Tanzimat

Reforms in the Ottoman Empire~ Adapted from Britannica

• A series of reforms promulgated in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1876 under the reigns of the sultans Abdülmecid I and Abdülaziz

• These reforms were heavily influenced by European ideas and were intended to effectuate a fundamental change of the empire from the old system based on theocratic principles to that of a modern state

• What is the difference between a theocracy and a modern state?

• Definition: Theocracy -government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided ~ Merriam-Webster

• Many of the key provisions of the Tanzimat reforms were set forth in the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane (1839; “Noble Edict of the Rose Chamber”)

• This document called for the establishment of new institutions that would guarantee security of life, property, and honor to all subjects of the empire regardless of their religion or race

• It also authorized the development of a standardized system of taxation to eliminate abuses and established fairer methods of military conscription and training

• The promises of equality for non-Muslims (mainly Christians and Jews) living in the empire were not always carried out, but the balance of the changes provided for in the Noble Edict, along with other reform measures, were implemented principally under the leadership of Mustafa Reşid Paşa, who served six terms as grand vizier

• The reforms included the development of a new secular school system, the reorganization of the army based on the Prussian conscript system, the creation of provincial representative assemblies, and the introduction of new codes of commercial and criminal law, which were largely modeled after those of France

• These laws, moreover, were administered by newly established state courts independent of the ʿulamāʾ, the Islamic religious council

• Definition: ʿulamāʾ - a body of Muslim scholars who are recognized as having specialist knowledge of Islamic sacred law and theology ~ Oxford Dictionary

• The Tanzimat reform movement came to a halt by the mid-1870s during the last years of Abdülaziz’s reign

• Under the Tanzimat effort to centralize administration, all legal authority became concentrated in the hands of the sultan

• As a result, little could be done when Abdülaziz began abusing his power and adopted revisionary policies

• This fact notwithstanding, the Tanzimat reforms succeeded in laying the groundwork for the gradual modernization of the Ottoman state

A Bit More on Tanzimat from George Mason University

• The Ottoman Empire undertook extensive reforms between 1839 and 1876, a period known as the Tanzimat (reorganization)

• Europeanized Ottoman bureaucrats and a series of decrees from the sultan shaped these reforms that sought administrative, military, legal, and educational improvements

• A series of reversals in wars with European powers during the 18th century and the realization that the West had outstripped the Ottomans in scientific and technological advancements, forced the Ottoman government to reevaluate its institutions and introduce changes to the traditional education system

• At the heart of the new direction lay the intent to quell growing nationalist agitation in the European provinces, secure the loyalty of Christian subjects, and break down the millet system that administered legal and communal rights within religious communities

• The goal was for secular identity and a common Ottoman citizenship to replace religious affiliation

• This decree highlights the emphasis on placing schools under a central ministry to establish an educational system outside the control of the religious authorities

• As in many societies of the time, including those in Europe, children's primary education took place in village and neighborhood religious institutions.

• There they learned to recite scripture, often acquired basic literacy and numeracy, and were socialized into the rites of their respective religious tradition

• These schools were typically staffed by the imam or a person known for learning in the area and paid by the parents through donations or via charitable endowment or donation

Primary Source• Primary Source Text• . . . All the subjects of my empire, without discrimination,

shall be received into the civil and military schools of the government, if they otherwise satisfy the conditions as to age and examination which are specified in the organic regulations of the said schools. Moreover, every community is authorized to establish public schools of science, art, and industry. Only the method of instructions and the choice of professors in schools of this class shall be under the control of a mixed council of public instruction, the members of which shall be named by my sovereign command. . .

• ~Sultan Abdul Majid, "Islahat Fermani Decree," February 18, 1856 in Akram Fouad Khater's Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), 16. Annotated by Heidi Morrison.