Editing Mehmed VI (section)

==Early life==
{{See also|Kafes}}[[File:1909 10 Resimli Kitab Vahdettin.jpg|thumb|357x357px|Mehmed, Resimli Kitab magazine, 1909|left]]
Mehmed Vahdeddin was born in [[Dolmabahçe Palace]],Constantinople on 14 January 1861.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Constantinople |volume= 7 |last= van Millingen |first= Alexander  |author-link= Alexander van Millingen | pages = 3–9 }}</ref><ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9368294/Istanbul Britannica.com, Istanbul]:''When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.''</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2023}} His father was Sultan [[Abdülmecid I|Abdul Mejid I]], who died five months after he was born. Abdul Mejid had 42 children and Vahdeddin was his last child, putting him tenth in line to the succession.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=35}} All of his siblings were half-siblings from different consorts and [[Cariye|concubines]], but Vahdeddin had a full sister who lived to adulthood: [[Mediha Sultan|Mediha Sultana]]. His mother [[Gülistu Kadın|Gülistû Kadın]] was of [[Georgians|Georgian]]-[[Abkhazians|Abkhazian]] origin, the daughter of Prince Tahir Bey [[Chachba]]. Vahdeddin became an orphan when she died from one of the many cholera outbreaks of the time when he was four years old.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=36}}

After his mother's death, Vahdeddin [[Effendi|Efendi]] was adopted by [[Şayeste Hanım|Şâyeste Hanım]], another of his father's consorts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aredba |first1=Rumeysa |title=Sultan Vahdeddin'in San Remo günleri |last2=Açba |first2=Edadil |publisher=Timaş Yayınları |year=2009 |isbn=978-9-752-63955-3 |page=73}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gingeras|2022|p=90}} The [[Şehzade]] had a rough time with his overbearing adoptive mother, and at the age of sixteen he left his adoptive mother's mansion with the three servants who had been serving him since childhood.{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|p=6}} He grew up with nannies, servant girls, and tutors.{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|pp=4–5}}

Vahdeddin educated himself by taking lessons from private tutors. He read a great deal, and was interested in various subjects, including the arts, which was a tradition of the [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman family]]. He took courses in calligraphy and music and learned how to write in the [[Naskh (script)|naskh script]] and to play the [[Qanun (instrument)|qanun]].{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|p=6}} He became interested in [[Sufism]] and, unknown to the Palace, he attended courses at the madrasa of [[Fatih]] on [[Islamic jurisprudence]], [[Islamic theology]], [[Esoteric interpretation of the Quran|interpretation of the Quran]], and the [[Hadith]]s, as well as the [[Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] languages.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Küçük |first=Cevdet |title=Mehmed VI |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mehmed-vi |website=İslâm Ansiklopedisi}}</ref> He attended the [[dervish]] lodge of Ahmed Ziyaüddin Gümüşhanevi, located not far from the [[Sublime Porte]], where Ömer Ziyaüddin of Dagestan was the spiritual leader, and he became a disciple of the [[Naqshbandi]] order.{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|pp=6–7}} Time to time, the [[List of Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire|Sheikh-ul-Islam]] would have to contend with Vahdeddin demanding an amendment on a [[fatwa]] which did not follow ''[[fiqh]]''.{{sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=39}}

Physically he had a weak constitution, something he may have inherited from his father. As he grew older he developed atrophy in one of his lungs and heart palpitations.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=36}} 

In his youth he collected pistols and carried one on him throughout his life. He enjoyed shooting clay pigeons and was a good shot.{{sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=37, 39–40}} His closest friend was [[Abdulmejid II|Şehzade Abdul Mejid]] (to be proclaimed as [[Caliphate|Caliph]] Abdul Mejid II), the son of his uncle, Sultan [[Abdulaziz|Abdul Aziz]]. They went on hunting trips together in the forests beyond the [[Bosporus|Bosphorus]].{{sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=39}} Their bond would be tied by marriage when Vahdeddin's daughter [[Sabiha Sultan|Sabiha]] married Abdul Mejid's son [[Şehzade Ömer Faruk|Ömer Faruk]].{{sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=39}} In the years to come however, the two cousins have an intense falling out over the politics of the [[Turkish War of Independence]]. Before moving to the [[Feriye Palace]], the Şehzade had lived briefly in the mansion in [[Çengelköy]] owned by [[Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin]].{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|p=7}}

