Sultan Abdülmecid I: Two Edicts, Four Loans and Dolmabahçe
Who Abdülmecid I was, what the Gülhane and Reform edicts promised, how the Crimean War led to four foreign loans, and when Dolmabahçe opened.
Table of Contents
Abdülmecid I was the Ottoman sultan from 1 July 1839 until he died on 25 June 1861. In his reign the empire issued two reform edicts, fought the Crimean War, borrowed abroad for the first time and opened Dolmabahçe Palace.
The short version
Sultan from 1 July 1839 to 25 June 1861,
two edicts, one war, four loans.
- Who: born 25 April 1823, son of Mahmud II and Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan; sultan at 16.
- Two edicts: the Gülhane edict, read on 3 November 1839, and the reform edict, read on 18 February 1856.
- War and treaty: war on Russia declared on 4 October 1853; Treaty of Paris signed on 30 March 1856.
- Four loans: 1854, 1855, 1858 and 1860; 16,540,942 Ottoman lira borrowed, 13,864,963 received.
- Dolmabahçe Palace: opened on 7 June 1856.
- Not the last caliph: Abdülmecid, caliph from 1922 to 1924, is a different man.
The reign, year by year
Pick a year, 1839 to 1861
Each year lists the dated events of the reign. The colour and the name tell you what kind of event it is.
- Edicts and laws
- War and diplomacy
- Money
- Schools and buildings
- Court and public life
1839
24 JuneWar and diplomacy
The Ottoman army is beaten at Nizip in the crisis over Egypt, a week before the new sultan takes the throne.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1 JulyCourt and public life
Abdülmecid becomes sultan at 16, when his father Mahmud II dies.
TDV, Abdülmecid
3 JulyWar and diplomacy
The commander of the Ottoman fleet, Ahmed Fevzi Paşa, takes it to Egypt and hands it to Mehmed Ali Paşa.
TDV, Abdülmecid
27 JulyWar and diplomacy
Britain, France, Russia, Austria and Prussia send a joint note: the Egypt question is not to be settled without the five powers. In a way, the empire is now under the guardianship of the European states.
TDV, Abdülmecid
3 NovemberEdicts and laws
Mustafa Reşid Paşa reads the Gülhane edict before community leaders and foreign ambassadors.
TDV, Abdülmecid; edict text
1840
Edicts and laws
A penal code is issued, one of the laws taken from Western states by translation and adaptation.
TDV, Abdülmecid
Court and public life
Cerîde-i Havâdis, the first private newspaper, begins to appear. W. Churchill, of English origin, publishes it, and the government supports it.
TDV, Abdülmecid
15 JulyWar and diplomacy
Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia sign the London treaty on Egypt, without France. The governorship of Egypt is left to Mehmed Ali Paşa by inheritance, and the lands he had taken and the fleet are recovered. The goodwill the Gülhane edict had won made the Egypt question easier to settle.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1841
13 JulyWar and diplomacy
The same four powers sign the Straits Convention in London. They accept Ottoman control of the Straits and the rule that foreign warships may not pass while the empire is at peace.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1842
Schools and buildings
Work on Dolmabahçe Palace begins after the sultan moves for a time to the Yıldız pavilions (the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi dates the start to 1842; Milli Saraylar names a building supervisor from 1843).
TDV, Dolmabahçe Sarayı; Milli Saraylar
1843
Edicts and laws
A military law puts army service on a system of lots (kur‘a).
TDV, Abdülmecid
1844
25 JuneCourt and public life
The sultan visits İzmit, Mudanya, Bursa, Gelibolu, Çanakkale and the Princes’ Islands, one of several journeys that broke the old habit of staying shut inside the palace.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1845
Schools and buildings
The Meclis-i Maârif-i Umûmiyye is founded to organise, run and oversee education.
TDV, Abdülmecid
Schools and buildings
Gureba Hospital, built by his mother Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan, and the new Galata Bridge open.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1846
Money
A finance council, the Meclis-i Mâliyye, is set up to study money matters and make proposals.
TDV, Abdülmecid
29 AprilCourt and public life
The sultan sets out on a journey to Edirne and Varna, and reports what he finds wrong, and the people’s complaints, to the government.
