http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Turkey/turkey.htm also contains the rules of succession:
RULES OF SUCCESSION:
Hereditary, in order of birth, from one brother to the next, or one cousin to another, until all the survivors of a generation have succeeded in turn. On the death of the last brother, the succession passes to the eldest born son of the deceased males of the previous generation (not necessarily the eldest son of the eldest brother).
STYLES AND TITLES:
The Sovereign: Sultan (given name) Khan, Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, Protector of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Emperor of The Three Cities of Constantinople, Andrinopole and Bursa, and of the Cities of Damascus and Cairo, of all Azerbaijan, of the Magris, of Barka, of Kairuan, of Aleppo, of Arabic Iraq and of Ajim, of Basra, of El Hasa, of Dilen, of Raka, of Mosul, of Parthia, of Diyarbakir, of Cicilia, of the Vilayets of Erzurum, of Sivas, of Adana, of Karaman, Van, of Barbary, of Abyssinia, of Tunisia, of Tripoli, of Damascus, of Cyprus, of Rhodes, of Candia, of the Vilayet of the Morea, of the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea and also its coasts, of Anatolia, of Rumelia, Baghdad, Kurdistan, Greece, Turkistan, Tartary, Circassia, of the two regions of Kabarda, of Georgia, of the plain of Kypshak, of the whole country of the Tartars, of Kefa and of all the neighbouring countries, of Bosnia and its dependencies, of the City and Fort of Belgrade, of the Vilayet of Serbia, with all the castles, forts and cities, of all Albania, of all Iflak and Bogdania, as well as all the dependencies and borders, and many others countries and cities.
The Heir Apparent: Daulatlu Najabatlu Vali Ahad-i-Sultanat (given name) Effendi Hazlatlari, i.e. Crown Prince, with the style of His Imperial Highness.
The senior wives of the Heir Apparent: Vali Ahad Zevcesi, equivalent to Crown Princess, but not normally translated.
The mother of the reigning Sovereign: Daulatlu Ismatlu (given name) Validi Sultana 'Aliyat us-Shan Hazratlari, with the style of Her Majesty.
The first four official wives of the Sovereign, according to Islamic law: Daulatlu Ismatlu (given name) Bash Kadin Effendi Hazratlari, Daulatlu Ismatlu (given name) 2nd Kadin Effendi Hazratlari, Daulatlu Ismatlu (given name) 3rd Kadin Effendi Hazratlari, and Daulatlu Ismatlu (given name) 4th Kadin Effendi Hazratlari, with the style of Her Majesty. They were additionally styled Haseki Sultana if they had born a son to the Sultan, Haseki Kadin Effendi if they had only borne daughters.
The next four favourite wives of the Sovereign: Daulatlu Bash Iqbal (given name) Khanum Effendi Hazratlari, Daulatlu 2nd Iqbal (given name) Khanum Effendi Hazratlari, Daulatlu 3rd Iqbal (given name) Khanum Effendi Hazratlari, and Daulatlu 4th Iqbal (given name) Khanum Effendi Hazratlari, with the style of Her Highness. Usually promoted to official wife (Kadin Effendi), on the death of one of the latter. Also borne by the mothers of sons of a Sovereign.
The next four ladies of the Sovereign's harem: styled (given name) Bash Gozde, 2nd Gozde, 3rd Gozde, and 4th Gozde.
The next four junior ladies of the Sovereign's harem: styled (given name) Bash Paik, 2nd Paik, 3rd Paik, and 4th Paik.
Male descendants of a Sovereign in the male line: Daulatlu Najabatlu Shahzada Sultan (given name) Hazretleri Effendi, i.e. Prince (given name) Effendi, with the style of His Imperial Highness.
Female descendants of a sovereign in the male line: Daulatlu Ismatlu (given name) Sultana 'Aliyat us-Shan Hazratleri, i.e. Princess with the style of Her Imperial Highness.
The first four official wives of Imperial Princes: (given name) Khanum Effendi Effendi Hazratlari.
The husbands of Imperial Princesses: Damad-i-Shahyari (given name) Bey Effendi, the latter, only if not posessed of a higher rank or title, with the style of His Highness.
