Sultan Abdul Hamid's Last Days

Author: Nahid Sırrı Örik

The novel delves into one of the most crucial periods of late Ottoman history, beginning with Sultan Abdul Hamid's declaration of the "Second Constitutional Monarchy" a year before his deposition, and the reinstatement of the constitution that had been suspended for thirty years. It highlights the political conflicts during Sultan Abdul Hamid's final days between the pashas and the men of the "Committee of Union and Progress," through the old minister Muhammad Shihab al-Din Pasha, whose daughter, Na'mat, tries to save him with the help of Şefik Bey, a man of the Committee of Union and Progress and a promising future figure. After marrying him, we see how she uses him for her own interests and how state affairs are managed through personal relationships. This novel serves as an unbiased document about that ambiguous period where facts are obscured between the supporters and enemies of Sultan Abdul Hamid. Director Kemal Bekir adapted it into a play titled "Fall," and director Ziya Öztanali adapted it into a film. "Nahid Sırrı Örik" was a Turkish writer and translator born in Istanbul in 1895. He studied in Europe and lived in several European cities before returning to Turkey in 1928. He worked in translation, contributing to the translation of Voltaire and Balzac into Turkish, and published numerous novels, stories, and plays. He continued writing a newspaper column for "Cumhuriyet" until his death in 1960.