TDV, Abdülmecid; Tanzimat
1847
Schools and buildings
The Mekâtib-i Umûmiyye Nezâreti is set up to run primary and secondary schooling, and the Ziraat Mektebi, an agriculture school, opens.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1848
Schools and buildings
The first teacher-training school, the Dârülmuallimîn, opens.
TDV, Abdülmecid
War and diplomacy
In the revolutions of 1848, Hungarian nationalists fighting Austria take refuge in the empire. Austria and Russia threaten war, but the sultan does not hand them back, and this wins the empire wide goodwill in Europe.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1849
1 MayWar and diplomacy
The Balta Liman treaty with Russia settles, for the time being, the crisis in Wallachia and Moldavia.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1850
Edicts and laws
A commercial code is issued, adapted from the first and third books of the French commercial code of 1807.
TDV, Tanzimat
Schools and buildings
The dârülmaârif, a school between the rüşdiyes and a planned university, is founded.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1851
Schools and buildings
The Encümen-i Dâniş is founded and counted as the first academy. Its biggest work is Cevdet Paşa’s twelve-volume Târih.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1852
Court and public life
The grand vizier’s seat changes hands four times in one year, a sign of the financial and political crisis.
TDV, Tanzimat
Edicts and laws
A new arrangement widens the powers of provincial governors.
TDV, Tanzimat
1853
4 OctoberWar and diplomacy
The Ottoman state declares war on Russia. Russia had asked for a right to protect Orthodox Ottoman subjects, and after the refusal it had occupied Wallachia and Moldavia.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1854
MarchWar and diplomacy
Britain and France declare war on Russia.
Digithèque MJP
24 AugustMoney
The first foreign loan is agreed: 3.3 million lira of principal, 2.64 million received, at 6 per cent.
TDV, Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye; Arslan
26 SeptemberEdicts and laws
The Meclis-i Âlî-i Tanzîmat is founded and takes over lawmaking from the Meclis-i Vâlâ.
TDV, Tanzimat
1855
10 MayEdicts and laws
The government announces that the jizya will end and that non-Muslims will be taken into the army and given state posts. They protest, and the plan to call up non-Muslim soldiers is dropped.
TDV, Islahat Fermanı
Money
The second loan: 5.5 million lira of principal, 5.64 million received, at 4 per cent. The bonds sold above face value, at 102.6 per cent.
TDV, Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye
8 SeptemberWar and diplomacy
Sevastopol falls after a long siege.
TDV, Paris Antlaşması
26 NovemberWar and diplomacy
The fortress of Kars falls to Russia.
TDV, Paris Antlaşması
1856
4 FebruaryCourt and public life
The sultan attends a ball given by the French ambassador, a break with old court custom, like his acceptance of the Légion d’honneur from Napoleon III.
TDV, Abdülmecid
18 FebruaryEdicts and laws
The reform edict is read at the Porte before statesmen, the shaykh al-Islam, the patriarchs and foreign representatives. Copies go to the states at the Paris congress.
TDV, Islahat Fermanı; edict text
25 FebruaryWar and diplomacy
The Paris congress opens.
TDV, Islahat Fermanı
30 MarchWar and diplomacy
The Treaty of Paris ends the war. Kars is returned (article 3), the Porte is admitted to “the advantages of public law and the European concert” (article 7), and article 9 mentions the edict.
Treaty text; TDV, Paris Antlaşması
7 JuneSchools and buildings
Dolmabahçe Palace opens.
TDV, Dolmabahçe Sarayı
1857
Edicts and laws
A law lets non-Muslims pay a tax, the bedel-i askerî, in place of military service.
TDV, Islahat Fermanı
Schools and buildings
The Maarif Nezâreti, a ministry of education, is formed and takes over the work of the education council.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1858
6 JuneEdicts and laws
The land code is issued, one of the main laws of the reign.
TDV, Abdülmecid
22 SeptemberEdicts and laws
The first law on the duties and powers of civil servants is issued.
TDV, Abdülmecid
Schools and buildings
The first girls’ rüşdiye, a middle school, opens in Istanbul.
