THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 



A 



ABDUL MEDJID, KHAN, late Sultan of Tur- 

 key, born May 6, 1822, succeeded to the throne 

 July 1, 1839, died June 25, 1861. Educated in 

 the seclusion of the harem, and coming to the 

 throne at the early age of 17, and possessing 

 naturally a kindly but indolent and almost 

 effeminate nature, it was hardly possible that 

 he should have become an efficient ruler over 

 an empire so extensive, and peopled by races 

 so diverse, even in the most favorable period 

 of its history. But his accession to the throne 

 took place at a time of unusual commotion, 

 and when the strong arm of a wise and vigor- 

 ous ruler could hardly have saved the empire 

 from disintegration and ruin. His father had 

 been a man of great energy and iron will, and 

 had initiated reforms which, in the opinion of 

 the more fanatical Moslems, struck at the very 

 foundations of their faith. The ill-concealed 

 hostility of the mass of the Mohammedan peo- 

 ple to these reforms would have awed a less 

 resolute ruler than Mahmoud II., and his death 

 leaving his reforms but half accomplished, en- 

 couraged the hopes of the reactionary party. 

 Nor were there wanting other causes of anxie- 

 ty to harass the mind of the boy sultan. Me- 

 hemet AH, Pasha of Egypt, his most powerful 

 vassal, had placed himself in an attitude of open 

 ' rebellion during the lifetime of Mahmoud II., 

 and his son, Ibrahim-Pasha, on the 24th of 

 June, 8 days previous to Abdul Medjid's acces- 

 sion to the throne, had defeated the sultan's 

 troops in the decisive battle of Xezib. The in- 

 terference of the allied powers alone prevented 

 the Turkish empire from dismemberment at this 

 juncture. 



This danger passed, the young sultan applied 

 himself to the development of his father's plans 

 of reform. The first step in this direction was 

 the promulgation of the Hatti-ScJierif of Gul- 

 Khane. in Nov. 1839. This Hatti-Scherif was a 

 general decree in the nature of a bill of rights, 

 declaring the equality of all his subjects, wheth- 

 er Mussulmen or not, before the law. Its in- 

 tention was more fully developed in the subse- 

 quent measures, now included under the name 

 of the tanzimat, or system of reforms. The 

 1 



most important of these measures were : the re- 

 organization of the army in 1843 and 1844, the 

 creation of new ministerial departments of com- 

 merce and public works, the reorganization of 

 the provinces, the promulgation of a penal code 

 and of a code of commerce, the establishment 

 of mixed tribunals allowing Christians a share 

 with Mussulmen in the administration of jus- 

 tice, the introduction of a new monetary system, 

 the abolition of the Kharadj, or capitation tax, 

 previously levied on all who were not Mussul- 

 men ; the reform of the system of public educa- 

 tion, and the introduction of postal service, 

 railroads, telegraphs, the regulation of quaran- 

 tines, the establishment of banks, &c. 



These reforms were at first put in force in 

 the capital, and thence extended gradually to 

 the remoter provinces. Not being in the na- 

 ture of absolute decrees, but rather suggestions 

 for reform, whose stringency was to be in- 

 creased as the people would bear them, they 

 were at first of little effect, except immediately 

 in the vicinity of the capital. In Sept. 1854, 

 desirous of giving them a wider scope and a 

 more decided efficacy, the sultan called a coun- 

 cil of tanzimat, or congress of representatives 

 from all parts of his empire, and laid before 

 them his measures. On the 18th February, 

 1856, he issued a new Hatti-Humayoum or im- 

 perial decree, conforming and enlarging the 

 propositions of the Hatti-Scherif. These meas- 

 ures indicated the progressive disposition of 

 the sultan, and his desire to become an efficient 

 ruler. They were undertaken under circum- 

 stances of great difficulty ; from the commence- 

 ment of his administration to its close, there 

 was constantly some disturbing element to de- 

 lay or thwart his purposes : the Turko-Egypt- 

 ian question at the commencement of his reign, 

 and subsequently the Servian question ; the in- 

 surrection in Albania ; the war in Koordistan ; 

 the troubles in Syria, in Bosnia, and Montene- 

 gro ; the Turko-Greek and "Wallachian revolu- 

 tion of 1848-'9 ; his noble refusal to surrender 

 the Hungarian and Polish refugees, who had 

 sought protection on his soil, to Austria and 

 Russia in 1850 ; the question of the holy places 



