Abdülmecid I (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجيد اول Abdülmecîd-i evvel; 23/25
April 1823 – 25 June 1861) or Tanzimatçı Sultan Abdülmecid (Sultan
Abdülmecid the Reorganizer) due to the Tanzimat reforms he conducted, he
is also known as Abdulmejid and similar spellings, was the 31st Sultan
of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839.
His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the
empire's territories. Abdulmejid wanted to encourage Ottomanism among
the secessionist subject nations and stop the rise of nationalist
movements within the empire, but failed to succeed despite trying to
integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into Ottoman society
with new laws and reforms. He tried to forge alliances with the major
powers of Western Europe, namely the United Kingdom and France, who
fought alongside the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War against Russia.
In the following Congress of Paris on 30 March 1856, the Ottoman Empire
was officially included among the European family of nations.
Abdulmejid's biggest achievement was the announcement and application of
the Tanzimat (reorganization) reforms which were prepared by his father
and effectively started the modernization of the Ottoman Empire in
1839. For this achievement, one of the Imperial anthems of the Ottoman
Empire, the March of Abdulmejid, was named after him.
Abdulmejid was
born at the Beşiktaş Sahil Palace or at the Topkapı Palace, both in
Istanbul. His mother was his father's first wife in 1839, Valide Sultan
Bezmiâlem, originally named Suzi (1807–1852), either a Circassian or
Georgian slave.
Abdulmejid received a European education and
spoke fluent French, the first sultan to do so.[1] Like Abdülaziz who
succeeded him, he was interested in literature and classical music. Like
his father Mahmud II, he was an advocate of reforms and was lucky
enough to have the support of progressive viziers such as Mustafa Reşit
Pasha, Mehmet Emin Ali Paşa and Fuad Pasha. Throughout his reign he had
to struggle against conservatives who opposed his reforms. Abdulmejid
was also the first sultan to directly listen to the public's complaints
on special reception days, which were usually held every Friday without
any middlemen. Abdulmejid toured the empire's territories to see in
person how the Tanzimat reforms were being applied. He travelled to
İzmit, Mudanya, Bursa, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Lemnos, Lesbos and Chios in
1844 and toured the Balkan provinces in 1846.
Reign
When
Abdulmejid succeeded to the throne, the affairs of the Ottoman Empire
were in a critical state. At the time his father died, the news reached
Istanbul that the empire's army had been defeated at Nizip by the army
of the rebel Egyptian viceroy, Muhammad Ali. At the same time, the
empire's fleet was on its way to Alexandria, where it was handed over to
Muhammad Ali by its commander Ahmed Fevzi Pasha, on the pretext that
the young sultan's advisers had sided with Russia. However, through the
intervention of the European powers, Muhammad Ali was obliged to come to
terms, and the Ottoman Empire was saved from further attacks while its
territories in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine were restored. The terms
were finalised at the Convention of London (1840).
Sultan Abdulmejid (left) with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Napoleon III of France
Dolmabahçe
Palace, the first European-style palace in Istanbul, was built by
Abdulmejid between 1843 and 1856, at a cost of five million Ottoman gold
pounds, the equivalent of 35 tons of gold. Fourteen tons of gold was
used to adorn the interior ceiling of the palace. The world's largest
Bohemian crystal chandelier, a gift from Queen Victoria, is in the
centre hall. The palace has the largest collection of Bohemian and
Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world, and even the staircases are
made of Baccarat crystal.
During the reign of Abdulmejid, besides
European style architecture and European style clothing adopted by the
court, the Ottoman educational system was also mainly based on the
European model.
In compliance with his father's express
instructions, Abdulmejid immediately carried out the reforms to which
Mahmud II had devoted himself. In November 1839 an edict known as the
Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane, also known as Tanzimat Fermanı was proclaimed,
consolidating and enforcing these reforms. The edict was supplemented at
the close of the Crimean War by a similar statute issued in February
1856, named the Hatt-ı Hümayun. By these enactments it was provided that
all classes of the sultan's subjects should have their lives and
property protected; that taxes should be fairly imposed and justice
impartially administered; and that all should have full religious
liberty and equal civil rights. The scheme met with strong opposition
from the Muslim governing classes and the ulema, or religious
authorities, and was only partially implemented, especially in the
remoter parts of the empire. More than one conspiracy was formed against
the sultan's life on account of it.
