Word: abdule
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Abdullah Ibn Hussein, scion of the proud Hashemite family, lived in his youth in "honorable captivity" i.e., as a hostage for the good behavior of his powerful relatives, at the court of Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid, who cut off heads with considerably less thought than Cromwell ever gave the matter. But Abdullah preferred to satisfy his great ambition-and check his many enemies-through subtler means. He seemed to have a natural knack for the subtle games of power. At Abdul Hamid's court the youngster, who was born and raised (until 10) in a harem, came to realize...
Feisal II, * 16, King of Iraq, already safe on his strawberry-colored throne in Bagdad. He has been twelve years a monarch (but not yet a ruler; Iraq is governed in Feisal's name by 38-year-old Regent Abdul Illah, the boy King's crafty, effeminate uncle). Weaned on a well-balanced formula of British manners and Arab morals (an English governess taught him etiquette in the mornings; Queen Mother Aliyah read Islamic literature in the evenings), swarthy Feisal grew up a toytown prince, boxed in by such old-fashioned playthings as a 3-ft.-long General...
...when he is 18, Feisal will replace Abdul Illah as constitutional ruler of Iraq. Thousands of the Faithful hope the black-eyed little King will unite the Arab lands. Speaking of the Middle East, he once said: "Why those frontiers? We all speak the same language...
...like many a reformer, Midhat made enemies in high places during his years of service. Some time after Abdul Mejid died, the Russian ambassador at Constantinople used his friendship with the Queen Mother to get Midhat recalled from the Balkans. Midhat squared himself with the new Sultan, Abdul Aziz, and was soon appointed Grand Vizier of the Empire. From this lofty eminence he discov. ered that the Sultan was growing rich, at his country's expense, on bribes from a wealthy Austrian railroad man. Midhat appealed to the Sultan's conscience. The Sultan returned the bribes and sulkily...
Plot & Prison. Abdul Hamid was a devious, scheming tyrant who hated Reformer Midhat, chiefly because the latter had written a constitution for Turkey. The new Sultan reappointed Midhat as Grand Vizier and set an army of spies to watch him. Soon he had cooked up enough phony charges to banish Midhat and all his followers. Responding to diplomatic pressure, Abdul Hamid restored Midhat to imperial grace. In 1879, however, he had Midhat arrested for the "scissor-murder" of Abdul Aziz...