Tanzimat
Tanzimat is a Turkish word meaning "regulation" or "reorganization" that refers to a period of reforms in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1876 under sultans Abdulmejid and Abdulaziz. The brilliance of the Ottoman Empire began to fade in the eighteenth century, when the imperial armies suffered a series of defeats in Europe and the gap in economic and social conditions between the Ottomans and the West widened. Starting with the Tulip Era (1718–1730) Ottoman statesmen and intellectuals started to question the situation of the empire and think of ways to revive it. Initial reform movements concentrated on military institutions, but under Selim III (1789–1807), a comprehensive reform project, including reorganization of both military and civil institutions, was implemented. A corps of regular infantry was established; the first permanent Ottoman diplomatic missions were opened in the main capitals of Europe; and modern military high schools were founded. But strong opposition, especially from the Janissaries (classical infantry troops) and conservative religious circles, stopped Selim's reforms.
Mahmud II (1808–1839) restarted his uncle Selim's reform program, but in a more determined way, and eliminated all opposition, both civil and military. With the abolishment of the Janissary troops in 1826, no serious obstacle to the reforms remained. Besides military and educational reforms, Mahmud II reorganized the Ottoman government. The Grand Vizier became Prime Minister; ministerial offices were founded, and a Council of Ministers was formed. In addition, some advisory councils such as the Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances and the Deliberative Council of the Army were established in 1836; they became the fore-runners of Turkey's modern parliament.
Mahmud II's son Abdulmejid gave further impetus to the reforms. His Noble Decree of the Rose Chamber on 3 November 1839 opened a new era of multi-dimensional transformation in the empire that is called the Tanzimat Period. Under the decree, the sultan yielded some of his authority to a Supreme Council of the Judicial Ordinances, which had the power to make laws, subject to the sultan's approval. It guaranteed to the sultan's subjects the security of their lives, honor, and goods; an equal length of military service for all; open and equitable legal processes; and equality of subjects whatever their religion.
During the Tanzimat Period, three prime ministers—Mustafa Reshid, Ali Pasha, and Fuad Pasha— undertook substantial reforms in the political, social, and economic fields, mostly modeled on the French experience. In 1840 the first secular penal code was adopted and secular courts were established. In the same year the Ottoman Bank was established and the first Ottoman banknote was printed.
In 1856 an imperial decree assured equality in taxation and in certain other levies, where previously there had been discrimination between Christians and Muslims. Nor was modernization during the Tanzimat Period limited to administration. Ottoman literature, music, theater, and sports were also transformed from classical Islamic to Western forms.
The Tanzimat reforms came to a halt in the mid-1870s, during the last years of Abdulaziz's reign. When the ideas for a Turkish constitution and a parliament were rejected by Sultan Abdulhamid II, the Tanzimat Period ended.
Further Reading
Davison, Roderic H. (1963) Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–1876. New York: Gordian Press.
Findley, Carter. (1980) Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire: The Sublime Porte 1789–1922. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kadioglu, Ayse. (1996) "The Paradox of Turkish Nationalism and Construction of Official Identity." Middle Eastern Studies 32, 2.
This is the complete article, containing 552 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
