Midhat Pasha

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Ahmed Şefik Midhat, the title is Pasha, and there is no family name.

Midhat Pasha
Abdulhamid II (r. 1876–1909)
Preceded byMehmed Rushdi Pasha
Succeeded byIbrahim Edhem Pasha
In office
31 July 1872 – 19 October 1872
MonarchAbdulaziz (r. 1861–1876)
Preceded byMahmud Nedim Pasha
Succeeded byMehmed Rushdi Pasha
Personal details
Born1822
Hejaz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
ParliamentParliament of the Ottoman Empire

Ahmed Shefik Midhat Pasha (

romanized: Aḥmed Şefīḳ Midḥat Pāshā; 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman politician, reformist and statesman. He was the author of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire
.

Midhat was born in

al-Ta'if
.

Early life and family

Ahmed Shefik Midhat Pasha was born in

medrese education.[3][4][5][6][7]

He spent his youth in his parents' home in

grand vizier, and in 1854 the Grand Vizier Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Pasha gave him the task of pacifying the province of Adrianople,[1] and he succeeded in putting down banditry in the Balkans in 1854–1856.[6][3] In 1858 he spent six months traveling in western Europe for studies, including in Vienna, Paris, Brussels and London.[1][8][9][10][2]

Early political career

Midhat Pasha in his middle age

In 1861 he was appointed governor of

Baghdad in 1869, as the appointment to such a remote posting was intended as a punishment.[2]

After his arrival in Baghdad in 1869, he opened a series of government schools, as the city previously had no state educational institutions.[14] He also emphasized reforming the Sixth Army, and to that end he opened military schools.[14] The military schools were to have the more lasting impact: by 1900, the civil preparatory high school was attended by only 96 students, compared to 256 for the military preparatory school, and 846 for the military middle school in the same year.[14]

He helped modernize the province, and he re-established Ottoman rule in al-Hasa.[2] He enacted the vilayet system in Baghdad, and applied the 1858 land decree under which miri land could be granted to individuals, under a system known as nizam tapu.[15] Sir Henry Dobbs recognised the three years of Midhat Pasha's governorship as the most stable and secure period of Ottoman rule in the region.[15] He left the post in 1872, returning to Istanbul.[2]

Grand Viziership

Midhat Pasha played a major role in the abolition of slavery in the Ottoman Empire

In 1872, he was appointed grand vizier by Abdulaziz (r. 1861–1876).[2] His first tenure came to an abrupt end, mainly due to his clashes with Abdulaziz over financial and economic issues.[10] He was dismissed after two months.[2] He also served as Minister of Justice in 1873 and 1875, but his tenure in these offices was short-lived, owing to his inclination towards a constitutional regime.[3]

The emerging internal, financial and diplomatic crises of 1875–1876 provided him with a chance to introduce the

constitution of 1876.[3]

On 15 June 1876, an Ottoman infantry officer named Çerkes Hasan assaulted a meeting in the mansion of Midhat Pasha, where all the chief ministers were present. The Minister of War Huseyin Avni Pasha was shot, and the Foreign Minister Rashid Pasha was killed, as was one of Midhat's servants, named Ahmed Aga. In total, 5 were killed and 10 were wounded, and Hasan was sentenced to death for the crime, in an incident known as the Çerkes Hasan Olayı.[16]

Midhat Pasha was again appointed Grand Vizier, in place of Mehmed Rushdi Pasha, on 19 December 1876.[10] When he was appointed, he promised to continue on the path of reform, and announced on 23 December 1876 that a constitution would be promulgated and a representative parliament established.[10] Though not a member of the commission that drafted the constitution, he played an important part in its adoption.[10] The constitution provided for equal rights for all citizens without distinction of race or creed, abolition of slavery, an independent judiciary based on civil (rather than religious) law, universal elementary education, and a bicameral parliament, with a Senate appointed by the Sultan and a directly elected Chamber of Deputies.[10] Midhat Pasha asserted in the Nineteenth Century that "in Islam the principle of government rests upon bases essentially democratic, inasmuch as the sovereignty of the people is therein recognized."[17]

Popular support for the constitution began to plummet when it became known that it was to grant equal rights for non-Muslims.[18] The softas, which had been Midhat's supporters just months earlier, became largely opposed.[18] Midhat Pasha managed to pressure Abdul Hamid II into approving the constitution, but the Sultan was able to include the notorious article 113, which gave him the power to banish anyone from the empire without trial or other legal procedure.[18]

Abdul Hamid had no real interest in constitutionalism, and on 5 February 1877, he exiled Midhat Pasha.

Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, and a pamphlet defending Ottoman reforms.[19] Midhat's popularity in Europe, coupled with British pressure, led Abdul Hamid to allow him to return from exile, and he arrived in Crete on 6 September 1878.[19]

After the war ended, Sultan Abdul Hamid II dismissed the government and returned to despotic rule.[3]

Governorship of Syria

Statue of Midhat Pasha in Ankara

The intervention of the British led to his appointing as governor again,

Vilayet of Syria on November 1878, a post he held until 31 August 1881.[20] During his tenure he endeavoured to reform the province.[2] He used a charitable association for education, which had been formed by some of Beirut's prominent Muslim citizens, into a centrepiece of his educational reform, and encouraged the formation of similar associations in Damascus and elsewhere.[6]

He admitted many Arabs in the civil service, including in the positions of

qaimaqam and mutasarrif, and gave minorities broad representation in the administration.[20] He encouraged the development of the press, and the number of newspapers rose to more than twelve.[20] He took an interest in the construction of roads, and in the maintenance of security.[20] He involved local notables in the financing of local projects, such as the tramway system in Tripoli and the founding of the Beirut Chamber of Commerce.[20] He then resigned the post, as he felt Istanbul was offering him an insufficient amount of support.[2] His reputation in Europe was that his reforming zeal was an aberration, based on individual strength of personality.[15] They believed Midhat Pasha could not succeed, citing the inefficient and corrupt nature of the Ottoman state, and the fractured nature of its society.[15]

Imprisonment and death

He served briefly in

Hejaz
.

Governor and the Commander of Hejaz, Osman Nuri Pasha (not to be confused with Ghazi Osman Nuri Pasha), who carried out the extra-judicial execution, photographed during his Hejaz service.

Some historians claim that these to be trumped-up accusations

Emir of Mecca received a message from Istanbul demanding the death of Midhat from "an accident".[24] The incumbent Emir Abdul Muttalib was a close friend of Midhat however, and no action was taken by him.[24] As a result, Osman Pasha (Uthman Pasha), governor of Hejaz, surrounded the Emir's summer residence in Taif and imprisoned him.[24] After that, Midhat Pasha's fate was sealed.[24] He was assassinated in his cell on 26 April 1883.[10][2]

Midhat Pasha's remains were brought from Taif and interned in the Monument of Liberty on 26 June 1951, in a ceremony attended by President Celâl Bayar.[25]

Legacy

The British historian Caroline Finkel describes Midhat as "a true representative of Tanzimat optimism, who believed that separatist tendencies could be best countered by demonstrating the benefits of good government."[22] The Midhat Pasha Souq in Damascus still bears his name.[6] Bernard Lewis describes Midhat Pasha "one of the ablest administrators in the Ottoman service." Going on to state "[his] term of office as Vali of the Danube province showed that, given the necessary goodwill and ability, the new system could work very well."[11] Midhat Pasha is described as a person with a liberal attitude.

Gallery

  • Midhat Pasha on the cover of Vanity Fair, 30 June 1877
    Midhat Pasha on the cover of
    Vanity Fair
    , 30 June 1877
  • Bust of Midhat Pasha in Istanbul
    Bust of Midhat Pasha in Istanbul
  • Midhat Pasha's palace in Niš
    Midhat Pasha's palace in Niš

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-09791-9
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4381-1025-7
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8108-7579-1
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  4. ^ Roderic H. Davison (1963). Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856-1876. p. 397.
  5. ISBN 978-0-19-879816-3
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-21133-9
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  7. ISBN 978-1-85065-728-6
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  8. ISBN 0195358023
    . Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  9. ISBN 3515073094
    . Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-06061-6
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-513460-5
    .
  12. ^ Özkan, Ayşe. "The Expulsion of Muslims from Serbia after the International Conference in Kanlıca and Withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from Serbia (1862-1867)". Akademik Bakış.
  13. ISBN 978-0-19-513460-5
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-21133-9
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85065-728-6
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  16. ISBN 978-3-515-07687-6
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  17. ISBN 978-0-19-513460-5
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-31949-5
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-09249-5
    . Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7099-3471-4
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  21. ISBN 978-965-264-014-7
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84854-785-8
    . Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  23. ISBN 978-1-4128-1540-6
    . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-0-900891-48-9
    . Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  25. ^ Hürriyet Şehidimiz Mithat Paşa Dün Toğrağa Verildi, Milliyet Gazetesi, 27.06.1951

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Midhat Pasha.
Political offices
Preceded by
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire

31 July 1872 – 19 October 1872 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire

19 December 1876 – 5 February 1877 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sabri Pasha
Governor of Aidin

1880 – 17 May 1881 		Succeeded by
Ali Pasha
Preceded by
Governor of Ottoman Syria

22 November 1878 – 31 August 1881 		Succeeded by
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