TDV, Abdülmecid
Money
The third loan: 5.5 million lira of principal, 4.18 million received, at 6 per cent. Purpose: withdrawing paper money.
TDV, Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye; Arslan
1859
Schools and buildings
The Orman Mektebi, a forestry school, opens.
TDV, Abdülmecid
14 SeptemberCourt and public life
A plot to depose Abdülmecid and put Abdülaziz on the throne, the Kuleli incident, is put down before it starts.
TDV, Abdülmecid
5 OctoberWar and diplomacy
Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia send the Porte a joint note: the reforms promised in 1856 have not been carried out, and each will act separately to see them applied.
TDV, Abdülmecid; TDV, Islahat Fermanı
18 OctoberCourt and public life
Grand Vizier Âlî Paşa, who had sharply criticised the burden of the foreign debts, is dismissed by the sultan.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1860
Money
The fourth loan: 2,240,942 lira of principal, 1,400,588 received, at 6 per cent. Purpose: paying off accumulated foreign and domestic debt.
TDV, Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye; Arslan
War and diplomacy
Fighting between Druzes and Maronites in Lebanon is followed by disorder in Damascus, where Dutch and American consuls are killed. France lands troops at Beirut, and Foreign Minister Fuad Paşa goes to Lebanon as commissioner.
TDV, Abdülmecid
Schools and buildings
The Telgraf Mektebi, a telegraph school, opens.
TDV, Abdülmecid
1861
9 JuneWar and diplomacy
After talks with the European states, Lebanon becomes a privileged district under a non-Muslim governor.
TDV, Abdülmecid
25 JuneCourt and public life
Abdülmecid dies of tuberculosis at the Ihlamur Pavilion, and is buried beside the tomb of Yavuz Sultan Selim. His brother Abdülaziz succeeds him.
TDV, Abdülmecid
A sixteen-year-old inherits a crisis
Abdülmecid became sultan on 1 July 1839, when his father Mahmud II died. A week earlier the army had been beaten at Nizip in the crisis with Mehmed Ali Paşa, the governor of Egypt.
- Born: Istanbul, 25 April 1823, son of Mahmud II and Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan.
- Sultan at 16: on 1 July 1839, when his father died.
- Raised like a European prince: he learned French well enough to speak and read it, followed European publications and admired Western music and ways of living.
Mustafa Reşid Paşa, the foreign minister, hurried back from London and Paris after the note of 27 July. He persuaded the young sultan to announce a reform programme that would please the European states, and he read it out himself on 3 November 1839.
That is the Gülhane edict, also called the Tanzimat edict.
1839 to 1841
From a lost battle to a treaty on the Straits
- 24 June 1839The army is beaten at Nizip.
- 1 July 1839Abdülmecid becomes sultan at 16.
- 3 July 1839The commander of the fleet, Ahmed Fevzi Paşa, takes it to Egypt and hands it to Mehmed Ali Paşa.
- 27 July 1839Britain, France, Russia, Austria and Prussia send a joint note: no deal on Egypt without the five powers.
- 3 November 1839Mustafa Reşid Paşa reads the Gülhane edict.
- 15 July 1840London treaty on Egypt, signed without France: the governorship is left to Mehmed Ali Paşa by inheritance, and the lands he had taken and the fleet are recovered.
- 13 July 1841Straits Convention: Ottoman control of the Straits is accepted, and foreign warships may not pass while the empire is at peace.
Two edicts, in their own words
Both edicts promised reform, and both texts survive. Pick one below, then open a promise to read it in plain English next to the edict’s own words and what followed it.
Which edict?
The Gülhane edict, read on 3 November 1839
- Read on
- 3 November 1839, aloud, by Mustafa Reşid Paşa. The text is dated 26 Şaban 1255.
- Opens with
- the law has not been followed for 150 years (“yüz elli sene”) and the state has grown weak.
- Names four subjects
- security of life; protection of honour and property; fixing taxes; how soldiers are raised and for how long they serve.
