Sultan Abdülmecid

Thirty first Ottoman padishah (B. April 25^th, 1823, Istanbul – D. June 25^th, 1861, Istanbul). He was the oldest of Sultan Mahmud II from Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan. He became the sultan at an age of seventeen upon his father’s death in July 1839. It is stated in the sources that Sultan Abdülmecid, who is described as having a thin and slender body and being handsome, had a polite, intelligent, compassionate, sensitive, just and beneficent personality, but he was an indecisive, spender person, fond of drinking, amusement and adornments. Since his childhood, he received decent education and was raised with Western culture. He spoke French well and liked the Western music. He was a reformist like his father Mahmud II. He was the first sultan to ever listen to the problems of the public at first hand. As a sultan of Tanzimat (T. N. Reform) era, in spite of ruling the state himself as it was in the classical era, he was ruling the state through his bureaucrats.

Abdülmecid was a sultan that was not seen out of harem much and he took more women lords to his harem compared to other sultans of his era. It is written in sources that he had nineteen women lords and three favorites. He had 37 children that were born from these relationships. Nine of these children were male and others were female. After him, among his children, Prince Murad, Prince Abdülaziz, Mehmet Reşad and Mehmed Vahdeddin VI succeeded him as sultans.

When Sultan Abdülmecid ascended to the throne, he informed the foreigner that the reforms were going continue. This imperial order, which was read in Gülhane by Mustafa Reşit Pasha, was actually an imperial order of submission to the West. With the famous “Imperial Order” that was published, Ottoman palace’s habit of ruling the country by Western inculcations and pressures, and submission to the West was becoming more institutionalized.

Soon after, this submissive policy started to yield its bad results. Conflict and schism in the state bureaucracy always left Sultan Abdülmecid in a difficult situation since the first days that he ascended the throne. Besides, with Nizip defeat (June 24^th, 1839), the state entered a very critical period. Upon this defeat of Abdülmecid, Mehmed Ali Pasha gave up from coming to an agreement with the sultan, and also he wanted Syria, Adana and Maraş to be given to him other than the Egypt. Furthermore, the Egypt problem turned into Europe problem with a joint note sent by the states such as France, Russia, Austria and Prussia.

Given the conditions of the period, Sultan Abdülmecid evaluated this intervention as normal and believed that Europeans were going to save him from the custody of Russia. As a matter of fact, the intervention of European states narrowed the elbow room of Mehmed Ali Pasha. European states sending an ultimatum to Mehmed Ali Pasha wanted Syria to remain in Ottomans’ hands and clearly stated that if their decision was not abided by, they were going to use forcible means. However, because France switched to Mehmed Ali Pasha’s side, the effect of this ultimatum decreased and Mehmed Ali Pasha got emboldened. Hence, England did not hesitate to exert its authority to resolve the Egypt problem and held a conference in London with the participation of Austria, Russia and Prussia. Ottoman Empire, who joined the conference later, signed a treaty, Convention of London, with these countries on July 15^th, 1840. In case of its enforcement, this treaty gave Syria and its fleet back to the Ottoman Empire and as a concession it granted Mehmed Ali Pasha the right to pass on his governorship of Egypt to his son. On the other hand, England, Austria, Prussia and Russia were granting full protection to Ottoman Empire by declaring that they guaranteed the territorial integrity of Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, the defeat that Mehmed Ali Pasha suffered in Syria forced France to act in unison with England and hence with the Treaty of Alexandria signed by Egypt on November 27^th, 1840, Egypt returned the Syrian lands and the fleet to the Ottomans and was forced to accept its loyalty to the sultan, and thus the Egypt problem was resolved.

 In fact, another important aspect of the fact that Egypt problem turned into an international issue was that it encouraged those who struggled for an autonomous status within the Ottoman Empire. Hence, the great powers’ struggle for power in the Middle East and the Straits led to the breakout of separatist uprisings in Syria and Lebanon. Fortunately, Hungarian Nationalists, who found support from the Ottoman Empire, escaped the pursuit of Austria and took refuge in Ottoman Empire. When Austria and Russia, who helped Ottomans in suppressing the uprising of the Hungarians, wanted the return of the refugees, Abdülmecid did not return them despite the war threats. The attitude of Ottoman Empire, who sent troops to Wallachia to show that it would not just sit back and watch, turned into a problem that gradually tensed the relations between the Ottoman Empire and Russia and posed a danger. However on May 1^st, 1849, by signing the Convention of Balta Limanı they resolved the refugee problem. Russia was acknowledged the right to have the authority in the region that was provided by this agreement. In the meantime, Russia, who brought forward the holy lands in order to dismember the Ottoman Empire, demanded the patronage of the Orthodox Ottoman citizens to be given to itself. When the Ottoman Empire considered this as an intervention to its domestic affairs and rejected the demand, Russia sent troops to Wallachia and Moldavia and invaded these lands. Thereon, Sultan Abdülmecid, relying a bit on other states such as England and France, declared war on Russia (1854). Destruction of the Ottoman navy in the port of Sinop by the Russians angered these two countries.

