Abdul hamid ii biography of abraham

These defeats exposed Ottoman vulnerability and prompted Abdul Hamid to tighten his grip, limiting freedoms and suspending constitutional provisions to maintain control. By , Abdul Hamid had grown deeply suspicious of real or perceived threats to his power. After suspending the constitution and dissolving parliament, he ruled under a system often referred to as İstibdad, meaning autocracy.

A dense network of informants and a rigorous censorship apparatus targeted anyone suspected of harboring liberal, constitutional, or nationalist sentiments. Journalists, intellectuals, and reform-minded bureaucrats either toned down their critiques or faced exile. Fearful of coups, he kept watch on officials and demanded loyalty from military leaders.

Religious legitimacy was also invoked, as Abdul Hamid claimed the mantle of caliph to rally Muslim solidarity across the empire and beyond. Ironically, these very tactics—spying on suspected conspirators and stifling political debate—alienated many educated groups who had once seen him as a hope for substantive reform. Over time, his paranoia and habitual centralization became emblematic of his long rule, prompting frustration among those yearning for a more open and accountable government.

He invested in extensive infrastructure projects, such as expanding railway lines across Anatolia and Rumelia, eventually paving the way for the Baghdad and Hejaz Railways. He championed the founding of professional schools in areas such as law, the arts, engineering, and veterinary science. Primary and secondary schools were established throughout Ottoman domains, while military academies grew in prominence.

However, the new wave of young graduates from these schools would become his most vocal critics. Facing both European encroachment and internal discontent, Abdul Hamid embraced a Pan-Islamic approach, hoping to unify Muslim populations within and beyond Ottoman borders. As the caliph, he attempted to rally global Muslim sentiment against Western imperialism.

Although this approach appealed to many Muslims abroad, European powers perceived his policy as a threat. Notably, Germany emerged as an imperial partner, motivated by its own strategic interests. Kaiser Wilhelm II courted the sultan through high-profile visits, securing railway concessions and economic privileges. Archived from the original on 3 March Retrieved 23 September Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp.

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The ex-sultan was conveyed into dignified captivity at Salonica. In , when Salonica fell to Greece, he was returned to captivity in Istanbul. He spent his last days studying, carpentering and writing his memoirs in custody at Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died on February 10 , just a few months before his brother, the sultan. He presided over thirty three years of decline.

The Ottoman subjects rarely saw the benefits of the attempted reforms carried out under the Sultan's reign. Within a few years of his death, the Ottoman Empire was in ruins, the republican modern nation state of Turkey was established and the caliphate abolished. Loss of the Balkan provinces, and of Cyprus in , financial indebtedness to the European powers, while his choice of Germany as a friend proved fatal when the Axis Powers lost World War I.

In many Arab parts of the Empire, nationalist or pan-Arabist movements were underway that saw local self-governance and regional or national identity as more important than membership of a "caliphate" headed by a distant, non-Arab autocrat. He was unable to stem this development, although he tried hard to retain the loyalty of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca by keeping him and his family for many in Istanbul but, forming the Arab Legion, they rebelled and aided the British in World War I.

Fearful of assassination, he did not travel often though still more than many previous rulers and photographs provided visual evidence of what was taking place in his realm. The American collection is housed in the Library of Congress and has been digitized. Europe with "France, England, Austria" written on her skirt punishes the spoilt kid Greece for asking too much and not feeling happy with what he got Crete.

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To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats. The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:. Jump to: navigation , search. Previous Abductive reasoning. Next Abdul Mejid II. The New York Times , May 11, Retrieved February 1, The New York Times. These powers were as vulnerable with respect to their Muslim subjects as were the Ottomans with respect to their Christian subjects.

The Ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph of Islam. He occupied a position in the Islamic religious-political space similar to that of the Pope in Rome with respect to Roman Catholics. The prestige of this position could be used to pressure the Christian European powers and make them take their hands off the only remaining independent Islamic state.

Conviction, hardened by realpolitik, impelled the Sultan to don the mantle of caliph with unapologetic openness. Abdul Hamid made a concerted effort to cultivate close relationships with Muslims not just in the empire but in Muslim India and Central Asia as well. He insisted on exercising his privilege, as caliph, of appointing the principal religious dignitaries in the Balkans.

