies of Europe experiencing their demise or extreme shakeup with the end of the Great War.

Mehmed VI requested of his government to establish tribunals to try war criminals and that he would work with all his might to maintain friendship with England.

Mehmed VI postponed elections until after a peace treaty could be signed, even though they were constitutionally mandated to occur four months after parliament's dissolution, on the grounds that the country was under occupation.

Mehmed VI stated that if the Greeks' excesses were not stopped, it would be impossible to hold back the Anatolian people.

Mehmed VI said that since his army had been demobilized, he had no soldiers to maintain order, that the journey had become terrifying and dangerous, and that he saw no hope other than the British government in preventing disasters.

Mehmed VI made an effort to prove to the British that he had no connection with the incident in Samsun.

Mehmed VI stated that the desired peace in the East could only be achieved by continuing Turkey's independence.

Mehmed VI considered the nationalists' seizure of the country's administration as a rebellion, based on the fact that the sultan's prerogatives were no longer absolute.

Mehmed VI believed that it was out of the question for a sovereign to compromise and negotiate with rebels.

Mehmed VI said that he had always desired cooperation with the Allied Powers, that he was relieved by the arrest of certain nationalist leaders in Istanbul, and that if the allies had not made such a decision, he would have had to do it himself.

Mehmed VI expressed his appreciation for the guarantees regarding his own royal prerogatives.

Mehmed VI told Refet Pasha, who notified him of the decision of the assembly, that even if the existence of such a caliphate without executive authority were accepted, he could not accept it.

Mehmed VI did not return the sultan the imperial seal and never meet with the sultan again.

Mehmed VI stated that he saw his freedom and life in danger due to recent events and that he expected the protection of his life from England, which had the most Muslim subjects, on condition that it preserved its legitimate and sacred rights over the Ottoman sultanate and the Islamic caliphate.

Mehmed VI refused to take with him the Relics of the Sacred Trust.

Mehmed VI went into exile in Malta, later living on the Italian Riviera.

Mehmed VI wrote that he was forced to accept a caliphate without a sultanate, that he was overwhelmed by the blind and ungrateful people surrounding him, that he decided to temporarily relocate until public opinion calmed down and the situation became clear.

Mehmed VI thanked the king and reiterated that he had not given up his throne and the caliphate.

Mehmed VI is still pretending not to know and trying to sit on the throne by dragging his robe.

Mehmed VI attacked Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends, stating that he had sent him to Anatolia, but he turned a blind eye to the government that later deemed it necessary to order a military operation against him in order to punish him for not recognizing his sovereignty.

Mehmed VI had tried to prevent the Ankara-Istanbul diarchy, that he was being accused of treason for opposed the separation of the caliphate and the sultanate, and that he was taking a risk being temporarily being separated from his throne, homeland, and comfort in order to protect the honor and dignity of the caliphate.

Mehmed VI moved to the Villa Nobel in San Remo, where he wrote doomed petitions to England and other states for permission to go to Muslim land.

Mehmed VI was able to reunite with his family after Turkey's decision to send the Ottoman Family into exile was made on 3 March 1924.

Mehmed VI sent a declaration to the Caliphate Congress and protested the preparations made, declaring that he had never waived the right to reign and be caliph.

The congress met on 13 May 1926, but Mehmed VI died without the news of the congress meeting on 16 May 1926 in Sanremo, Italy.

Mehmed VI had lost some of it to swindlers and spent some of it with his former brother-in-law and aide Zeki Bey in casinos.

Mehmed VI owed some 60,000 Italian liras to all the artisans and credators of San Remo.

Mehmed VI had an optimistic and patient personality according to the testimony of his relatives and employees.

Mehmed VI was evidently a kind family man in his palace; outside, and especially at official ceremonies, he would stand cold, frowning and serious, and would not compliment anyone; he attached great importance to religious traditions; he would not tolerate rumors, nor would he allow them to circulate in his palace.

Mehmed VI had dealt with advanced literature, music, and calligraphy.

Mehmed VI's compositions were performed in the palace when he was on the throne.