LOT-ME08. For your consideration is an exceedingly rare and important one of a kind museum quality Royal antique Imperial Ottoman Empire solid silver Sultan Murad V Tughra Belt Buckle, c.1876. This Ottoman Empire Sultan Mughal Ruler belt and buckle is not a reproduction.

This original belt buckle is one of a kind and an original masterpiece of Persian / Islamic Art. Weight is approximately 87g. The solid sterling silver Royal Sultanic Tughra measures approximately 115mm (height) x 95mm (width). Royal Silver Ottoman tughra is not marked or signed. Silver belt buckle is an original work of art. Guaranteed original and authentic.

Sultan Murad V (Ottoman Turkish: مراد خامس‎; Turkish: V. Murad; 21 September 1840 – 29 August 1904) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire who reigned from 30 May to 31 August 1876.

Murad V was born as Şehzade Mehmed Murad on 21 September 1840 in the Çırağan Palace in Istanbul. His father was Sultan Abdulmejid I, son of Sultan Mahmud II and Bezmiâlem Sultan. His mother was Şevkefza Kadın, an ethnic Circassian from the Ubykh tribe, daughter of Mehmed Bey Zaurum and his wife Cemile Hanım.

In September 1847, aged seven, he was ceremoniously circumcised together with his younger half-brother, Şehzade Abdul Hamid.

Murad was educated in the palace. His tutors included Toprik Süleyman Efendi, who taught him the Quran, Ferrik Efendi, who taught him Ottoman Turkish language, Sheikh Hafız Efendi, who taught him Hadith (the traditions of Muhammad), Monsieur Gardet, who taught him French, and Callisto Guatelli and Italian Lombardi, who taught him to play piano.

After Abdulaziz assended the throne after the death of Sultan Abdulmejid in 1861, Murad became the heir to the throne. He spent most of his time at his farmhouse in Kurbağalıdere which Abdulaziz had allocated to him. His family used to spend their winters in the crown princes apartments located in the Dolmabahçe Palace and the Nisbetiye Mansion.

He participated in the visits of Abdulaziz to Egypt in 1863 and to Europe in 1867. While he was appreciated by the European rulers with his kindness, his uncle, who was uncomfortable with this, had planned to send him back to Istanbul. Napoleon III and Queen Victoria, showed interest in Murad more than Abdulaziz. Moreover, special invitations and excursions were organized for the crown prince.

He frequently communicated with the New Ottomans, who wanted a constitutional regime. Şinasi, whom he met frequently, exchanged ideas with Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha on constitutionalism, democracy and freedom. Through Ziya Pasha and his private doctor Kapoleon Efendi, he also communicated with Midhat Pasha, the leading statesman of the Ottoman Tanzimat era and leader of the opposition group, dissatisfied with Sultan Abdulaziz's rule.

Murad was the first member of the Ottoman dynasty to become a member of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey. On 20 October 1872, Murad was secretly inducted into the lodge, sponsored by his chamberlain Seyyid Bey. Murad rose through the ranks in the lodge. At one point he proposed establishing an independent Ottoman lodge to be named Envar-ı Şarkiye, "Eastern Lights", with its ritual conducted in Turkish, but the plan was never realized.

Sultan Abdulaziz tried to change the succession system in favor of his own son Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin. For this purpose Abdulaziz set out to mollify different pressure groups and have his son gain popularity among them. During the 1867 visit to Europe, rumors spread that contrary to the rules of protocol Abdulaziz arranged Izzeddin's reception in Paris and London before the official heir, Prince Murad. When the conservative Mahmud Nedim Pasha became the Grand vizier in September 1871 he lent his support to Abdulaziz's plans. To further legitimize his plans, Abdulaziz tactically supported a change to primogeniture in the Muhammad Ali dynasty of Egypt. By granting primogeniture to Isma'il Pasha in 1866, Abdulaziz was clearly seeking to create a positive climate of opinion about a change in favour of his own son.

As a result, Murad cooperated with the constitutionalist circles and took part in the deposition of Abdulaziz. On the night of 29–30 May 1876, the committee led by the Midhat Pasha and the Minister of War, Hüseyin Avni Pasha, deposed Abdulaziz and raised Murad to the throne.

Though he successfully acceded to the throne, he was not capable of maintaining his place. He struggled to appear normal in his new role, so at odds with his previously quiet life of dabbling in music. His weak nerves, combined with alcoholism, led to a mental breakdown. But the death of his deposed uncle only days after his accession stunned him. The distress over the abrupt manner in which he was brought to the throne, and the demands besieging him as ruler was the anxiety that the world would assume he had ordered his uncle's murder.

Murad began to manifest bizarre behavior that preceded his complete collapse. The government leaders called in the Viennese specialist in psychiatric disorders, Dr. Max Leidesdorf, who concluded that the new Sultan could make a complete recovery with three months' treatment in a clinic. This the government leaders were unwilling to attempt. A mentally competent prince on the throne formed an essential component of their plans to implement reforms with due legitimacy. Murad’s younger brother and heir to the throne, Abdul Hamid, however, appeared eminently healthy physically and mentally, and supportive of the leaders' plans to introduce parliamentary government.

Securing the Şeyhülislam's ruling sanctioning Murad's dethronement, and Abdul Hamid's promise to proclaim a constitution, Midhat Pasha, and the Ottoman governing deposed him on 31 August 1876, after reigning for only ninety-three days on the grounds that he was mentally ill. After which his younger half-brother, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, ascended the throne. Murad was then confined to the Çırağan Palace, which Abdul Hamid didn't allow him to leave.