Rukiye Hanım

Rukiye Hanım, whose date of birth has not been identified, was the daughter of Uncuzâde Mustafa Efendi, former judge of Mecca. Although her gravestone gives no further information about her own occupation or family life, her father’s office clearly shows the learned circle to which she belonged.

The judgeship of Mecca was one of the prestigious high-ranking judgeships in the Ottoman learned hierarchy. The term “mevleviyet,” used for high-ranking judgeships, also included judgeships in centres of great religious and symbolic importance such as Mecca.

Rukiye Hanım’s presence in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery at the early date of 1799 is also noteworthy. This section of the Fatih Mosque Cemetery began to take shape after 1780, and in the Ottoman period burial here required permission from the palace, that is, from the sultan. In this context, although Rukiye Hanım cannot be definitively identified as part of the palace elite, her grave should be considered within the presence of distinguished learned families in the early cemetery whose burial could have been subject to palace permission.

The records of Abdürrahim Molla, Hüseyin Rıza Efendi and Raşid Muhammed Efendi in the same cemetery also show that the Uncuzâde family continued as a learned-judicial family around Fatih in the early nineteenth century.

Rukiye Hanım died in 1799 and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.