No death sentence without an open examination
No one may be put to death, in secret or in the open, until his case has been examined openly under the sharia law and a ruling given.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
alenen ber-vech-i tedkik görülüp hükm olunmadıkça kimse hakkında hafi vü celî idâm ü temsîm mu’âmelesi icrâsı câiz olmamak
What followed: The new nizâmiye courts of the reign sat beside the sharia, community and consular courts and had Muslim and non-Muslim members.
No seizing a family’s inheritance
If a person is accused, his heirs are innocent of the charge, so his property is not to be confiscated in a way that strips them of their inheritance.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
onun malını müsâdere ile veresesi hukûk-ı irsiyyelerinden mahrum kılınmamak
Property held in freedom
Everyone is to own and use his property in complete freedom, with no one interfering.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
herkes emvâl ü emlâkine kemâl-i serbestîyle mâlik ve mutasarrıf olarak
Taxes by means
Each person’s tax is to be set fairly by his property and means, and nothing beyond it taken. The edict calls tax farming (iltizam) a harmful method that never brought a useful result.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
her ferdin emlâk ve kudretine göre vergi-i münâsib tâyin olunarak kimseden ziyâde şey alınmaması
What followed: Tax farming was abolished and collection put under collectors called muhassıl. With no preparation this caused disorder and revenue fell. Paper money (kâime) was printed for the first time, and the state went back to tax farming.
Soldiers by turns, for four or five years
The old way of calling men up, with no regard to a region’s population and with service until the end of life, is said to cause disorder and to harm farming and trade. The edict asks for a system of turns and a service of four or five years.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
dört yahud beş sene müddet istihdâm zımnında dahi bir tarîk-i münâvebe vaz u te’sîs olunması
What followed: A military law of 1843 put service on a system of lots.
For Muslims and the other communities alike
These guarantees are for Muslims and the other communities without exception. The edict adds that scholars and ministers swear an oath in the chamber of the Holy Mantle, that a penal code is to cover civil servants of every rank, that they are to have enough salary, and that a strong law is to stop bribery.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
ehl-i İslâm ve milel-i sâire bu müsâ’adât-ı şâhânemize bilâ-istisnâ mazhar olmak
What followed: A penal code followed in 1840, and the first law on the duties and powers of civil servants on 22 September 1858.
The edict did not include the principle of national sovereignty. It promised laws to set the relations between the state and the individual, and it aimed to end arbitrary rule.
Text: Vikikaynak text of the Gülhane edict, from Gözübüyük & Kili, Türk Anayasa Metinleri (İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1985), pp. 11–13. Fragments are shown as printed there. Notes on what followed come from the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi entries Abdülmecid, Tanzimat and Islahat Fermanı.
The reform edict, read on 18 February 1856
- Read on
- 18 February 1856 at the Porte, a week before the Paris congress opened.
- Presided by
- the deputy grand vizier, Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Paşa: Grand Vizier Âlî Paşa had left for Paris.
- Prepared with
- the British, French and Austrian ambassadors. It is a single long sentence of promises.
The 1839 guarantees stand
The guarantees of life, property and honour promised to every religion and sect in the Gülhane edict are confirmed again, and effective steps are to be taken to carry them out in full.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
emniyet-i can ve mal mahfûziyet-i nâmus için taraf-ı eşref-i pâdişâhanemden va’d ve ihsan olunmuş olan teminat bu kerre dahi tekit ve teyit kılındığından
Communities keep their religious privileges, with new rules
The religious privileges of Christian and other non-Muslim communities are kept. Each community is to review them within a set time, through councils formed in the patriarchates under the Porte’s supervision. Patriarchs are appointed for life, gifts paid to the clergy are replaced by fixed incomes and salaries, and community affairs go to a council chosen from clergy and laity.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
bil-cümle imtiyazât ve muafiyet-ı rûhaniye bu kerre dahi takrîr ve ibkâ kılınıp
What followed: Each community was given its own regulations in 1862, meant to stop the clergy’s arbitrary use of power over the community.