The most important reform measures promoted by Abdulmejid were:
Introduction of the first Ottoman paper banknotes (1840)
Reorganisation of the army, including the introduction of conscription (1842–1844)
Adoption of an Ottoman national anthem and Ottoman national flag (1844)
Reorganisation of the finance system according to the French model
Reorganisation of the Civil and Criminal Code according to the French model
Reorganisation of the court system, establishing a system of civil and
criminal courts with both European and Ottoman judges.
Establishment of the Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye (1845) which was the prototype of the First Ottoman Parliament (1876)
Institution of a council of public instruction (1846)
Creation of the Ministry of Education
Plans to send humanitarian aid of £10,000[10] (£1,028,827.55 in
2019[11]) to Ireland during its Great Famine, but later agreed to reduce
it to £1,000[10] (£2.483 million in 2013[12]) at the insistence of
British diplomats wishing to avoid embarrassing Queen Victoria, who had
made a donation of £2000.
Plans to abolish slave markets (1847)
Plans to build a Protestant chapel (1847)
Establishment of modern universities and academies (1848)
Establishment of an Ottoman school in Paris
Abolition of a capitation tax which imposed higher tariffs on non-Muslims (1856)
Non-Muslims were allowed to become soldiers in the Ottoman army (1856)
Various provisions for the better administration of the public service and for the advancement of commerce
New land laws confirming the right of ownership (1858)
Decriminalisation of homosexuality (1858)
Another
notable reform was that the turban was officially outlawed for the
first time during Abdulmejid's reign, in favour of the fez. European
fashions were also adopted by the Court. (The fez would be banned in
1925 by the same Republican National Assembly that abolished the
sultanate and proclaimed the Turkish Republic in 1923).
Samuel
Morse received his first ever patent for the telegraph in 1847, at the
old Beylerbeyi Palace (the present Beylerbeyi Palace was built in
1861–1865 on the same location) in Istanbul, which was issued by Sultan
Abulmejid who personally tested the new invention.
When Kossuth
and others sought refuge in Turkey after the failure of the Hungarian
uprising in 1849, the sultan was called on by Austria and Russia to
surrender them, but he refused.[1] He also would not allow the
conspirators against his own life to be put to death. The 1911
Encyclopædia Britannica says of him, "He bore the character of being a
kind and honourable man, if somewhat weak and easily led. Against this,
however, must be set down his excessive extravagance, especially towards
the end of his life."
In 1844 he created the Ottoman lira and in 1852 he instituted the Order of the Medjidie.
The
Ottoman Empire received the first of its foreign loans on 25 August
1854 during the Crimean War. This major foreign loan was followed by
those of 1855, 1858 and 1860, which culminated in default and led to the
alienation of European sympathy from the Ottoman Empire and indirectly
to the later dethronement and death of Abdulmejid's brother Abdülaziz.
His
success in foreign relations was not as notable as his domestic
accomplishments. His reign started off with the defeat of his forces by
the Viceroy of Egypt and the subsequent signing of the Convention of
London (1840), which saved his empire from a greater embarrassment. The
Ottomans successfully participated in the Crimean War and were winning
signatories at the Treaty of Paris (1856). His attempts at strengthening
his base in the Balkans failed in Bosnia and Montenegro, and in 1861 he
was forced to give up Lebanon by the Concert of Europe.
He
restored the Hagia Sophia between 1847 and 1849, and was responsible for
the construction of the Dolmabahçe Palace. He also founded the first
French Theatre in Istanbul.
He was made the 717th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1856 and the 52nd Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword.
Death
Abdulmejid
died of tuberculosis (like his father) at the age of 38 on 25 June 1861
in Istanbul, and was buried in Yavuz Selim Mosque, and was succeeded by
his younger half-brother Sultan Abdülaziz, son of Pertevniyal Sultan. |
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