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Abdülmecid I (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجيد اولAbdülmecîd-i evvel; 23/25 April 1823 – 25 June 1861) or Tanzimatçı Sultan Abdülmecid (Sultan Abdülmecid the Reorganizer) due to the Tanzimat reforms he conducted, he is also known as Abdulmejid and similar spellings, was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839.[3] His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdulmejid wanted to encourage Ottomanism among the secessionist subject nations and stop the rise of nationalist movements within the empire, but failed to succeed despite trying to integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into Ottoman society with new laws and reforms. He tried to forge alliances with the major powers of Western Europe, namely the United Kingdom and France, who fought alongside the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War against Russia. In the following Congress of Paris on 30 March 1856, the Ottoman Empire was officially included among the European family of nations. Abdulmejid's biggest achievement was the announcement and application of the Tanzimat (reorganization) reforms which were prepared by his father and effectively started the modernization of the Ottoman Empire in 1839. For this achievement, one of the Imperial anthems of the Ottoman Empire, the March of Abdulmejid, was named after him.

Abdulmejid I
عبد المجيد اول
Ottoman Caliph
Amir al-Mu'minin
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Kayser-i Rûm
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Knight of the Garter
Sultan Abdulmecid Pera Museum 3 b.jpg
A painting of Abdulmejid at the Pera Museum in Istanbul.
31st Ottoman Sultan (Emperor)
Reign2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861
PredecessorMahmud II
Born25 April 1823[1][2]
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died25 June 1861(1861-06-25) (aged 38)
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
ConsortsServetseza Kadın
Şevkefza Kadın
Verdicenan Kadın
Perestu Kadın
Zeynifelek Hanım
Nükhetsezâ Hanım
Tirimüjgan Kadın
Nesrin Hanım
Düzdidil Kadın
Gülcemal Kadın
Mahitab Kadın
Ceylanyar Hanım
Nergizev Hanım
Navekmisal Hanım
Bezmiara Kadın
Nalandil Hanım
Şayeste Hanım
Serfiraz Hanım
Gülüstü Hanım
Issuesee below
Full name
Abdul Mecid bin Mahmud
FatherMahmud II
MotherBezmiâlem Sultan
ReligionSunni Islam
TughraAbdulmejid I عبد المجيد اول's signature


Early lifeEdit

Abdulmejid was born at the Beşiktaş Sahil Palace or at the Topkapı Palace, both in Istanbul.[4] His mother was his father's first wife in 1839, Valide Sultan Bezmiâlem, originally named Suzi (1807–1852), either a Circassian[5] or Georgian slave.[6][7][8]

Abdulmejid received a European education and spoke fluent French, the first sultan to do so.[1] Like Abdülaziz who succeeded him, he was interested in literature and classical music. Like his father Mahmud II, he was an advocate of reforms and was lucky enough to have the support of progressive viziers such as Mustafa Reşit Pasha, Mehmet Emin Ali Paşa and Fuad Pasha. Throughout his reign he had to struggle against conservatives who opposed his reforms. Abdulmejid was also the first sultan to directly listen to the public's complaints on special reception days, which were usually held every Friday without any middlemen. Abdulmejid toured the empire's territories to see in person how the Tanzimat reforms were being applied. He travelled to İzmit, Mudanya, Bursa, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Lemnos, Lesbos and Chios in 1844 and toured the Balkan provinces in 1846.



Sultan Abdulmejid (left) with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Napoleon III of France
Dolmabahçe Palace, the first European-style palace in Istanbul, was built by Abdulmejid between 1843 and 1856, at a cost of five million Ottoman gold pounds, the equivalent of 35 tons of gold. Fourteen tons of gold was used to adorn the interior ceiling of the palace. The world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier, a gift from Queen Victoria, is in the centre hall. The palace has the largest collection of Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world, and even the staircases are made of Baccarat crystal.
During the reign of Abdulmejid, besides European style architecture and European style clothing adopted by the court, the Ottoman educational system was also mainly based on the European model.


