Mehmed VI

36th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Mehmed VI (14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926)[1][2] was the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. His reign lasted from 1918 to 1922. He succeeded his brother, Mehmed V, as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of the heir to the throne, Yusuf Izzettin Efendi.[3] He was presented with the Sword of Osman on 4 June 1918 in the traditional coronation ceremony. His father was Sultan Abdulmejid I and mother was Gülüstü (1831 – May 1861). His reign saw the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in the First World War. The collapse of the Ottoman state resulted in its partitioning by Britain, France, Italy, Greece and Armenia. It was during this desperate time that the popular war hero Mustafa Kemal Atatürk assembled a Turkish resistance army in Ankara and fought off the Allied occupants of Anatolia during the Turkish War of Independence which he won. After removing the Western powers along with Greece from Anatolia in September 1922, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk then proceeded to abolish the Ottoman caliphate. Mehmed was removed from the throne when the Ottoman sultanate was abolished in 1922. As the sultan fled on an Allied warship, the Turkish army then liberated Istanbul in October 1923 which cemented the foundation of the new republic of Turkey with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as its first president.

Mehmed VI
Caliph of Islam
His Imperial Majesty
Sultan of the Ottomans
Commander of the Faithful
Successor of the Prophet of the Universe
Mehmed VI
Ottoman Sultan
Reign3 July 1918 – 1 November 1922
Sword Girding4 June 1918
PredecessorMehmed V
SuccessorSultanate abolished
Grand ViziersSee list
Caliph of Islam
Reign3 July 1918 – 19 November 1922
CoronationNone
PredecessorMehmed V
SuccessorAbdulmejid II
Born(1861-01-14)14 January 1861
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died16 May 1926(1926-05-16) (aged 65)
Sanremo, Italy
Burial
SpouseEmine Nazikedâ Marjim-Abaza Kadın Efendi
Inshira Kadın Efendi
Sadiye Mevedett Kadın Efendi
Nevare Kadın Efendi
Nimit Nevzad Kadın Efendi
IssueMünire Sultan
Fatma Ulviye Sultan
Rukiye Sabiha Sultan Hanım Efendi
Şehzade Ertuğrul Mehmed Efendi
HouseOsman
FatherAbdulmejid I
MotherGülüstü Sultan
ReligionIslam
SignatureMehmed VI's signature
  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), The Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 7, Constantinople, the capital of the Turkish Empire.
  2. Britannica, Istanbul Archived 2007-12-18 at the Wayback Machine:When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.
  3. Freely, John, Inside the Seraglio, 1999, Chapter 16: The Year of Three Sultans.

More reading

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  • Fromkin, David, 1989. A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East ISBN 0-8050-0857-8

Other websites

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Mehmed VI
Born: 14 January 1861 Died: 16 May 1926
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Mehmed V
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
3 July 1918 – 1 November 1922
Succeeded by
Sultanate abolished
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by
Mehmed V
Caliph of Islam
3 July 1918 – 19 November 1922
Succeeded by
Abdülmecid II