By the historical researcher: Fouad Al‑Mughamsi
The last Ottoman Caliph, Sultan Abdulmejid Khan II, was exiled to the city of Nice after King Fuad of Egypt refused to receive any member of the Ottoman dynasty, even women and children. The Sultan lived in an old residence belonging to the Crown Prince of England, rented at a modest price in Nice. A committee in India undertook the responsibility of providing him with a monthly stipend. After the death of King Fuad, some members of the Ottoman family moved to Cairo, while Sultan Abdulmejid II relocated to Paris in 1939.
The Sultan had requested to be buried in Istanbul in the cemetery known as “Turbah”, beside his grandfather Caliph Mahmud II, his father Caliph Abdulaziz, and his cousin Caliph Abdulhamid II. However, after his death in 1363 AH / 1944 CE, the Turkish government delayed fulfilling the request of his daughter and son. His body remained for ten years in the Paris Mosque. After a decade, the Turkish government agreed on the condition that the entire parliament approve the burial. Yet one deputy from Kırşehir, a retired admiral named Rifaat Özdeş of the Democratic Party, objected to allowing the body into Turkey, causing the Caliph’s daughter to lose hope.
But something better than what her father had requested came to her: King Saud bin Abdulaziz—may God have mercy on him—King of Saudi Arabia, agreed to have her father buried in Al‑Baqi‘ Al‑Gharqad Cemetery in Medina. This took place on 25 Rajab 1373 AH, corresponding to 30 March 1954 CE.
May God have mercy on King Saud bin Abdulaziz; history has recorded this noble act of loyalty toward the deposed Sultan. May God have mercy on them both.
It is noteworthy that Sultan Abdulmejid Khan II had only one daughter and one son. His daughter, Princess Khadija, was a calligrapher, painter, and writer fluent in eight languages. His only son, Omar Faruq Effendi, died in 1969. He had left Turkey with the rank of major, having graduated from the Military Academy in Prussia. Upon his death, he was buried in Istanbul.
