Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1839 to 1861 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abdülmecid I (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجيد اول, romanized: ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, Turkish: I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 1823 – 25 June 1861) was the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839.[4] His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories.
| Abdulmejid I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottoman Caliph Amir al-Mu'minin Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Khan | |||||
 Portrait by Konstantin Cretius | |||||
| Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Padishah) | |||||
| Reign | 2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861 | ||||
| Predecessor | Mahmud II | ||||
| Successor | Abdulaziz | ||||
| Grand Viziers | |||||
| Born | 25 April 1823[1][2] Constantinople, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Died | 25 June 1861 (aged 38) Constantinople, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Burial | Yavuz Selim Mosque, Fatih, Istanbul | ||||
| Consorts | Servetseza Kadın Şevkefza Kadın Tirimüjgan Kadın Verdicenan Kadın Gülcemal Kadın Gülistu Kadın Rahime Perestu Kadın Bezmiara Kadın Mahitab Kadın Düzdidil Hanım Nükhetseza Hanım Zeynifelek Hanım Nesrin Hanım Ceylanyar Hanım Serfiraz Hanım Nalandil Hanım Navekimisal Hanım Nergizev Hanım Şayeste Hanım Others | ||||
| Issue Among others | |||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Ottoman | ||||
| Father | Mahmud II | ||||
| Mother | Bezmiâlem Sultan | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Tughra |  | ||||
Abdülmecid's greatest achievement was the announcement of the Tanzimat Edict upon his accession, prepared by his then Foreign Minister Mustafa Reshid Pasha, which effectively began the reorganization of the Ottoman Empire in 1839. Abdülmecid was a mild-mannered monarch, giving the Sublime Porte the autonomy needed for its reform projects. One of the main goals of the Tanzimat (Reorganization) was to encourage Ottomanism among the millets to stop rising nationalist movements within the empire, but despite new laws and reforms to integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into Ottoman society, in the long term, the movement failed.
Abdülmecid forged alliances with the major powers of Western Europe, namely the United Kingdom and France, which fought alongside the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War against Russia. During the Congress of Paris on 30 March 1856, the Ottoman Empire was officially included among the Concert of Europe. Abdülmecid suddenly died of tuberculosis and was succeeded by his half-brother, Abdul Aziz.
Abdülmecid was born on 25 April 1823 at Beşiktaş Palace or at Topkapı Palace, in Istanbul. His mother was the Georgian consort Bezmiâlem Kadın.[5][6][7][8]
Abdülmecid received a European education and was the first sultan to speak fluent French.[1] Like Abdülaziz who succeeded him, he was interested in literature and classical music.
When Abdülmecid acceded to the throne on 2 July 1839, he was only sixteen and inexperienced, and the affairs of the Ottoman Empire were in a critical state. His father Mahmud II died at the start of the Second Egyptian–Ottoman War, the news reached Istanbul that the empire's army had just 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 during the Oriental Crisis of 1840, 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) which saved the empire from greater embarrassment.[1]
Like his father, Abdülmecid was an advocate of reforms and was lucky enough to have the support of progressive viziers such as Mustafa Reşit Pasha, Mehmet Emin Âli Pasha and Fuad Pasha. Abdülmecid was also the first sultan to listen directly to the public's complaints on special reception days, which were usually held every Friday. Abdülmecid 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. In compliance with his father's express instructions, Abdülmecid immediately carried out the reforms to which Mahmud II had devoted himself. On 3 November 1839, the Edict of Gülhane, also known as Tanzimat Fermanı, was proclaimed, consolidating and enforcing these reforms.
By these enactments it was provided that the sultan's subjects of all classes 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 more remote parts of the empire. More than one conspiracy was formed against the sultan's life on account of it.[9]
The 1840s saw the creation of the first banknotes and the establishment of the Ottoman lira. The financial system was reorganised after the French model. Tax farming was abolished and aşar was to be equally levied everywhere. Plans were also set to abolish slave markets.[10] After the Imperial Reform Edict, further reforms towards equality between millets were implemented, including the abolition of a capitation tax which imposed higher tariffs on non-Muslims and the right to serve as soldiers in the Ottoman army.[1]
Other French-inspired reforms included the reorganization of the Civil and Criminal Code and the reorganization of education. The General Council of Education (Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye) was created in 1841, followed by the Ministry of Education.[1] A new system of civil and criminal courts was established with both European and Ottoman judges.[1] The first modern universities and academies in the European tradition were established in 1848, coinciding with the founding of an Ottoman school in Paris.[1]
Many army reforms were also implemented in the early 1840s, including the introduction of conscription.[1] In 1844, an Ottoman national flag was adopted and Abdul Mecid's anthem was adopted as the Ottoman imperial anthem.
In 1853 the General Council of Reorganization (Meclis-i Âli-i Tanzimat) was established. Two representatives from each eyalet were summoned to a council to report the needs of their region. This was the prototype of the First Ottoman Parliament (1876).