Worship, and no forced change of religion
Every faith is practised freely, no one is stopped from his rites or harmed for them, and no one may be forced to change religion or sect. Words that rank one class below another by sect, language or race are to be removed from state documents, and insulting descriptions banned by law.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
tebdîl-i din ve mezhep etmek üzere kimse icbâr olunmaması
What followed: This sentence was worded so that it covers Muslims too. Because the edict was read as being about non-Muslims, it went almost unnoticed.
State posts and schools
All subjects, of whatever community, are to be admitted to state posts according to ability, and to the state military and civil schools if they meet the entry rules. Each community may open its own schools for learning, crafts and trades, under a mixed education council whose members the sultan appoints.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
tebea-i Devlet-i Âliyye’min cümlesi herhangi milletten olursa olsun devletin hizmet ve memuriyetlerine kabûl olunacaklarından
Courts and prisons
Commercial and criminal cases between Muslims and non-Muslims go to mixed councils that hear them in public, and witnesses swear by their own religion. Prisons are to be reformed, and bodily punishment, ill-treatment and torture ended, with those who order or carry them out to be punished under the penal code.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
hiçbir gûna mücazaât-ı cismaniye ve eziyet ve işkenceye müşabih kâffe-i muamele dahi kâmilen lağv ve iptal kılınması
What followed: The nizâmiye courts, with Muslim and non-Muslim members, are among the changes of the reign.
Army service
Christians and other non-Muslims are bound, like Muslims, by the rule on military service. They may serve in person or be freed from service by paying a sum.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
ehal-i İslâm misillû hısse-i askeriye itâsı hakkında muahharan verilen karara inkiyat mecbûriyetinde bulunması ve bu hususta bedel vermek veya nakden akçe itâsiyle hizmet-i fi’liyeden muaf olmak usûlünün icrâ olunması
What followed: The decision to take non-Muslims into the army was not carried out. A law of 1857 had them pay the bedel-i askerî tax instead.
Taxes, tax farming and foreign property
Taxes and charges fall on all subjects whatever their class or sect. Abuses in collecting them, above all the tithe, are to be corrected. Tax farming is to give way step by step to direct collection, and civil servants and council members are barred, on pain of heavy punishment, from taking a share in the auctions. Foreigners may be allowed to own property after an agreement between the sultan and foreign states.
The edict’s words, in Latin letters
doğrudan doğruya ahz-i vergi etmek usûlünün pey-der-pey icrâsı kabil oldukça
The 1856 edict is more detailed than the 1839 one. It dealt only with non-Muslim subjects and foreigners, while the 1839 text set general principles for all subjects.
Text: Vikikaynak text of the reform edict, from Gözübüyük & Kili, Türk Anayasa Metinleri (İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1985), pp. 14–18. Fragments are shown as printed there. Notes on what followed come from the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi entries Islahat Fermanı and Abdülmecid.
Both texts present themselves as acting within the sharia. Abdülmecid, like the sultans before him, recognised only one power above himself, the sharia, and meant every new arrangement to fit it.
The war and the treaty that named the edict
The war began over the holy places in Jerusalem. France asked to protect the Catholics there, and Russia moved to protect Orthodox rights and asked the Porte to give it a right to protect Orthodox Ottoman subjects. The government refused, Russia occupied Wallachia and Moldavia, and the Ottoman state declared war on 4 October 1853.
Britain, France and Piedmont-Sardinia
Britain and France declared war on Russia in March 1854.
Russia
It had asked for the right to protect Orthodox Ottoman subjects, and occupied Wallachia and Moldavia after the refusal.
Austria and Prussia
Both stayed out of the war.
Where the war was fought
Four places to find on the map
- 11853 Russia occupies Wallachia and Moldavia.
- 28 September 1855 Sevastopol falls after a long siege.
- 326 November 1855 The fortress of Kars falls to Russia. The treaty of 1856 gives it back.
- 4Istanbul The capital. The peace congress met in Paris, off the map to the west.
Coastlines: Natural Earth, public domain; today’s coasts and borders, not to scale.
The war and the peace
From the declaration to the treaty
- 4 October 1853The Ottoman state declares war on Russia.
- March 1854Britain and France declare war on Russia.
- 8 September 1855Sevastopol falls after a long siege.
- 26 November 1855The fortress of Kars falls to Russia.