 Hence, the war that passed into the history as the Crimean War started. The war was named the Crimean War because the allied forces laid siege on Sevastopol and declared Crimean as the battlefield. While the allied forces managed to capture Sevastopol on September 8^th, 1855, Russia captured Kars. However, because Russia’s achievement was limited to capturing Kars only the peace treaty that was signed on March 30^th, 1856 was to the detriment of the Russians. Because, other countries’ intervention in the independence and territorial integrity of Ottoman Empire was prevented and the straits were shut down to the Russian warships by this treaty. The fact that European states dealt a major blow to Russia’s policy of advancing southwards helped Abdülmecid to feel at ease with the northern borders until the end of his reign. However, these developments continued to produce results that were unfavorable for the Ottoman Empire; all domestic uprisings on the borders of Ottoman Empire were now considered as an international issue.

The events that left their mark in the reign of Abdülmecid were generally the legal and administrative arrangements that were known as Tanzimat Fermanı (Hatt-i Sharif) and Islahat Fermanı (Hatt-ı Hümayun). Tanzimat Fermanı, which is also known as “Gülhane Hatt-ı Hümayunu” (edict of the sultan) or “Tanzimat-ı Hayriye” (beneficial arrangements), came into force on November 3^rd, 1839, by being proclaimed in Gülhane Park. In fact, Tanzimat Fermanı was proclaimed in order to please certain European governments that supported the Ottoman Empire in the Egypt problem and to maintain their support. However, this rescript was far from pleasing the Muslims and non-Muslims. But, implementing the reforms brought by the rescript was difficult not only because of the reactions but also because of financial difficulties. This rescript, which symbolized a significant change in the mentality of Ottoman Empire, was found insufficient although it pleased the non-Muslim folk. However, Abdülmecid’s reforms in legal area were remarkable reforms. Meclis-i Ali-i Tanzimat (the institution that was charged with preparing the laws, bylaws and reform implementations), which was established in 1853, took over the legislative power of Meclis-i Vâlâ-yı Ahkâm-ı Adliye (a court that functions like state council to a certain extent), which was founded before. Mec­lis-i Âli-i Tanzimat was charged with regulating all the reforms. Local councils were established around the governors in the provinces. In these councils, right of representation was granted to non-Muslims as well.

In this period, significant steps were taken in educational field as well. According to a law that was prepared by Meclis-i Maârif-i Umumiyye, which consisted of all the intellectuals of the period, primary education was going to be compulsory and both primary education and secondary education were going to be free and a da­rülfünun (university) was going to be founded. Accordingly, Mekâtib-i Umumiyye Nezâreti (Ministry of Education) was established in 1847 to deal with the works related to primary and secondary education. Primary schools and junior high schools were reorganized. First junior high school for girls was opened in 1858 in Istanbul. In 1849, dârül maârif (high school), which was going to provide education on a level between junior high schools and darülfünun (university), was founded. As of 1845 the military schools were divided into three and then War Academy was founded. In 1847, the first teacher’s school was opened under the name “Dârülmuallimin”. Along with many vocational schools such as Ziraat Mektebi (T. N. Agriculture School) (1847), Orman Mektebi (T. N. Forestry School) (1859), Telgraf Mektebi (T. N. Telegraph School) (1860), Ebe Mektebi (T. N. Midwife School) (1842), which was attached to Mekteb-i Tıbbiyye (T. N. Medical School), and many more, Encümen-i Daniş (T.N. Privy Council), which was considered as the first science academy that had many foreign and native scientist members, was founded. Simplification of Turkish and writing of the Ottoman history began in the care of this institution. Despite all these arrangements, works and arrangements that were made in the educational field in the era of Abdülmecid did not achieve a complete success.

Significant reforms were made in the treasury. Tax farming (collection of taxes through mediators) was abrogated and the task of collecting the taxes was entrusted to certified officials, which were on the same level as governors and which were to be sent from the central government. However, new financial measures that were adopted without making any preparations led to certain conflicts and confusions. Income of the state declined and thereon money bills were printed for the first time under the name “kâime-i mu’tebere” and tax farming system was adopted again. As of 1848, the Ottoman treasury entered a period of constant depression. External debt was borrowed for the first time in order to cover the heavy expenses brought by the Crimean War. Hence, important state sources of income were mortgaged in return for each debt.

Abdülmecid went on country trips from time to time to see the difficulties that were confronted in the implementation of Tanzimat. He had palaces, manor houses and social institutions built with some part of the external debts he had borrowed. Dolmabahçe Palace (1853), Beykoz Pavilion (1855), Küçüksu Pavilion (1857), Mecidiye Mosque (1849), Teşvikiye Mosque (1854) Hırka-i Şerif Mosque (1851) are the major works of his era. Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan had the Gureba Hospital built (1845-1846) and a new Galata Bridge was put into service in the same year. Sultan Abdülmecid could not recover from the tuberculosis he caught and passed away in Istanbul while he was 38 years old, after a sultanate period (1^st July, 1839-25^th June, 1861) that consisted of reform conflicts, wars and depressions both within and outside the country.

Sultan Abdülmecid, who was also a calligraphist, by taking lessons from one of the famous calligraphists of that period, Tahir Efendi, wrote beautiful calligraphies in thuluth, jeli and ruq’ah styles. Some of these are found in Dolmabahçe Mosque and Ortaköy Mosque. His works are also in many mosques such as Yakacık Mosque and in museums and special collections.