Early life[edit]

Şehzade (Prince) Abdul Hamid in 1868.

Abdul Hamid II was born on 21 September 1842 in the Topkapı Palace. He was the son of
Sultan Abdulmejid I[1] and Tirimüjgan Kadın, originally named Virjinia.[15] After the death of his mother,
he later became the adoptive son of his father's legal wife, Perestu Kadın. Perestu was also the
adoptive mother of Abdul Hamid's half-sister Cemile Sultan, whose mother Düzdidil Kadın had died
in 1845 leaving her motherless at the age of two. The two were brought up in the same household
where they spend their childhood together.[16]
He was a skilled carpenter and personally crafted some high-quality furniture, which can be seen
today at the Yıldız Palace, Sale Kosku and Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul. Abdul Hamid II was also
interested in opera and personally wrote the first-ever Turkish translations of many opera classics.
He also composed several opera pieces for the Mızıka-yı Hümâyun (Ottoman Imperial
Band/Orchestra, which was established by his grandfather Mahmud II who had appointed Donizetti
Pasha as its Instructor General in 1828), and hosted the famous performers of Europe at the Opera
House of Yıldız Palace, which was restored in the 1990s and featured in the 1999 film Harem
Suare (the film begins with the scene of Abdul Hamid II watching a performance). Unlike many other
Ottoman sultans, Abdul Hamid II visited distant countries. Nine years before he took the throne, he
accompanied his uncle Sultan Abdülaziz on his visit to Paris (30 June–10 July 1867), London (12–23
July 1867), Vienna (28–30 July 1867) and the capitals or cities of a number of other European
countries in the summer of 1867 (they departed from Constantinople on 21 June 1867 and returned
on 7 August 1867).[17]