The Tanzimat reforms comprised of several reforms that were promulgated in the Ottoman Empire between in the 19th century between 1839 and 1876. The intention of these reforms was to preserve a weakening Empire. The reforms took place under the reign of Sultans Abdulaziz and Abdulmecid. These reforms in the Ottoman Empire had a high influence from European ideals and were aimed at transforming the functioning of the Empire in order to conform to ideals of a modern state (Davison, 2015). Edicts were thus passed to achieve this goal including the 1839 Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane – The Noble Edict of the Rose Chamber that ensured right to life and property, offered guidelines for tax regulations, banned executions without trials among other liberal reforms. The 1839 Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane thus ensured that all citizens were treated with honor irrespective of their race or religion. The standardized taxation system also eliminated abuse and fairer methods of conscription to the military were introduced.
In as much as equality was not realized initially, it was realized during the reign of Mustafa Resid Pasa who reigned for six terms as the grand vizier. The school systems were also overhauled and secular systems embraced, regional provincial administrative units were created- all of which resembled the French systems. Instituted laws were administered through the established state court systems also which were independent of the former ʿulamāʾIslamic religious council (Köksal, 2015).
These reforms helped the Ottoman Empire to inch closer to the western civilization since most of the noteworthy institutions were overhauled. These progresses were effectual only for a while however as they halted in the 1870’s during the sunset years of Abdülaziz’s reign. By concentrating legal and administrative authority under the Sultan for instance, the Sultan began to abuse power and nothing could be done to salvage the situation when he fronted revisionary policies. The modernization of the empire thus slowed during this time but eventually picked up and came close to the west since sufficient groundwork was already set up for the gradual modernization of the empire.
References
Davison, R. H. (2015). Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856-1876. Princeton University Press.
Köksal, Y. (2015). Local intermediaries and Ottoman state centralization: A Comparison of the Tanzimat reforms in the provinces of Ankara and Edirne (1839-1878) (Doctoral dissertation).