Writers like Namuk Kamal emphasized the Islamic origins of the empire and the contributions that the Turks had made to the continuing unfolding of Islamic civilization. The Sultan made it a point to go for Friday congregational prayers at the Aya Sophia in an open carriage so that the public would see him. Ramadan, the month of fasting, became a special month of celebration.

Each evening, before breaking the fast at sunset, the Sultan sat on a brocade chair in the hall of audience. Lining the hall on either side were rows of shaykhs, ulema and visiting dignitaries. The Sultan made it a point to invite some commoners to join him for the breaking of the fast so as to establish religious rapport with the masses. The European powers viewed these moves with suspicion but were powerless to stop them.

Implied in this assertive religious posture was the threat that any further moves against the domains of the caliph might result in a worldwide uprising of Muslims against their colonial masters. Wherever there was the slightest injury to Muslims, whether it was in Russia, British India, or French Africa, the Sultan sent a note of protest to the concerned power, thereby earning the respect and religious loyalty of Muslims worldwide.

The British were particularly concerned about the huge number of Muslims in India and made their own propaganda efforts to portray themselves as friends and protectors of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan welcomed Muslim dignitaries from all over the world into his palace where they were received with the honor and prestige reserved for heads of state.

One of the principal dignitaries so received was Jamaluddin Afghani, a reformer from Afghanistan, who traveled throughout the Muslim world to forge political and cultural unity among Muslims. Religious fervor rose and the Sultan won the support of the ulema worldwide and established his legitimacy in the eyes of a majority of his subjects and also of a large number of Muslims globally.

Muslims around the world looked to him for guidance in matters ranging from religious observances to the wearing of the fez. The benefit of this assertive religious posture was that it kept the European powers off balance for more than a quarter century. The empire was at relative peace. The European powers, instead of seeking military occupation and colonial rule, were content to compete with each other for economic benefits, raw materials and markets.

The price paid for this pan-Islamic tilt was that it took away whatever pretence the empire had as a multi-religious state. The disaffection of the Christian minorities grew, even as the reforms of the tanzeemat gathered momentum, providing equal opportunities for the millets.

Abdul hamid ii biography of abraham

Sultan Abdul Hamid was convinced that the only way to modernize the empire was through a centralized structure directed by his own person. This conviction was reinforced by the events of the first two years of his reign. He was deeply disappointed by Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha, widely credited as the father of the Ottoman Parliament, over his handling of negotiations at the Istanbul Conference of The breakdown of the Conference led to the Russian invasion and a humiliating defeat.

In addition, the politicians in the Parliament were more interested in enhancing their own political careers than finding solutions to the pressing issues facing the empire. The Christian nationalists used the floor of the Parliament as a platform to air their own demands for autonomy for their regions, or independence. In January , with the Russian army approaching Istanbul, the Sultan sought the counsel of the Parliament to invite the British fleet into Istanbul harbor as a precautionary deterrent to a Russian occupation of the capital.

Instead of counsel, the Sultan got lectures from petty citizens about the conduct of the war. A disillusioned Sultan lost his faith in the integrity of the bureaucrats and concluded that the empire was not yet ready for parliamentary democracy, that the best chance for a survival of the empire was through a centralized structure directed by himself.

In February , he dissolved the Parliament in accordance with provisions of the Constitution and directly assumed all powers. What emerged in place of parliamentary rule was a highly centralized structure centered on the palace. The Sultan was the focus of authority and power. The centralization of power required that there be intermediaries between himself and the bureaucrats.

The Sultan drew upon a model that had evolved in the earlier Islamic empires. Just as earlier caliphs had used hajibs to distance themselves from the ammah, so did Sultan Abdul Hamid use the mabayeen intermediaries to convey his wishes to the civil servants. Mabayeen means in between. This was the equivalent of the hajibs who had, in earlier centuries, separated the caliphs and Sultans from the ammah, the common folk.

