Reforming an Empire: Tanzimat and the Ottomans
World History Name: ______
E. Napp Date: ______
Historical Context:
“By 1800 the power and wealth of the Ottoman Empire had declined considerably from its peak in the sixteenth century during the reign of Suleiman the Lawgiver. The Turkish army of the early nineteenth century was far from being the effective fighting force that had so impressed Ambassador Busbecq during his years in Constantinople. Corruption and ineffectiveness were rife in the Janissary corps, whose members were no longer recruited by means of the devshirme (the enslavement of non-Muslim children). The Turkish bureaucracy was also infected with corruption. In addition, the Ottoman economy had been greatly weakened by currency instability and by a policy of the sultans that gave special privileges to European merchants who resided in Turkish ports.
Ottoman weakness led to territorial losses. The Austrians pushed the Turks out of Hungary, and the Russians forced them to leave the region north of the Black Sea. Between 1798 and 1801 the French occupied Ottoman Egypt; when the French departed it was due to pressure from the British rather than from the Turks. In 1805 a revolt of the Janissaries in Serbia effectively ended Ottoman control of a key region in the Balkans. During the 1820s Greek rebels – who were assisted by France and Russia – succeeded in winning their independence from the Turks.
Jolted by the decline of their once-powerful and wealthy empire, Ottoman sultans promulgated a series of significant reforms during the first three quarters of the nineteenth century. Mahmud II (reigned 1808 – 1839) abolished the Janissary corps and introduced measures whose aim was to establish a clear distinction – unusual in an Islamic society – between religious and political authority. Under Mahmud’s two sons and successors, Abdul Mejid (reigned 1839 – 1861) and Abdul Aziz (reigned 1861 – 1876), the Ottoman program of reform, known as the Tanzimat (meaning ‘restructuring’ or ‘reorganization’), became still more far-reaching. New schools that embraced European learning were established, the army was reorganized, an imperial bank began operations, and taxes were equalized for Muslims and non-Muslims. Although the attempts by the Ottoman sultans and their advisors to stave off the collapse of the empire ultimately failed, the Tanzimat reforms were nonetheless one of the most significant early efforts at modernization undertaken by a non-Western elite and invite comparison with similar attempts at reform in Russia, China, and Japan.
The basic principles of the Tanzimat reforms were laid down in two imperial rescripts issued by Sultan Abdul Mejid, the first in 1839 and the second in 1856.
~ Documents in World History
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Imperial Rescript of November 3, 1839
All the world knows that in the first days of the Ottoman monarchy, the glorious precepts of the Koran and the laws of the empire were always honored.
The empire in consequence increased in strength and greatness, and all its subjects, without exception, had risen in the highest degree to ease and prosperity. In the last one hundred and fifty years a succession of accidents and divers causes have arisen which have brought about a disregard for the sacred code of laws and the regulations flowing therefrom, and the former strength and prosperity have changed into weakness and poverty; an empire in fact loses all its stability so soon as it ceases to observe its laws.
These considerations are ever present to our mind, and ever since the day of our advent to the throne the thought of the public weal, of the improvement of the state of the provinces, and of relief to the (subject) peoples, has not ceased to engage it. If, therefore, the geographical position of the Ottoman provinces, the fertility of the soil, the aptitude and intelligence of the inhabitants are considered, the conviction will remain that by striving to find efficacious means, the result, which by the help of God we hope to attain, can be obtained within a few years. Full of confidence, therefore, in the help of the Most High, and certain of the support of our Prophet, we deem it right to seek by new institutions to give to the provinces composing the Ottoman Empire the benefit of a good administration.
These institutions must be principally carried out under three heads, which are:
1. The guarantees insuring to our subjects perfect security for life, honor, and fortune.
2. A regular system of assessing and levying taxes.
3. An equally regular system for the levying of troops and the duration of their service…
From henceforth, therefore, the cause of every accused person shall be publicly judged, as the divine law requires, after inquiry and examination, and so long as a regular judgment shall not have been pronounced, no one can secretly or publicly put another to death by poison or in any other manner.
No one shall be allowed to attack the honor of any other person whatever.
Each one shall possess his property of every kind, and shall dispose of it in all freedom, without let or hindrance from any person whatever; thus, for example, the innocent heirs of a criminal shall not be deprived of their legal rights, and the property of the criminal shall not be confiscated. These imperial concessions shall extend to all our subjects, of whatever religion or sect they may be; they shall enjoy them without exception. We therefore grant perfect security to the inhabitants of our empire in their lives, their honor, and their fortunes, as they are secured to them by the sacred text of the law…
As all the public servants of the empire receive a suitable salary, and as the salaries of those whose duties have not up to the present time been sufficiently remunerated are to be fixed, a rigorous law shall be passed against the traffic of favoritism and bribery (rüşvet), which the Divine law reprobates, and which is one of the principal causes of the decay of the empire.
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Imperial Rescript of February 18, 1856
Let it be done as herein set forth.
To you, my Grand Vizier, Mehemed Emin Ali Pasha, decorated with my Imperial order of the Medjidiye of the first class, and with the Order of Personal Merit; may God grant to you greatness, and increase your power!...
It being now my desire to renew and enlarge still more the new Institutions ordained with the view of establishing a state of things conformable with the dignity of my Empire and – …by the kind and friendly assistance of the Great Powers, my noble Allies,…The guarantees promised on our part by the Hatti-Humaïoun of Gülhané, and in conformity with the Tanzimat,…are today confirmed and consolidated, and efficacious measures shall be taken in order that they may have their full and entire effect.
All the privileges and spiritual immunities granted by my ancestors from time immemorial, and at subsequent dates, to all Christian communities or other non-Muslim persuasions established in my empire, under my protection, shall be confirmed and maintained.
Every Christian or other non-Muslim community shall be bound within a fixed period, and with the concurrence of a commission composed...of members of its own body, to proceed with my high approbation and under the inspection of my Sublime Porte, to examine into its actual immunities and privileges, and to discuss and submit to my Sublime Porte the reforms required by the progress of civilization and of the age. The powers conceded to the Christian Patriarchs and Bishops by the Sultan Mehmed II and his successors, shall be made to harmonize with the new position which my generous and beneficent intentions ensure to these communities …The ecclesiastical dues, of whatever sort of nature they be, shall be abolished and replaced by fixed revenues of the Patriarchs and heads of communities…In the towns, small boroughs, and villages, where the whole population is of the same religion, no obstacle shall be offered to the repair, according to their original plan, of buildings set apart for religious worship, for schools, for hospitals, and for cemeteries…
Every distinction or designation tending to make any class whatever of the subjects of my Empire inferior to another class, on account of their religion, language, or race, shall be forever effaced from Administrative Protocol. The laws shall be put in force against the use of any injurious or offensive term, either among private individuals or on the part of the authorities…
As all forms of religion are and shall be freely professed in my dominions, no subject of my Empire shall be hindered in the exercise of the religion that he professes…No one shall be compelled to change their religion…and…all the subjects of my Empire, without distinction of nationality, shall be admissible to public employments.... All the subjects of my Empire, without distinction, shall be received into the civil and military schools of the government.... Moreover, every community is authorized to establish public schools of science, art, and industry....
All commercial, correctional, and criminal suits between Muslims and Christian or other non-Muslim subjects, or between Christian or other non-Muslims of different sects, shall be referred to Mixed Tribunals. The proceedings of these Tribunals shall be public; the parties shall be confronted, and shall produce their witnesses, whose testimony shall be received, without distinction, upon an oath taken according to the religious law of each sect…
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