The most important reform measures promoted by Abdulmejid were:

  • Introduction of the first Ottoman paper banknotes (1840)
  • Reorganisation of the finance system according to the French model
  • Institution of a council of public instruction (1846)
  • Creation of the Ministry of Education[1]
  • Plans to send humanitarian aid of £10,000[10] (£24.83 million in 2013[11]) to Ireland during its Great Famine, but later agreed to reduce it to £1,000[10] (£2.483 million in 2013[11]) at the insistence of British diplomats wishing to avoid embarrassing Queen Victoria, who had made a donation of £5,000.[10]
  • Plans to abolish slave markets (1847)[10]
  • Plans to build a Protestant chapel (1847)[10]
  • Establishment of modern universities and academies (1848)
  • Establishment of an Ottoman school in Paris[1]
  • Abolition of a capitation tax which imposed higher tariffs on non-Muslims (1856)
  • Various provisions for the better administration of the public service and for the advancement of commerce[9]

Another notable reform was that the turban was officially outlawed for the first time during Abdulmejid's reign, in favour of the fez. European fashions were also adopted by the Court. (The fez would be banned in 1925 by the same Republican National Assembly that abolished the sultanate and proclaimed the Turkish Republic in 1923).

Samuel Morse received his first ever patent for the telegraph in 1847, at the old Beylerbeyi Palace (the present Beylerbeyi Palace was built in 1861–1865 on the same location) in Istanbul, which was issued by Sultan Abulmejid who personally tested the new invention.[14]



The Ottoman Empire received the first of its foreign loans on 25 August 1854 during the Crimean War. This major foreign loan was followed by those of 1855, 1858 and 1860, which culminated in default and led to the alienation of European sympathy from the Ottoman Empire and indirectly to the later dethronement and death of Abdulmejid's brother Abdülaziz.[9]


He restored the Hagia Sophia between 1847 and 1849, and was responsible for the construction of the Dolmabahçe Palace. He also founded the first French Theatre in Istanbul.[1]



Abdulmejid died of tuberculosis (like his father) at the age of 38 on 25 June 1861 in Istanbul, and was buried in Yavuz Selim Mosque, and was succeeded by his younger half-brother Sultan Abdülaziz, son of Pertevniyal Sultan.


The Crimean War medal issued by Abdulmejid to British, French and Sardinian allied personnel involved in the Crimean War (Sardinian issue)
Abdulmejid in his youth, by David Wilkie, 1840.

Abdulmejid married nineteen times and had forty-four children. He left several sons, of whom four eventually succeeded to the throne. His marriages were:

The türbe of Abdulmejid is located inside the Yavuz Selim Mosque in Fatih, Istanbul.

In fictionEdit

  • A fictionalized version of Abdulmejid I appears in the 2008 novel The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin.[18]


  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abdulmecid I". Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
  2. ^ There are sources that state his birth date as the 23rd of April.
  4. ^ Since when is it called istanbul ?:Since 1453 and before the city is writen استان, a-sitan or i-stan in Arabian sources and also later writen as استانبول, a-stan-bol or i-stan-bul. Also the Commander of the City was called Commander of Istanbul (Ayrıca Osmanlı Ordusu’nda İstanbul'un merkez ordu komutanı için resmen İstanbul ağası ve İstanbul'un en yüksek sivil hakimi için resmen İstanbul efendisi sıfatları kullanılırdı)
  5. ^ "Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art Volume 0005 Issue 30 (June 1855)".
  6. ^ "Gürcistan Dostluk Derneği".
  7. ^ Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan, Bezmiâlem Vakıf Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Hastanesi Archived June 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ a b c d   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abd-ul-Mejid" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 36–37.
  11. ^ a b "Measuring Worth - Purchase Power of the Pound". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  12. ^ Kazi, Tehmina (7 October 2011). "The Ottoman empire's secular history undermines sharia claims - Tehmina Kazi".
  13. ^
  18. ^ "The Bellini Card". 18 January 2013.

External linksEdit

  Media related to Abdül Mecid I at Wikimedia Commons

  Works written by or about Abdülmecid I at Wikisource

Abdulmejid I
Born: 23 April 1823 Died: 25 June 1861
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Mahmud II
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861
Succeeded by
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by
Mahmud II
Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate
2 July 1839 – 25 June 1861
Succeeded by