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Abdülmecid I

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Abdülmecid I
عبد المجيد اول
Caliph of Islam
Amir al-Mu'minin
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Knight of the Garter
31st Ottoman Sultan (Emperor)
Reign2 July 1839 – 2 June 1861
(21 years 11 months)
PredecessorMahmud II
SuccessorAbdülaziz
Born25 April 1823[1][2]
Died25 June 1861(1861-06-25) (aged 38)
EmpressServetseza Kadın
Tirimüjgan Kadın
Düzdidil Kadın
Şevkefza Kadın
Zeynifelek Hanım
Gülcemal Kadın
Verdicenan Kadın
Nükhetseza Hanım
Perestu Kadın
Nesrin Hanım
Mahitab Kadın
Nergizu Hanım
Bezmiara Kadın
Nalanıdil Hanım
Ceylanyar Hanım
Serfiraz Hanım
Şayeste Hanım
Navekmisal Hanım
Gülüstü Hanım
Names
Abdul Mecid bin Mahmud
DynastyOsmanli (Ottoman)
FatherMahmud II
MotherBezmiâlem Sultan
ReligionSunni Islam
TughraAbdülmecid I عبد المجيد اول's signature

Abdülmecid I (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجيد اول ‘Abdü’l-Mecīd-i evvel; 23/25 April 1823 – 25 June 1861), 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.[3] His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdülmecid 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. Abdülmecid'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 Abdülmecid, was named after him.

Early life

During the reign of Abdülmecid, besides European style architecture and European style clothing adopted by the court, the Ottoman educational system was also mainly based on the European model.

Abdülmecid was born at the Beşiktaş Sahil Palace or at the Topkapı Palace, both in Constantinople.[4] His mother was his father's first wife in 1839, Valide Sultan Bezmiâlem, originally named Suzi (1807–1852), either a Circassian[5] or Georgian slave.[6][7][8]

Abdülmecid 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 Fuat Pasha. Throughout his reign he had to struggle against conservatives who opposed his reforms. Abdülmecid 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. 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.

Reign

When Abdülmecid 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).[1]

Dolmabahçe Palace, the first European-style palace in Istanbul, was built by Abdülmecid between 1843 and 1856, at a cost of five million Ottoman gold pounds, the equivalent of 35 tons of gold. 14 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.

In compliance with his father's express instructions, Abdülmecid 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.[9]

The most important reform measures promoted by Abdülmecid were:

  • Introduction of the first Ottoman paper banknotes (1840)
  • Reorganisation of the army, including the introduction of conscription (1842–1844)[1]
  • 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[1]
  • Reorganisation of the court system, establishing a system of civil and criminal courts with both European and Ottoman judges.[1]
  • 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[1]
  • Plans to send humanitarian aid of £10,000[10] (£24.83 million in 2013[11]) to Ireland during its Great Famine, but later agreed to reduce it to £1,000[10] (£2.483 million in 2013[11]) at the insistence of British diplomats wishing to avoid embarrassing Queen Victoria, who had made a donation of £5,000.[10]
  • Plans to abolish slave markets (1847)[10]
  • Plans to build a Protestant chapel (1847)[10]
  • Establishment of modern universities and academies (1848)
  • Establishment of an Ottoman school in Paris[1]
  • 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[9]
  • New land laws confirming the right of ownership (1858)[1]
  • Decriminalisation of homosexuality (1858)[12][13]

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).

Sultan Abdülmecid (left) with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and President Napoleon III of France.

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 Abdülmecid who personally tested the new invention.[14]

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."[9]

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 Abdülmecid's brother Abdülâziz.[9]

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.[1]

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.[1]

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.

Abdülmecid died of tuberculosis (like his father) at the age of 38 on 25 June 1861 in Istanbul, where he was buried, and was succeeded by his brother Abdülâziz.

Marriages and children

The Crimean War medal issued by Abdülmecid to British, French and Sardinian allied personnel involved in the Crimean War (Sardinian issue)
A photograph of Abdülmecid taken by Abdullah Frères, c. 1858–1861
Abdülmecid in his youth, by David Wilkie, 1840.

Abdülmecid married nineteen times and left several sons, of whom four eventually succeeded to the throne. His marriages were:

The türbe of Abdülmecid is located inside the Yavuz Selim Mosque in Fatih, Istanbul.

In fiction

  • A fictionalized version of Abdülmecid I appears in the 2008 novel The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin[18]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abdulmecid I". Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
  2. ^ There are sources that state his birth date as the 23rd of April
  3. ^ Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 3
  4. ^ Britannica, Istanbul:When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.
  5. ^ "Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art Volume 0005 Issue 30 (June 1855)".
  6. ^ "Gürcistan Dostluk Derneği".
  7. ^ Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan, Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi Archived June 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ The Private World of Ottoman Women by Godfrey Goodwin, 2007, p.157
  9. ^ a b c d  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abd-ul-Mejid". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 36–37.
  10. ^ a b c d e Christine Kinealy (2013), Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland: The Kindness of Strangers, p. 115
  11. ^ a b "Measuring Worth - Purchase Power of the Pound".
  12. ^ Kazi, Tehmina (7 October 2011). "The Ottoman empire's secular history undermines sharia claims - Tehmina Kazi".
  13. ^ http://faith-matters.org/images/stories/fm-publications/the-tanzimat-final-web.pdf
  14. ^ Istanbul City Guide: Beylerbeyi Palace Archived October 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ a b c d e Harun Açba (2007). Kadın efendiler: 1839-1924. Profil. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
  16. ^ Açba, Harun (2007). "Bölüm 2: Sultan I. Abdülhamid Han Ailesi". Kadınefendiler: Son Dönem Osmanlı Padişah Eşleri (in Turkish) (1 ed.). Istanbul: Prolil Yayıncılık. p. 28. Retrieved 24 Apr 2016. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |doi_brokendate=, |deadurl=, |laydate=, |subscription=, |nopp=, |laysource=, |laysummary=, |lastauthoramp=, |name-list-format=, |registration=, and |chapterurl= (help)
  17. ^ Açba, Harun (2007). "Bölüm 2: Sultan I. Abdülhamid Han Ailesi". Kadınefendiler: Son Dönem Osmanlı Padişah Eşleri (in Turkish) (1 ed.). Istanbul: Prolil Yayıncılık. p. 36. Retrieved 24 Apr 2016. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |doi_brokendate=, |deadurl=, |laydate=, |subscription=, |nopp=, |laysource=, |laysummary=, |lastauthoramp=, |name-list-format=, |registration=, and |chapterurl= (help)
  18. ^ "The Bellini Card". 18 January 2013.

Media related to Abdül Mecid I at Wikimedia Commons

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Abdülmecid I
Born: 23 April 1823 Died: 25 June 1861
Regnal titles
Preceded by Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861 		Succeeded by
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Caliph of Islam
2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861 		Succeeded by
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