Sultan Mahmud II: Janissaries, the New Army and the Fez

Mahmud II (1785–1839) was the Ottoman sultan from 28 July 1808 to 28 June 1839. In June 1826 he abolished the Janissary corps, for centuries the state’s main force at the centre, and put a new army, a state gazette, ministries and schools in its place. In the same years the way opened to an independent Greece, France took Algeria and the governor of Egypt beat the sultan’s army twice.

From prince to sultan 1785 to 1808

Mahmud was born on 20 July 1785, a son of Sultan Abdülhamid I. His mother was Nakşidil Sultan. The story that she was French by birth is not true, says the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entry “Mahmud II”. He is believed to have learned about the state, and about the need to reform it, from his cousin Selim III, who reigned from 1789 to 1807.

1. 29 May 1807Coup

   Selim III is deposed, and Mahmud’s brother Mustafa IV becomes sultan.

2. 28 July 1808Throne

   Alemdar Mustafa Pasha removes Mustafa IV, and Mahmud becomes sultan.

3. 1808Deed

   The Sened-i İttifak (“Deed of Agreement”), a pact between the government and the âyans, is meant to make their place lawful. It comes to nothing because the âyans do not stand together against the centre.

4. By 1832Result

   After a long struggle against strong âyans such as Tepedelenli Ali Pasha, the European and Anatolian sides of the state are largely cleared of them.

Born

20 July 1785

Father

Abdülhamid I

Pen name

Adlî, from adl, “justice”; given at his birth

Hand and ear

He took an interest in music and calligraphy. A panel in his own hand hangs in the tomb of his father.

He was 23 when he took the throne. Until 1826 his reign stood under a camp that wanted the old order kept. It was built around the Janissary corps and backed by soldiers, religious scholars and the âyans of Anatolia and Rumelia.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entry “Mahmud II”.

The Janissaries and why 1826

The Janissaries (yeniçeri, “new soldiers”) were the Ottoman state’s paid standing infantry. A paid foot army began under Orhan (ruled 1324 to 1362), at first from prisoners of war. No exact founding date is known. Their barracks stood in the middle of Istanbul, and that tied them to the townspeople and gave them a say in how the city was run.

The corps had overthrown sultans before: Osman II in 1622, and it took part in the revolts of 1807 and 1808. In 1826 many in Istanbul had come to see the need for trained soldiers. The Greek uprising, begun in 1821, had not been put down in five years, while the drilled forces of Egypt’s governor Mehmed Ali Pasha brought it under control in a short time.

A company’s chief cook

In each orta the chief cook was one of the main officers. He watched over the food and over the training of the novices, and cooking pots and implements were part of his uniform.

1. Before 1826Mahmud II moves the mid-rank Janissary officers who had driven earlier revolts aside, and places his own men at the head of the corps. Ağa Hüseyin Pasha, its agha in 1823, takes part in this.
2. 23 April 1826Missolonghi, an important stronghold of the Greek uprising, is taken.
3. 26 and 29 MayAt meetings at the şeyhülislâm’s residence (the şeyhülislâm is the head of the religious scholars), a ruling called a fetva holds that drilling for war is required. A drilled unit inside the corps, the Eşkinci, is agreed.
4. After 29 MayThe plan is read out at Ağakapısı by the Janissary agha, Mehmed Celâleddin, and the Janissaries accept it.

The plan was a unit of 7,650 men. It asked for 150 men from each of 51 Janissary regiments in Istanbul, each on a daily pay of 90 akçe (a small silver coin), with Etmeydanı as their drill ground. This was the square of the Yeni Odalar barracks, in Yenibahçe between Fatih and Çapa.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Yeniçeri”, “Vak‘a-i Hayriyye”, “Eşkinci Ocağı” and “Ağakapısı”.

12 to 17 June 1826 day by day

Ottoman histories call the abolition of the Janissaries the Vak‘a-i Hayriyye, “the beneficial event”. Between the first drill and the decree lay five days.

1. 12 JuneDrill

   The new unit starts drilling on Etmeydanı, the square of the Yeni Odalar barracks, with a ceremony. The same day talk spreads in Istanbul’s coffee houses that the corps will be abolished and its pay certificates taken.