Between and this post was held by Ghazi Osman Pasha, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Plevna and had earned the respect and confidence of the Sultan. He was a distinguished general. Ghazi Osman Pasha was a principal influence on the Sultan in matters relating to the army and foreign affairs. The mabayeen mushiri chaired the Privy Council, consisting of retired army officers and high-ranking bureaucrats, who provided advice to the Sultan on important matters.

The harem had its own influence on the Sultan through the chief eunuch or the agha. These three positions were the principal mabayeen between the Sultan and the outside world. Abdul Hamid kept a close watch on all of his appointees, as well as on the extensive bureaucracy in the state, through an efficient system of police and spy network. The police functions were centralized and the department not only had the authority to maintain law and order, but to conduct surveillance on travelers, the press and writers.

The Sultan, to keep himself informed of the minutest happenings in the empire, entrusted the Police Ministry only to his most trusted confidants. In addition, various advisors served him in matters of personal finance and foreign affairs. The executive, legislative and judiciary functions were combined in the office of the grand vizier.

The grand vizier was responsible for coordinating the affairs of state and of the work of the ministries. The grand vizier presided over ministerial meetings and chaired the important commissions established by the Sultan such as the commission on refugees. The legislative arm of the state, the Council of State, worked through the grand vizier, as did the Ministry of Justice, which provided oversight for the secular courts.

He served in that capacity seven times between and and was twice called upon by the Young Turks to assume the position of the chief executive after Abdul Hamid was deposed. The Shaykh ul Islam, as the chief religious functionary of the state, had oversight authority over mosques, madrasas, orphanages and religious publications. He interpreted the Shariah and ensured that its dictates were implemented in the Shariah courts.

The shaykh, along with the grand vizier, the khedive of Egypt and the prince of Bulgaria formed the highest echelon of functionaries at the court of the Sultan. The modernization programs sought by Abdul Hamid required sufficient funds for their implementation. The Sultan was hamstrung by the enormous accumulated debt that he had inherited.

In , the foreign debt alone stood at over 12 billion kurush. The Russian-Turkish war of and its aftermath added another 4 billion kurush to this enormous burden. Together with unpaid interest, the total foreign debt stood at 23 billion kurush. In addition, the internal debt stood at another four billion kurush. There was a real possibility that the Ottomans would succumb to this debt burden just as had Egypt and Tunisia.

Through negotiations, the total foreign debt was reduced from 23 billion to 12 billion kurush. In return, specific revenues from tobacco, spirits, silk, salt, document fees and tributes from Bulgaria, Montenegro, Cyprus and Greece were turned over a Public Debt Commission consisting of representatives from the principal European powers and Ottoman functionaries.

To compensate for the lost revenues, the Sultan embarked upon a wide range of economic reforms. He instituted a budgetary process and established an audit department. The department heads were encouraged to trim their budgets. The Sultan removed his personal expenses from the budget and met them through his own resources. The privy purses of the princes were reduced.

To increase revenues, agriculture and industrialization were encouraged. An agricultural bank was established to provide low interest loans to farmers. Surplus from the bank was used to finance education, to meet extraordinary budget requirements such as refugee resettlement and to pay for modernization of the armed forces. Foreign investment was encouraged for building railroads, telegraph lines and building silk, tobacco and fabric processing factories.

The Hijaz railroad, linking Damascus with Madina, was built entirely with domestic funds and contributions from Muslims worldwide, facilitating the movement of pilgrims from the eastern Mediterranean regions to Mecca and Madina. A side benefit of industrialization was that the European powers were deflected from seeking political military hegemony over the Ottomans to economic competition for mutual benefit.

The needs of the armed forces, and a civilian bureaucracy required to administer the vast empire, demanded an efficient, trained work force. Sultan Abdul Hamid knew that the Ottomans could not catch up with the West unless the educational system was reformed and expanded. Education was therefore given the highest priority. The Sultan saw to it that the education reforms that were initiated during the tanzeemat were completed during his reign.

Since the debt burden was overwhelming, the Sultan invested from his personal resources to upgrade the standards of education in the Muslim religious schools, expanding their syllabus to include instruction in physics and mathematics. The millet schools as well as the missionary schools run by foreigners witnessed a similar increase in attendance.