The sons of Imperial Princesses: Sultanzada (given name) Bey-Effendi, i.e. Prince, with the style of His Highness.
The sons of Imperial Princesses: (given name) Khanum-Sultana, i.e. Princess, with the style of Her Highness.
The grandsons of Imperial Princesses in the male line: (given name) Bey.
The granddaughters of Imperial Princesses in the male line: (given name) Khanum.
The Osmanli Dynasty traces its origins to Osman Khan Ghazi, founder of the Turkish Empire and son of Ertugrul, leader of the Kayi clan of the Oghuz tribe, during the late 13th century. The tribe reputedly descends from Noah, through his grandson, Oghuz.
Osman's successors remained conquerers for several generations, ever extending the boundaries of their Empire on all sides. The conquest of Constantinople in 1453, though the jewel in the crown and the pride of their posessions, did not serve as the culmination of their efforts. Baghdad, Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina, the Lavant, Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, the Crimea, Greece and the Balkans, and parts of Hungary all fell to their sway. The Osmanli dynasty had secured, for themselves, the position of the greatest Islamic dynasty in history. On two occasions, they threatened Western Europe itself. Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, faced two bitter sieges in 1529 and 1683. However, the failure of the last, proved to be the nadir of the empire.
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries provided a long period of slow decline. New or re-invigorated European powers, in the form of Russia and Austria gnawed away at the western provinces of the Empire. In time this encouraged many of the subject races to assert their independence. By the end of the nineteenth century most of the European and Caucasian territories had been lost, save Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia and some parts of modern day Greece and Bulgaria. In the southern Meditterranean, Egypt and Cyprus were under British control, Crete and Samos under international supervision, and Algeria and Tunisia were under the French.
The dawn of the twentieth century saw further reverses and losses of territory in the Balkans, leaving Albania a lawless land, cut-off from Turkey proper. Italy entered the general scramble, siezing Rhodes and the Dodecanese and invading Cyrenaica and Tripoli. On the eve of the Great War, the first stirrings of the Arab renaissance were becoming apparent. Jewish migration and settlement in Palestine increased rapidly. The sick man of Europe was clearly on its last legs.
Disasterously, though perhaps understandably, the rulers of Turkey chose to side with the Central European powers on the outbreak of War. Believing in the magic of the Khalifate they proclaimed Holy War, expecting Muslims under British, French and Russian rule to rize up in their defence. Quite the reverse ensued. Not only did they fail to rise to the defence of the Khaliphate; they contributed very significantly in ensuring that their rulers would be victorius. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, Turkey saw its remaining subject peoples throwing in their lot with the allies, in hope of achieving nationhood.
Wars end left Turkey with little more than Turkey proper, Armenia and parts of Kurdistan. Nationalist generals, including Mustafa Kemal, seized power in the rest of the country and began a process of consolidating their position. When the old Sultan Muhammad V died in 1918, they saw their chance. The allies had occupied the seat of the Sultan, cutting him off from the rest of the country. A successful war against Greece entrenched the military oligarchy in the positions. They established their capital at Angora (Ankara) and began chipping away at the monarchy. After four years of steady effort, they succeeded in removing Sultan Muhammad VI from all temporal authority in the state. He abdicated in disgust and went into exile.
The anti religious Ankara regime then secured the election of Sultan 'Abdu'l-Majid Khan I as Khalif by the National Assembly in 1922. Clearly meant as a sop to secure the loyalty of tradional minded elements within the country, they tired of their own fiction within two years. They abolshed the Kaliphate and expelled the entire Ottoman dynasty on the 3rd ofMarch 1924. The regime then established the Turkish republic with Mustafa Kemal Pasha, transformed into Kemal Ataturk, as President, Father of the Nation and dictator, with democratic pretensions.
After their expulsion from Turkey, the Imperial family dispersed to several destinations, San Remo and the South of France, Beirut and Alexandria, being the favoured places of exile. They were not permitted to return to Turkey until 1953, when Ataturk and his lieutenants were safely at peace with his maker.
ipflo