2. 13 June, eveningCauldrons

   Janissaries gather on Etmeydanı and bring out their cauldrons. They raid the houses of the Janissary agha, Celâleddin, and of Necib, the Egyptian governor’s agent in Istanbul. Neither is caught.

3. 14 June, morningBy sea

   The sultan, who lives at the waterside palace in Beşiktaş, comes by boat to Topkapı Palace with the grand vizier and the şeyhülislâm. Forces under Ağa Hüseyin Pasha and Mehmed Reşid Pasha join him, with artillery, bombardier and mine units. He takes leave of his three-year-old son Abdülmecid, then the only other heir of the dynasty.

4. 14 JuneBanner

   A fetva about the rebels is given and the sacred banner (sancak-ı şerif) is brought out. Thousands, among them leading scholars and ministers, leave through Bâb-ı Hümâyun, the first gate of Topkapı, and go to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, from where the operation is run. Mahmud II follows events from a building near the gate.

5. 14 JuneAttack

   The rebels refuse a last call to give up. The attack goes in along Divanyolu, the Bozdoğan Aqueduct and Etpazarı. Cannon fire sets the barracks alight, and by dark the barracks on Etmeydanı are burnt out.

6. 14 to 17 JuneTrials

   The city’s gates are kept shut. Those brought to Atmeydanı, the square beside the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, face a court-martial, usually in groups. Executions go on until noon on 17 June.

7. 16 June, FridayProcession

   At the Friday procession the sultan is escorted by artillery and bombardiers. That evening and the next morning, scholars, ministers and civil servants meet at the Sultan Ahmed Mosque to decide the corps’ fate. For a while the idea of reforming it instead of abolishing it gains ground.

8. 17 June, SaturdayDecree

   The decree that abolishes the Janissary corps and founds a new army, the Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediyye, is read out before noon. It is read again in the afternoon from the pulpit of the mosque, and over 100 copies go to the neighbourhood imams to announce it.

What changed in the city. The seraskerlik, the post of the new army’s commander, replaced the Janissary agha. The Eski Odalar barracks opposite the Şehzade Mosque was pulled down a few days later, and its plot went to the foundation of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque for houses and shops. Etmeydanı was renamed Ahmediye Meydanı.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Vak‘a-i Hayriyye”, “Eşkinci Ocağı”, “Mahmud II”, “Ağakapısı” and “Atmeydanı”.

The new army and what it left

The new army was called Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediyye, “the victorious soldiers of Muhammad”. It took over the old corps’ duties in war and its peacetime duties too: keeping order in the city and, for a time, putting out fires.

1. 17 June 1826The first strength is 12,000 men, in eight units called tertib of 1,500 each, led by a major (binbaşı) and under one chief major. Men from 15 to 30 are taken, up to 40 if strong. Boys under 15 are trained at the old Acemi barracks in Şehzadebaşı.
2. July 1827The tertib becomes the tabur (battalion) and its sub-unit, the saf, becomes the bölük (company). Both words are still used.
3. 1827Koca Hüsrev Pasha becomes serasker. Three battalions make a regiment (alay) under a colonel (miralay). The Dâvud Paşa barracks are built in Istanbul.
4. 1828 to 1829The soldiers get the fez in place of the sliced cap (şubara) they first wore. After the war with Russia of 1828–29 the regiments multiply.
5. 1831The regiments in Istanbul are called Hassa and those in Üsküdar Mansûre; the army is split in two halves, each under a ferik.
6. 1832A rank of müşir is added. The ladder of ranks now has 15 rungs.
7. 1834A reserve army, the Redif, is founded in the provinces. After that the army is called Asâkir-i Nizâmiyye, the “regular soldiers”.

Training

Foreign experts were brought in to drill the men. Each company had a school where the Quran and the basics of the faith were taught every day, and an imam, and the soldiers prayed together.

Promotion

By merit: a private could rise to chief major.

Pay

Paid by the month, from the lowest man to the highest officer. After 12 years of service a soldier could retire on a pension.

Money

A separate treasury, the Mansûre Hazinesi, was set up for the army, with new sources of income so that it would not weigh on the state treasury. In 1826 a ministry for foundations, the Evkāf-ı Hümâyun Nezâreti, began to gather the income of religious and charitable foundations (vakıf), partly to pay for the army.

