Tanzimat

The Tanzimat was a nineteenth-century Ottoman reform period, beginning in 1839, that sought to centralize government and reorganize law, administration, and society.

Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane: An 1839 Ottoman decree promising security of life, honor, and property, regular taxation, and orderly conscription. This decree launched the Tanzimat by announcing reforms under Sultan Abdülmecid I.
Selim III: Ottoman sultan from 1789 to 1807 who pursued military and administrative reforms known as the Nizam-ı Cedid. His reform program anticipated Tanzimat efforts to strengthen the central state.
Abdülmecid I: Ottoman sultan from 1839 to 1861, whose reign began with the Tanzimat reforms. He endorsed the Gülhane decree and presided over the reforms' early decades.
Reform Edict of 1856: An Ottoman decree affirming equal legal status for Muslim and non-Muslim subjects and promising further reforms. It expanded the equality commitments first announced in the Gülhane decree.
Ottoman Land Code of 1858: An Ottoman law that reorganized landholding and required the registration of land rights. It extended central authority by making land tenure more legible to the state.
Mahmud II: Ottoman sultan from 1808 to 1839 who dismantled the Janissary corps and expanded central institutions. His reforms prepared the administrative ground for the Tanzimat decrees.
Mustafa Reşid Pasha: Ottoman statesman and diplomat who helped draft the Gülhane decree and served repeatedly as grand vizier. He was a principal architect and advocate of the Tanzimat program.
Ottoman Constitution of 1876: The first constitution of the Ottoman Empire, establishing a parliament and defining citizens' rights. It extended reform into constitutional government, beyond the Tanzimat's ministerial decrees.
Vilayet Law of 1864: An Ottoman statute that organized provincial administration into a hierarchy of vilayets, sanjaks, and districts. It standardized provincial government as part of Tanzimat centralization.
Auspicious Incident: The 1826 destruction of the Janissary corps by Sultan Mahmud II and his forces. Removing the Janissaries weakened a major obstacle to state-directed military reform.

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