But his own frail physical and mental health made his reign unstable, and Murad V was deposed in favor of his half-brother Abdul Hamid II after only 93 days.

His family used to spend their winters in the crown prince's apartments located in the Dolmabahçe Palace and the Nisbetiye Mansion.

Şinasi, whom he met frequently, exchanged ideas with Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha on constitutionalism, democracy and freedom.

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.

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.

[20] 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.

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 both physically and mentally healthy, and supported their plans to introduce parliamentary government to the Empire.

[26] During the incident, Ali Suavi, a radical political opponent of Abdul Hamid's authoritarian regime, stormed the palace with a band of armed refugees from the recent Russo-Turkish War.

[28] But he did not reach the ship,[29] and Ali Suavi's men were unable to overcome the Beşiktaş police prefect Hacı Hasan Pasha's fierce resistance.

[31] According to "İngiliz" ("English") Said Pasha,[32] moments before his death, Ali Suavi took Murad's arm and said to him, "O our Lord, come, deliver us from the Muscovites."

Reports through the years claimed that he languished in prison, or escaped and was hiding, or lectured his brother on the Armenian troubles.

[23] While his senior consort Mevhibe Kadın and his son Selahaddin reported that Murad was willing to be buried in the mausoleum of Yahya Efendi, Abdul Hamid did not approve of it.