Encyclopedia of Islam

Tanzimat

  

661  J

---

kind of patriotism known as Ottomanism. The 

edict also included some limitations on the arbi-

trary powers of the sultan. This document served 

partly to show the European powers, which were 

increasingly becoming a dominating force in Otto-

man politics, that progress was being made.

The reforms were not entirely successful, due in 

part to opposition from conservatives, who objected 

to the imposition of non-Muslim institutions, and 

to conflicts with the European powers. After the 

Crimean War (1853–56), reforms continued with 

the promulgation of another imperial edict in 1856, 

which revised the rights of the 1839 decree, and 

lasted until the end of Abd al-Aziz’s reign through 

the efforts of the reformist viziers Fuad Pasha and 

Ali Pasha. In 1876, the empire’s first 

constitUtion

was promulgated under Sultan Abd al-Hamid, but it 

was soon suspended and the parliament established 

under its terms was abolished by this sultan, who 

saw it as a challenge to his own absolute authority.

Besides these specific reforms, the Tanzimat 

era saw a general increase in European influence, 

secularization, and liberal ideals based on the 

individual, as well as the continued growth of 

nationalist sentiment, particularly in the Balkans. 

It was also during this period that important tech-

nological advances, which were to have an impact 

on the social and political fabric of society, began 

to take hold, especially the railroad, telegraph, and 

newspapers. The Tanzimat period highlighted the 

problem of the compatibility of i

slam

 with mod-

ern Western civilization, which was to continue 

to be an issue until the end of the empire and the 

founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

See also  o

ttoman

 

dynasty

; 

secUlarism

; 

W

esternization

.

Mark Soileau