Horse

The old cavalry of the palace troops was abolished and new cavalry regiments were set up. The Kuleli Barracks were built for those in Istanbul.

The ladder of 1832, from the bottom up:

In the war with Russia of 1829 and against the Egyptian forces in 1831 to 1833 the new army did not give all that was hoped. It did hold out against regular Russian and Egyptian forces for as long as two years.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediyye”, “Vak‘a-i Hayriyye” and “Mahmud II”.

A new look, a voice and new offices 1826 to 1839

The army was only the start. Mahmud II also changed how civil servants dressed, how the state spoke to its people, how the government was organised and how its officers and doctors were trained.

Price in 1829

Tunisian fez, polished: 26 kuruş. Egyptian: 18. European: about 5. Made in Istanbul: just over 6. The kuruş was the silver coin of the time.

Factory

The Feshâne, a fez and woollen cloth factory, started work in Istanbul in 1833.

Ban

A law of 1925 banned the fez in Türkiye.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Fes”, “Mahmud II” and “Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediyye”.

The state’s own gazette from 1 November 1831

Takvîm-i Vekāyi‘ (“calendar of events”) was the state’s own gazette. Mahmud II used it to win public opinion for his reforms. Its pages carried news of the reforms, price lists for food and the pay rise of mosque imams.

1. 1 November 1831The first issue appears in Turkish, with four pages of 24 × 35 cm.
2. 5 NovemberA French edition follows, Le Moniteur ottoman, for readers in Europe.
3. January 1832An Armenian edition. Greek, Arabic and Persian editions come after it.
4. Subscription120 kuruş a year. A little over 3,000 people subscribed to the Turkish edition in the early years.

Before it

Other papers came first. Foreigners published papers in Izmir and Istanbul from the end of the 18th century, and Mehmed Ali Pasha’s Vekāyi-i Mısriyye in Turkish and Arabic appeared in Cairo from 2 December 1828. The state’s own gazette was in part an answer to it. A mansion near the Süleymaniye Mosque was bought for the gazette’s office on 15 August 1831 for 20,000 kuruş.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Takvîm-i Vekāyi‘” and “Mahmud II”.

Ministries, councils and schools 1826 to 1839

The old council of state had lost its work, so Mahmud II set up ministries (nezâret) with ministers (nâzır) in the European manner: foreign affairs and the interior (both from 1836), finance and foundations. In 1838 one of the ministers took the title başvekil (chief minister) and organised the government, and for a time the office of grand vizier disappeared.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Meclis-i Vâlâ-yı Ahkâm-ı Adliyye”, “Mekteb-i Tıbbiyye”, “Harbiye” and “Mahmud II”.

What he lost 1812 to 1839

While the reforms went on, the empire lost ground on three fronts: to Russia in the north, to Greek independence in the west and to its own governor in Egypt.

1. 28 May 1812Bucharest

   Peace with Russia. Bessarabia is lost, and the Serbs are to get autonomy. Putting that into effect is delayed for a time; in 1817 the Serbs get autonomy in practice.

2. 1821Greek uprising

   The Greek uprising starts. It is not put down quickly and becomes a matter between the great powers.

3. 7 October 1826Akkerman

   An agreement with Russia grants Russia important rights. Russia goes to war on 26 April 1828.

4. 20 October 1827Navarino

   The joint fleets of Britain, France and Russia sink the Ottoman ships at Navarino. French troops land in the Morea.

5. 14 September 1829Edirne

   Russian forces have reached Edirne. The peace of 16 articles accepts the independence of Greece, sets the border on the Prut and the Danube, and hands Russia fortresses in Anatolia and a war indemnity of 10,000,000 Hungarian gold, with 1,500,000 more for Russian merchants.

6. 1830Algeria

   France occupies Algeria.

7. 21 December 1832Konya

   Egyptian forces beat the Ottoman army under Grand Vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha at Konya and take him prisoner.

