Conclusion: Benevolence in Stone

Summary

Our journey through the Hamidiye mausoleum and graveyard has sought to unearth information about those buried here, which in many cases extends no farther than the inscription on their tombstones. Their names have led us to touch, among other points, upon the placement and promotion of chancery and royal household staff at the Ottoman court, the hierarchy of concubines and staff within the Imperial Harem, the position of eunuchs at court, and the elaborate protocol for royal funerals (even those of infants), which dictated the presence or absence of palace folk at these ceremonies.

The Introduction posed questions to consider while investigating the Hamidiye Complex. As to whether the graveyard reflects the vast changes wrought by Mahmud II in his sweeping reforms after abolishing the recalcitrant Janissary Corps in 1826, the answer is ‘yes’. The switch from turban to fez on gravestones is the prime manifestation of the reforms in the graveyard, but if we consider the pattern of burials here before 1826 versus those after 1830, by when Mahmud's relentless revamping of the government and society had begun to take root, we notice another dramatic change.

Rather abruptly, the Hamidiye graveyard lost its status as a prestigious burial site for high-ranking men of the palace, as after 1830 the only male burials here were of five boys whose fathers had some connection to court. The subject of burial practices of palace elites after Mahmud's reforms has not received academic study, but it seems likely the change in burial patterns of men here stemmed, at least in part, from the state of confused flux at the palace occasioned by the sudden reforms. A contributing factor may have been Mahmud's search, as part of his efforts to strengthen the central state, for more visible burial sites for his male court officials, primarily at imperial mosques. The construction of Mahmud's tomb, following his death in 1839, then provided his successors with a far grander burial site for officials whom the reigning monarch of the day wished to honour in death. These factors contributed to the Hamidiye graveyard's loss of prestige as a burial site for men of the court.