- 18 February 1856The reform edict is read at the Porte, before the congress opens.The allies, who helped with their armies, had won it from the sultan (TDV, Abdülmecid).
- 25 February 1856The Paris congress opens.
- 25 March 1856Âlî Paşa raises the capitulations. They are not abolished.
- 30 March 1856The Treaty of Paris ends the war. Kars is returned (article 3). In article 7 the Porte is admitted to “the advantages of public law and the European concert”, and the powers promise to respect the empire’s independence and territorial integrity.On paper, the empire is accepted as an equal member of the European system (TDV, Paris Antlaşması).
Treaty of Paris, 30 March 1856 · article 9
- The sultan has granted a firman that improves the lot of his subjects “without distinction of religion or race”, and chose to tell the powers about it.
- The firman is described as “spontanément émané de sa volonté souveraine”: of his own sovereign will.
- The powers note the value of the message.
The last sentence, in French
… ne saurait, en aucun cas, donner le droit auxdites Puissances, de s’immiscer soit collectivement, soit séparément, dans les rapports de Sa Majesté le Sultan avec ses sujets, ni dans l’administration intérieure de son Empire
The last sentence, in plain English
The message gives the powers no right, together or one by one, to interfere in the sultan’s relations with his subjects or in the internal administration of his empire.
Keep the edict out of the treaty
Âlî Paşa, the chief Ottoman delegate, fought hard against naming the edict, and against wording that made the powers take it as a deed. Article 9 was the compromise, and its last sentence was thought to prevent interference.
The powers claimed a right to oversee it
When unrest in provinces with many non-Muslims, such as Rumeli, Lebanon and Crete, drew in the Western states, the Porte reminded them that article 9 gave them no right to interfere. They answered that it gave them the right to oversee how the edict was applied. On 5 October 1859 Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia gave the Porte a joint note: the reforms promised in 1856 had not been carried out, and each would act separately to see them applied. Afterwards each state, alone or together, began to interfere in the empire’s internal affairs.
- One reading
- Ufuk Gülsoy (TDV, Islahat Fermanı): naming the edict in a treaty article of its own put the state under an obligation.
- Another reading
- Cevdet Küçük (TDV, Abdülmecid): the mention gave the Western states a right to intervene on reform, while the empire’s territorial integrity was guaranteed and its equality with the European states accepted.
Four loans and what they paid for
Ottoman statesmen had long avoided borrowing abroad. The first foreign loan came during the war, on 24 August 1854. Three more followed, in 1855, 1858 and 1860, and for each of them important sources of revenue were pledged.
The four loans
Borrowed and received
Ottoman lira. “Borrowed” is the principal; “received” is what reached the treasury. Bar length shows the amount.
18546 % interestCrimean War
18554 % interestCrimean War
Bonds sold above face value, at 102.6 %.
18586 % interestPaper money withdrawn
18606 % interestOld debt paid off
Borrowed in all16,540,942
Received in all13,864,963
Source: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye; Gürbüz Arslan, Table 1.
- An earlier plan
- A plan to borrow 55 million francs from France was stopped on the sultan’s objection, and the treasury paid 2.2 million francs in compensation.
- The first loan: the order
- The sultan’s order of 4 August 1854 allowed borrowing of up to £5 million.
- The first loan: the deal
- The agreement of 24 August was made with firms in London and Paris, Palmer & Co. and Goldschmid & Co. £3 million was borrowed, which at 22 Ottoman lira to £20 is 3.3 million Ottoman lira.
- The first loan: the price
- An issue price of 80 per cent put 2.64 million lira into the treasury.
The war, paper money, old debt
The costs of the war for 1854 and 1855, taking paper money out of circulation for 1858, and paying off accumulated debt for 1860.
Part went into building
Part of the borrowed money was used to build palaces and pavilions.
Only 7.8 % for the railway
Of the foreign loans taken between 1854 and 1874, 7.8 per cent went into the Rumeli railway. Most went on current spending: closing budget deficits, paying instalments on earlier debts and taking worn paper and copper money out of circulation. Loans taken before the debt administration was set up were spent more on palaces, mansions and pavilions.