During the 33-year reign of [[Abdul Hamid II]], Vahdeddin was considered to be the sultan's closest half-brother. He gave him an allowance to supplement the money he received from the state, and gifted him his own mansion in [[Çengelköy]] which bore his name: the [[Vahdettin Pavilion]]. Vahdeddin built another house next to it on the estate for his adoptive mother Şâyeste.{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|p=7}} Sabiha explained her father's uncommonly close relationship with Abdul Hamid due to his distaste towards family intrigues, something in common with Abdul Hamid's personal paranoia. When he ascended to the throne, this closeness greatly influenced his political attitudes, such as his intense dislike of the [[Young Turks]] and the [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP), his sympathy for the British, and a wait-and-see policy to political problems.{{sfn|Bardakçı|2017|p=8}}{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=45–46}}[[File:Sultan Mehmed VI LCCN2014708082.tif|thumb|
Mehmed in 1915]]

Much of Vahdeddin's princedom, especially under Abdul Hamid II, was spend in luxurious peace, without care for politics or conflict. After all, during Abdul Hamid's reign, he was behind the dethroned Sultan [[Murad V]], [[Mehmed V|Reşad Efendi]], [[Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin|Kemaleddin Efendi]], [[Şehzade Selim Süleyman|Süleyman Efendi]], and [[Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin|Yusuf İzzeddin Efendi]] in the succession.{{Sfn|Gingeras|2022|p=90}} At Feriye he liked to host guests, and frequently organized music parties with his [[fasıl]] band, which consisted of musician apprentices whom he personally took care of in training. Many of the most popular contemporary Ottoman musicians of the time frequented his Çengelköy Pavillion. While Vahdeddin was not one for pomp and flamboyancy, he did care for fashion. He was one of the best dressed princes of the royal family, and his first consort [[Nazikeda Kadın (wife of Mehmed VI)|Nazikeda Hanım]] made sure their daughters dressed in the most contemporary styles, which invited compliments from Abdul Hamid and other members of the royal family.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=43–44}} 

In 1909, at the age of 46, he took his first steps outside of Istanbul when he accompanied his half-brother, the new Sultan [[Mehmed V|Mehmed V Reşad]] on a tour of [[Bursa]]. He accompanied him for another royal tour of [[Edirne]] a year later.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=59–60}}

One of his first conflicts with the CUP was when he harbored an anti-Unionist, Şaban Efendi, in his palace in the aftermath of the [[1913 Ottoman coup d'état|1913 coup d'état]]. [[Mahmud Shevket Pasha|Mahmud Şevket Pasha]] obtained an arrest warrant for the man, and had Vahdeddin's palace surrounded. Vahdeddin didn't consent to the soldiers entering his palace, saying he would shoot dead anyone who attempted to enter in order to arrest an innocent man taking refuge in his palace. He was able to facilitate Şaban's escape to Egypt. Vahdeddin's attitude during this situation made Şevket Pasha furious, and their dispute could only be mulled over by Abdul Mejid's mediation. Nevertheless, under the Unionist dictatorship, Vahdeddin's happy-go-lucky life in Çengelköy moved on, save for the spies and surveillance officers which were reporting his activities to the CUP's Central Committee.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=57–58, 63}}

He held a quiet rivalry with his half-brother Crown Prince İzzeddin and repeatedly requested that [[Mehmed V|Sultan Mehmed V]] retract İzzeddin as heir apparent. In the end İzzeddin unexpectedly committed suicide on 1 February 1916, putting Vahdeddin on track to succeed his brother upon his death.{{Sfn|Gingeras|2022|p=90}}