Thibodaux minerva., 1853-07-09
The Late Sultana.

The death of the Sultana Bczur Aalem, mother
of the reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
has been announced. 4 letter dated Constan,
tinople, May 5th, gives the following account o1
this remarkable woman -
'sThe deceased princess was of Christian ori-
gin, and in 1911 was kidnapped by Circassa,
freebooters from a village near Ananour. in
Georgia. Her father was a wealthy peasant,
and was killed fighting valiantly for the protec-
ton ofhis daughter. The girl, Marian by name,
was embarked at Sotcha for Trebizonde, and
from thence was conducted to Constantinople
and sold for $3.50 to the celebrated kosref Pacha.
who gave her the romantic name of Bezur-
Aalem, (assembly of the world, and OH account
OF her beauty gave her an education to fit he1
for the imperial seragio She learned to read
and write, to play the tambourine, to sing. and
to dance, and she acquired these accomplish
ments with astonishing facility. At the age Of
Il, she was presented by the pacha to Hebe-
ltullah Sultana, Sultan Mahmouds eldest sister
with whom she remained until she attained the
age of II, when on account of her capacity and
beauty, she was given to Sultan Mahmoud. who
at once acknowledged her as one of his wives.
She had but one son, the present sovereign,
Abdul Nedjid,s but she always maintained a
superiority over al the other women. and was
the preferred favorite.. The monotonous life Of
the harem is easily imagined. 1t is focus OF
intrigue and jealousy, and the princess had no
occasion to display the talent and the benevo-
lence that has since rendered her so popular.
When in June, 1889, Sultan NIahmoud died,
and his eldest son, Abdul Medic, at the age Of
16, buckled the sword of Osman, the Princess
Bezur-Aalem became valide sultana, and took
fhn of f1n Sfafn in hap1 Nbirrc an
thus for many years. The son consulted his
mother for every affair, and the mothers in
functions were religiously obeyed. We must
slur over the intrigues of the Sultana with Ria
Pacha; they are of too notorious a character
but up to the last week she was engaged in the
public business. She was naturally parsimoni-
GUS, but her acts of ofbenevolence are innumerable.
She never forgot her Christian origin, and pro-
tected the followers of her former faith on all
possible occasions She was often to be seen
incognito at the lokof tribnal inquiring if just
ice was done to cases she had decreed, and
more than one judge was dismissed for acts of
intolerance. She often visited the poorer quart
ers of the city, and gave aid to the sick and
needy,swithout making known Her quality. The
treasury allowed her a monthly stipend of 81, 727
but she expended double that sum, chiefly in
acts of charity. She built and endowed the
ohiy Iufk1sn civil HOSp1tsll Ill COnstantlhople,
and gave her name to it. She built and endow-
ed the free school on the Lancasterian principle,
under the direction of kemal Etfendi. She has
also contributed towards the building and re-
pairing of great many public fountains. The
Turkish Steam Company was established through
her influence and interst in the concern. The
coal mines of Hereke arc worked for lrer account
In fine, most of the enterprsing commercial
transactions have seen her among the chief
shareholders with view to encouragement. It
is strange that she has not endowed single
mosque or Mussulman institution, and it is uni
versally believed here that she still adhered to
her Christian faith. She had repeated inquiries
and researches made for the members of her
family, but they were Intellectual It is proba-
BILE that the civil connections and wars hi the
Caucasus have long since annihilated and dis
persed her relatives E=7z5--