1. Seniha Sultan was the half-sister of Sultans Murad V, Abdul Hamid II, Mehmed V, and Mehmed VI.
17 Facts About Seniha Sultan
2.
Seniha Sultan had a younger brother Sehzade Mehmed Abdussamed, one year younger than her and a younger sister Sehime Sultan three years younger than her.
3.
Seniha Sultan's father died when Seniha was ten and her mother died when she was fourteen.
4.
Seniha Sultan's dowry was prepared with her half-sisters Behice Sultan, Mediha Sultan and Naile Sultan.
5.
However, the wedding was delayed because of the death of her elder sister Behice Sultan, sick with tuberculosis since childhood and to which Seniha had been very close, constantly writing her affectionate letters.
6.
Seniha Sultan hadn't been on good terms with Abdul Hamid for unknown reasons, and so in 1878, she and her husband, and her siblings including her brothers Prince Ahmed Kemaleddin, and Prince Selim Suleiman, and sister Princess Fatma, were all involved in the Ali Suavi incident with the objective of restoring Murad to the throne.
7.
Seniha Sultan's husband was very critical of her brother Abdul Hamid's governance, never missing an occasion to speak out.
8.
Seniha Sultan's sons were able to return to Istanbul only in 1908, after the declaration of the second constitution.
9.
At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Seniha Sultan was the oldest living Ottoman princess, age seventy-three.
10.
Seniha Sultan had no money of her own, and her sons were too busy with their affairs to care of her, so she went to exile alone.
11.
Seniha Sultan died at the Villa Carabacel on 15 September 1931 at age seventy-nine in Nice, France the last surviving child of Abdulmejid, and was buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya in Damascus.
12.
The body of Seniha Sultan followed the same route as that of her brother Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin: to Beirut by boat, then from there to Syria, where she was buried.
13.
Seniha Sultan was described as a strong and free woman who was political minded, and in many ways a woman ahead of her time.
14.
Seniha Sultan was judged to be beautiful and regal in appearance, but she was not particularly welcome at court because of her cheeky and undignified attitudes.
15.
Seniha Sultan wore her hair short and refused to let it grow and had a deep voice.
16.
Seniha Sultan used to wear dresses of the most superb cloth, with her tiara on her head on formal occasions, and she wore gowns with long trains in the European fashion spreading out behind her.
17.
Seniha Sultan is known to have had performers of religious music at her palace.