Mehmed V (sometimes also Mahommed V; known as Mehmed V Reşad (or Reşat) or Reshid Effendi) (Ottoman: محمد الخامس) (November 2 1844 – July 3 1918) was the 39th Ottoman Sultan. He is widely considered to be the 99th Caliph of Islam (though some claim the Ottomans never took over the Caliphate).

He was the son of Sultan Abdulmecid (also called Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid) and Gulcemal Kadin Efandi. Like many other potential heirs to the Sultanate, he was confined for 30 years in the Harems of the palace. For nine of those years he was kept entirely alone. During this time he studied poetry of the old Persian style and when he became Sultan his poetry was praised.

He ascended the throne on the April 27, 1909 but he had no real political power. The actual decisions were made various members of the Ottoman government and finally, during First World War, by the Three Pashas, Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, and Djemal Pasha.

Mehmed V's only significant political act was to formally declare Jihad against Britain in November 1914. This was the last legally correct proclamation of jihad as the Caliphate was ended not long after his death (note that many Islamic leaders have proclaimed jihad since then). The proclamation had no noticeable effect on the war, despite the fact that many moslems lived in territory controlled by the British and the fact that the Germans had many copies of the proclamation distributed.

Mehmed V died on July 3, 1918 at the age of 73. He lived his entire life in the Yildiz Palace in Istanbul.

According to a travel guide published in 1915 (during World War One)

The very appearance of Mahomet V suggests nonentity. Small and bent, with sunken eyes and deeply lined face, an obesity savouring of disease, and a yellow, oily complexion, it certainly is not prepossessing. There is little or no intelligence in his countenance, and he never lost a haunted, frightening look, as if dreading to find an assassin lurking in some dark corner ready to strike and kill him ... (The Near East from Within a travel book published by Cassell and Company, Ltd., London, 1915).

The grave of Sultan Mehmed V is in the Eyup district of modern Istanbul. He left two sons: Prince Mehmed Ziyaeddin (1873-1938) and Prince Omer Hilmi (1888-1935).

External links

* The History of Enver Pasha - a complex, detailed web site. Downloaded January, 2006.

Mehmed V
Mehmed V
Category:Sultans of the Ottoman Empire