Palaces, schools and a hospital
- Where
- On the Bosphorus shore at Beşiktaş, on the site of the worn-out Beşiktaş waterside palace, which was pulled down.
- Started
- 1842 (TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi), after the sultan moved for a time to the Yıldız pavilions; Milli Saraylar names a building supervisor from 1843.
- Opened
- 7 June 1856.
- Architects
- Garabet (also written Karabet) and Nikoğos Balyan, father and son, with Ohannes Serveryan and James William Smith.
- Size
- 285 rooms, 44 halls, 68 toilets and 6 hamams.
- Lived in by
- Six sultans from 1856, Abdülmecid first, and the last caliph, Abdülmecid, from 1922 to 1924.
- 1845
- Gureba Hospital, built by his mother Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan, and the new Galata Bridge open.
- 1849
- Küçük Mecidiye Mosque.
- 1854
- Teşvikiye Mosque.
- 1855
- Beykoz Pavilion.
- 1857
- Küçüksu Pavilion.
Schools and law
The old way stayed. A new way grew beside it.
Under the shaykh al-Islam
- SchoolsThe medreses stayed.
- CourtsThe old sharia courts stayed.
Under the ministries
- 1845Education councilThe Meclis-i Maârif-i Umûmiyye organises and oversees schooling.
- 1847 · 1848 · 1850 · 1851New schools and bodiesThe Mekâtib-i Umûmiyye Nezâreti; the first teacher-training school, the Dârülmuallimîn; the dârülmaârif; the Encümen-i Dâniş.
- 1857 · 1858Ministry and girls’ schoolThe Maarif Nezâreti; the first girls’ rüşdiye in Istanbul. A university was attempted but not achieved.
- 1840 · 1850 · 6 June 1858New lawsA penal code, a commercial code and the land code.
- nizâmiye courtsCourts beside the old onesSet up beside the sharia, community and consular courts, with Muslim and non-Muslim members.
The last years, and four sons
- Out of the palace: he ended the old habit of staying shut inside it and mixed with the public from time to time.
- At the Porte: he went there for meetings of the ministers, opened the Meclis-i Vâlâ each year with a speech and often inspected barracks and the shipyard.
- Court custom: he went to a ball given by the French ambassador on 4 February 1856 and accepted the Légion d’honneur from Napoleon III.
- Twenty-two grand viziers served in his reign. He was emotional and easily offended; the British and French ambassadors competed for influence over him, and Ottoman statesmen split into British and French supporters.
1859 to 1861
The last two years
- 14 September 1859A tip-off ends the Kuleli plot before it begins. Its backers wanted to depose Abdülmecid and put Abdülaziz on the throne, to stop the European states acting as guardians.
- 5 October 1859The five powers’ note on the reforms promised in 1856.
- 18 October 1859Âlî Paşa, who had sharply criticised the burden of the foreign debts, is dismissed by the sultan.
- 1860Fighting between Druzes and Maronites in Lebanon is followed by disorder in Damascus, where Dutch and American consuls are killed. France lands troops at Beirut.
- 9 June 1861After talks with the European states, Lebanon becomes a privileged district under a non-Muslim governor.
- 25 June 1861Abdülmecid dies of tuberculosis, like his father, at the Ihlamur Pavilion, and is buried beside the tomb of Yavuz Sultan Selim. His brother Abdülaziz succeeds him.
The family
Four of his sons became sultan
Abdülmecid I1839–1861
Murad V1876
Abdülhamid II1876–1909
Mehmed V Reşad1909–1918
Mehmed VI Vahdeddin1918–1922
Portraits, cut to the head: Abdülmecid I, attributed to Konstantin Cretius, 1846 (file page); Murad V, W. & D. Downey, 13 July 1867 (file page); Abdülhamid II, Abdullah Frères, 1868, Topkapı Palace (file page); Mehmed V Reşad, Carl Pietzner, 1914, Topkapı Palace (file page); Mehmed VI Vahdeddin, Agence Rol, September 1922, Bibliothèque nationale de France (file page). All public domain.
Quick answers
Who was Abdülmecid I?
