34. Ottoman Sultan
Abdul Hamid II
- Reign
- 1876 – 1909
- Born
- 1842
- Died
- 1918
The long period between the First and Second Constitutional Eras. The thorough restoration that shaped the present appearance of the Ertuğrul Gazi Tomb at Söğüt was carried out in his reign.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II was born in Istanbul on 21 September 1842. His father was Sultan Abdulmejid, his mother Tir-i Müjgan Kadın Efendi. Having lost his mother at a very early age, Abdul Hamid II grew up motherless and was raised by his stepmother Piristu Kadın. Of a very weak constitution in childhood, he was often ill. Because of this he received particular attention during his father's reign and grew up in a very indulgent atmosphere. Alongside his general lessons he took instruction in music and learned to play the piano.
Living very freely while unmarried, Abdul Hamid II began after his marriage to spend all his free time with his family and children. He is a sultan who succeeded, through the policies he applied, in keeping the Ottoman state — on the verge of collapse — standing for thirty-three years.
A charitable and generous man, Abdul Hamid II lived like an ordinary citizen. During the Greek campaign, when he was told there was not enough money in the treasury, he met the costs from his own inherited fortune and did not take it back from the state.
He spent his free hours in the carpenter's workshop, made fine pieces, had them sold and had the money distributed to the poor. That Abdul Hamid II, an exceedingly compassionate man, pardoned those who sought to kill him is an event rarely met with in the political history of the world. He gave importance to culture and had many buildings erected to serve education.
Founding the Academy of Fine Arts and schools of commerce and agriculture, Abdul Hamid II also built primary and secondary schools, schools for the deaf and the blind, and vocational schools for girls. He established lycées in the provinces and middle schools in the districts, and extended primary schools as far as the villages.
He had the Şişli Etfal Hospital and the Darülaceze built in Istanbul with his own money. He brought the drinking water known as Hamidiye to Istanbul in pipes. Extending the roads into the interior of Anatolia, Abdul Hamid II also had railways laid as far as Baghdad and Medina, and had horse-drawn tram lines built in the larger cities.
Source: Osmanlı Tarihi Interaktif CD-ROM (Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları XXXI. Dizi-Sa.2)