8. 2 February 1833Kütahya

   Egyptian forces reach Kütahya. Russian land and sea forces arrive at Beykoz in February. The agreement at Kütahya leaves Egypt and all the Syrian provinces, the lands Selim I had conquered in 1516–17, to Mehmed Ali Pasha.

9. 8 July 1833Hünkâr İskelesi

   A defence alliance with Russia, valid for eight years, named after the landing place on the Bosphorus where Russian forces camped. A secret article asks the Ottomans to close the Dardanelles in Russia’s favour instead of giving military help. Britain and France protest.

10. 24 June 1839Nizip

    The Ottoman army is beaten again by the Egyptian forces, and the roads into Anatolia lie open. Mahmud II dies four days later.

Two dates differ: the entry on Mahmud II in the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia prints 14 August 1829 for the peace of Edirne. Its entry on the treaty, which has Russian troops entering Edirne on 22 August, prints 14 September 1829, and that date is used here.

At sea

On 20 October 1827 the joint fleet of Britain, France and Russia sank the Ottoman ships at Navarino. The painting shows the battle.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Mahmud II”, “Edirne Antlaşması” and “Hünkâr İskelesi Antlaşması”.

Where he lived and what stands today Beşiktaş, Nusretiye and Divanyolu

Mahmud II lived mostly in the wooden waterside palace at Beşiktaş. Topkapı Palace had not been a permanent home for a long time, and its staff were sent away. In the war with Russia of 1828–29 he spent more than a year in military dress at the Râmi Barracks. Two of the places tied to him still stand.

Nusretiye Mosque, Tophane

He had it built together with military buildings in front of the cannon foundry, on the site of the Top Arabacıları barracks and mosque, which burned on 24 February 1823. Building ran from June 1823 to 8 April 1826. The architect was Krikor Amira Kalfa of the Balyan family. It is named Nusret, “victory”, for the end of the Janissary corps, and people call it the Tophane Mosque. Its style mixes baroque and Empire. The twin minarets were pulled down to the lower balcony and rebuilt on 14 May 1826. Address: Kılıçali Paşa, Meclis-i Mebusan Cd. No:4, 34425 Beyoğlu.

The tomb on Divanyolu

He was buried on 1 July 1839 in the garden of Esmâ Sultan’s palace on Divanyolu, at his own wish. In his son Abdülmecid’s reign a tomb was built there, from after 5 July 1839 to 12 October 1840. It is octagonal and in the Empire style, in a yard with a sebil (a small building that gave out water) and a street fountain. Eighteen sarcophagi lie in it, among them those of Mahmud II, Abdülaziz and Abdülhamid II. The yard has about 140 graves, among them the grave of Ziya Gökalp, the writer and thinker.

More guides: public transport in Istanbul.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Nusretiye Camii”, “Mahmud II Türbesi, Sebili, Çeşmesi ve Hazîresi” and “Mahmud II”; Türkiye Culture Portal, Nusretiye Camii.

His last days and his family 1839 and after

1. June 1839Illness

   His illness is kept quiet and treated by local doctors, and no exact diagnosis is made at first. Doctors brought from Europe come late. He is moved to the summer house at Çamlıca for the air, while the public is told that he is well.

2. 26 JuneFarewell

   He takes leave of his son Abdülmecid, his wife Bezmiâlem Sultan, his son-in-law Halil Pasha and Hüsrev Pasha, and advises his son on the affairs of state and the reforms.

3. 28 June 1839Death

   He dies. The news is kept back until 30 June, while the city takes military and police measures against unrest from the old Janissary circles.

4. 1 JulyFuneral

   His body is brought to Topkapı Palace, and the afternoon funeral becomes a procession of large Muslim and non-Muslim crowds. He is buried on Divanyolu, as he wished.

Mahmud II had 17 known wives and 36 children, most of whom died young. He left six: two sons, Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz, and four daughters, Sâliha, Atıyye, Hatice and Âdile.

Three more grandsons became sultan: Murad V, Mehmed V and Vahdeddin. His monogram was the tughra, the calligraphic sign at the head of state papers.

Sources: the Turkish Religious Foundation’s encyclopedia, entries “Mahmud II” and “Mahmud II Türbesi, Sebili, Çeşmesi ve Hazîresi”.

Common questions

Sources

All sources checked 26.10.2026.