An Ottoman sultan, born on 25 April 1823, on the throne from 1 July 1839 until his death on 25 June 1861. The name is also written Abdulmejid, Abdul Majid and Abdülmecit.
Is he the last caliph Abdülmecid?
No. The last caliph, Abdülmecid, held the title from 1922 to 1924 and also lived at Dolmabahçe.
Did the Treaty of Paris include the 1856 edict?
No. Article 9 only mentions it: telling the powers about it gives them no right to interfere. Later the powers claimed the right to oversee how the edict was applied.
How many foreign loans did he take?
Four, in 1854, 1855, 1858 and 1860: 16,540,942 lira of principal and 13,864,963 lira received.
When did Dolmabahçe Palace open?
On 7 June 1856. Work began in the early 1840s: in 1842 by the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, and Milli Saraylar names a supervisor from 1843.
Sources
Open the source list
- Abdülmecid, Cevdet Küçük — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, printed 1988, checked 24.10.2026
- Tanzimat, Ali Akyıldız — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, printed 2011, checked 20.10.2026
- Islahat Fermanı, Ufuk Gülsoy — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, printed 1999, checked 24.10.2026
- Paris Antlaşması, Kemal Beydilli — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, printed 2007, checked 24.10.2026
- Arazi Kanunnâmesi — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, checked 24.10.2026: the land code of 6 June 1858
- Dolmabahçe Sarayı, Metin Sözen — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, printed 1994, checked 20.10.2026
- Düyûn-ı Umûmiyye, Cevdet Küçük and Tevfik Ertüzün — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, printed 1994, checked 20.10.2026
- Tanzimat Fermanı (Gülhane edict), text — Vikikaynak, from Gözübüyük & Kili, Türk Anayasa Metinleri: Senedi İttifak’tan Günümüze (İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1985), pp. 11–13, checked 20.10.2026
- Islahat Fermanı (reform edict), text — Vikikaynak, from the same edition, pp. 14–18, checked 20.10.2026
- Traité de paix de Paris, 30 March 1856, French text — Digithèque MJP, Université de Perpignan, checked 20.10.2026
- Gürbüz Arslan, “Osmanlı Devleti’nin Dış Borçları ve Yeniden Yapılandırma Süreci (1930–1933)”, Table 1 — History Studies 7/4 (2015), pp. 1–23, checked 20.10.2026
- Dolmabahçe Sarayı — Milli Saraylar, checked 20.10.2026
- Natural Earth, 1:50m admin-0 countries — public domain; the coastlines of the war map
- Portret van Abdul Medjid (RP-P-1905-5029) — Rijksmuseum, lithograph by Carel Christiaan Antony Last, dated 1818–1876 in the record, Public Domain Mark
- Dolmabahçe moskee, Istanboel (RP-F-F13202) — Rijksmuseum, stereoscope card by Charles Gaudin, dated 1861–1870 in the record, Public Domain Mark
- Abdulmejid portrait.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: painting attributed to Konstantin Cretius, 1846, public domain
- Rechid Pacha (BM 1871,0812.4266).jpg — Wikimedia Commons: lithograph by Zéphirin Belliard after Maxime David, published by Auguste Bry, 1845, British Museum, public domain
- Edouard Dubufe Congrès de Paris.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: painting by Édouard Louis Dubufe, 1856, Palace of Versailles, public domain
- Sultan Murad V Khan 1.2R V02-1.1.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: W. & D. Downey, 13 July 1867, as printed in a 2011 book by Bahattin Öztuncay, p. 147, public domain
- Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: Abdullah Frères, 1868, Topkapı Palace, public domain
- Portrait of Sultan Mehmed V.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: Carl Pietzner, 1914, Topkapı Palace, public domain
- Le Sultan de Turquie (Mehmed VI) – btv1b53094289g.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: Agence Rol, September 1922, Bibliothèque nationale de France, public domain
- Estambul, orillas del Bósforo 1998 08.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: photo by LBM1948, April 1998, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Küçüksu Pavilion 03.jpg — Wikimedia Commons: photo by Wiki leylek, 8 August 2023, CC BY-SA 4.0