Another notable reform was that the turban was officially outlawed for the first time during Abdülmecid'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).
When Lajos Kossuth and his comrades sought refuge in Turkey after the failure of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the sultan was called on by Austria and Russia to surrender them, but he refused.[1]
According to legend,[11][12][13] plans were made to send humanitarian aid of £10,000[10] (£1,225,053.76 in 2019[14]) to Ireland during its Great Famine, but later it was agreed to reduce it to £1,000[10] (£122,505.38 in 2019[14]) at the insistence of either his own ministers or British diplomats to avoid violating protocol by giving more than Queen Victoria, who had made a donation of £2,000.[10] Food and grain were also sent.[15]
On 16 October 1853, the Ottoman Empire entered another war against Russia that would be known as the Crimean War, where it was soon joined by France and Britain. The Ottomans successfully participated in the war and were winning signatories at the Treaty of Paris (1856). The Empire would be inducted into the Concert of Europe. In a compromise with the Great Powers, Abdul Mecid issued another reform edict in February 1856 known as the Imperial Reform Edict (Islâhat Hatt-ı Hümâyûnu) which was perceived by many subjects as relinquishing sovereignty. The Ottoman Empire received the first of its foreign loans on 25 August 1854 during the 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 Abdülmecid's brother Abdülaziz.[9]
On the one hand, financial imperfections, and on the other hand, the discontent caused by the wide privileges given to the non-Muslim subjects again led the country to confusion. His attempts at strengthening his base in the Balkans were overshadowed by incidents that took place in Montenegro in 1858 and Bosnia. In 1861 he was forced to give up Lebanon through the creation of the Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon.[1]
The major European states had taken the opportunity to intervene in their own interests. Ottoman statesmen panicked in the face of this situation. The fact that Abdülmecid could not prevent this situation further increased the dissatisfaction caused by the Edict of Tanzimat.[16] The opponents formed the Society of Fedâis which sought to eliminate Abdülmecid and put Abdulaziz on the throne in order to prevent the European states from acting like a guardian. This revolt attempt, the Küleli Incident, was suppressed before it even started on 14 September 1859. Meanwhile, the financial situation deteriorated and foreign debts, which were taken under heavy conditions to cover the costs of war, placed a burden on the treasury. All of the debts received from Beyoğlu consumers exceeded eighty million gold liras. Some of the debt securities and hostages were taken by foreign traders and bankers. The Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, who criticized this situation harshly, was dismissed by the sultan on 18 October 1859.[16]
The Egyptian governor Mehmed Ali Pasha[who?], who came to Istanbul as the official invitation of the sultan on 19 July 1846, was shown privileged hospitality by the sultan and the vükela (government ministers). So much so that the old vizier built the Galata bridge in 1845 so that he could drive between Beșiktaș Palace and Bab-ı Ali.[17]
Although he emphasized his commitment to the ceremonial rules imposed by his ancestors at the ceremonies reflected outside, he adopted radical changes in the life of the palace. For example, he abandoned the Topkapı Palace, which the Ottoman dynasty had used for four centuries, and constructed the more modern Dolmabahçe Palace. Between 1847 and 1849 he had repairs made to the Hagia Sophia mosque. He also founded the first French Theatre in Istanbul.[1]
Many reconstruction activities were also carried out during the reign of Abdülmecid. Palaces and mansions were built with some of the borrowed money. An addition to Dolmabahçe Palace (1853), Beykoz Pavilion (1855), Küçüksu Pavilion (1857), Küçük Mecidiye Mosque (1849), Teşvikiye Mosque (1854) are among the main architectural works of the period. Again in this period, as was done by Bezmiâlem Sultan's Gureba Hospital (1845-1846), the new Galata Bridge was put into service on the same date. In addition, many fountains, mosques, lodges and similar social institutions were repaired or rebuilt.[16]
Abdülmecid 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 Abdulaziz, son of Pertevniyal Sultan. At the time of his death, Abdülmecid had one legal wife and queen consort, Perestu Kadın, and many concubines.
Abdülmecid would not allow conspirators against his 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."[9]
1851: Founder of the Order of the Medjidie;[18]
1856: Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword;
5 November 1856: Stranger Knight of the Garter;[19]
20 March 1860: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold;[20]
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.
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Abdülmecid had one of the most numerous harem of the dynasty. He is known to be the first sultan whose harem was not composed of slave girls but, due to the progressive abolition of slavery in the Ottoman Empire, of girls of free birth, noble or bourgeois, sent to the sultan by the will of the families. He was also the first sultan whose harem assumed a defined hierarchical structure which included four Kadın, followed by four Ikbal, four gözde and a variable number of minor concubines.
Abdülmecid I had at least twenty-six consorts, but only two were also legal wives:[21][22][23][24][25]
Abdülmecid had at least nineteen sons:[21][22][26][24]
Abdülmecid I had at least twenty-seven daughters:[21][22][27][24][25]
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