Midhat Pasha
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Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha (Template:Langx; 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 Istanbul and educated from a private Template:Transliteration. In July 1872, he was appointed grand vizier by Abdulaziz (Template:Reign), though was removed in August. During the First Constitutional Era, in 1876, he co-founded the Ottoman Parliament. Midhat was noted as a kingmaker and leading Ottoman democrat. He was part of a governing elite which recognized the crisis the Empire was in and considered reform to be a dire need. Midhat was reportedly killed in al-Ta'if.
Life
Early life and family
Ahmed Shefik Midhat Pasha was born in Istanbul in the Islamic month of Safar in 1238 AH, which began on 18 October 1822.<ref name="Houtsma1993"/> His family consisted of well-established Muslim scholars.<ref name="AMp378"/> His father, Rusçuklu Mehmed Eşref, was a native of Ruse.<ref name="Houtsma1993" /> The family seem to have been professed Bektashis.<ref name="Houtsma1993" /> Born into an Ilmiye family, he received a private and medrese education.<ref name="Somelp188" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="NNp117" /><ref name="Dodgep57">Template:Cite book</ref>
He spent his youth in his parents' home in Vidin, Lovech and later Istanbul, where his father held judicial office.<ref name="Houtsma1993"/>
Early political career
In 1836 he worked in the secretariat of the grand vizier, and in 1854 the Grand Vizier Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Pasha gave him the task of pacifying the province of Adrianople,<ref name="Houtsma1993" /> and he succeeded in putting down banditry in the Balkans in 1854–1856.<ref name="NNp117" /><ref name="Somelp188" /> In 1858 he spent six months traveling in western Europe for studies, including in Vienna, Paris, Brussels and London.<ref name="Houtsma1993" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Hershlagp36-37" /><ref name="AMp378" /> While he was second secretary of the Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances, he took part in the investigation of the Kuleli Incident.Template:Sfn
Governorships
Niš and Danube governorship
In 1861 he was appointed governor of Niš,<ref name="Houtsma1993" /> where he was instrumental in introducing the vilayet system in the Balkans.<ref name="Somelp188" /> Fuad Pasha, in order to implement the 1864 Vilayet Law, began with a pilot program in the form of the model and experimental vilayet of the Danube, in which Midhat Pasha was appointed its first Vali.<ref name=":0" /> He was governor of the Danube Province from 1864 to 1868.<ref name="AMp378" /> He played a major role in the accommodation of Muslim refugees from Serbia, who were expelled by the government in 1862.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> During his governorship, he built countless schools and educational institutes, built hospitals, granaries, roads and bridges, paying for these projects through voluntary contributions from the people.<ref name="Houtsma1993">Template:Cite book</ref> Within two years Midhat Pasha restored order, introduced the new reformed hierarchy, provided agricultural credits (through the first agricultural credit co-operatives),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> extended roads, bridges, and waterways, started industries, opened schools and orphanages, founded a newspaper, and increased the revenues of the province from 26,000 to 300,000 purses.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> He clashed with the Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha, which led to his appointment as governor of Baghdad in 1869, as the appointment to such a remote posting was intended as a punishment.<ref name="AMp378" />
Baghdad governorship
Template:Multiple image After his arrival in Baghdad in 1869, he opened a series of government schools, as the city previously had no state educational institutions.<ref name="NNp121"/> He also emphasized reforming the Sixth Army, and to that end he opened military schools.<ref name="NNp121"/> 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.<ref name="NNp121">Template:Cite book</ref>
He helped modernize the province, and he re-established Ottoman rule in al-Hasa.<ref name="AMp378"/> 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.<ref name="Dodgep54"/>
As one of the modernization efforts carried out by Midhat Pasha, the newspaper al-Zawra was published bilingually (Turkish and Arabic) as the official mouthpiece of the governorate. al-Zawra is known as the first newspaper of Iraq, and was continued until the British takeover.
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.<ref name="Dodgep54"/> He left the post in 1872, returning to Istanbul.<ref name="AMp378"/>
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 (Template:Reign).<ref name="AMp378"/> His first tenure came to an abrupt end, mainly due to his clashes with Abdulaziz over financial and economic issues.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37" /> He was dismissed after two months.<ref name="AMp378" /> 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.<ref name="Somelp188" />
The emerging internal, financial and diplomatic crises of 1875–1876 provided him with a chance to introduce the constitution of 1876.<ref name="Somelp188"/>
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 incident.<ref name="Reidp311">Template:Cite book</ref>
Midhat Pasha was again appointed Grand Vizier, in place of Mehmed Rushdi Pasha, on 19 December 1876.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37"/> 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.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37"/> Though not a member of the commission that drafted the constitution, he played an important part in its adoption.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37"/> 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.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37"/> 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."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Popular support for the constitution began to plummet when it became known that it was to grant equal rights for non-Muslims.<ref name="Roudometofp87"/> The softas, which had been Midhat's supporters just months earlier, became largely opposed.<ref name="Roudometofp87"/> 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.<ref name="Roudometofp87">Template:Cite book</ref>
Abdul Hamid had no real interest in constitutionalism, and on 5 February 1877, he exiled Midhat Pasha.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37"/> Sent to Brindisi on the imperial yacht, from there he visited France, Spain, Austria-Hungary and the United Kingdom, where he wrote memoranda supporting the Ottoman cause in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, and a pamphlet defending Ottoman reforms.<ref name="Publishers1990">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="Publishers1990"/>
After the war ended, Sultan Abdul Hamid II dismissed the government and returned to despotic rule.<ref name="Somelp188"/>
Governorship of Syria
The intervention of the British led to his appointing as governor again,<ref name="AMp378"/> and he became governor of the Vilayet of Syria in November 1878, a post he held until 31 August 1881.<ref name="Dūrīp165"/> During his tenure he endeavoured to reform the province.<ref name="AMp378"/> 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.<ref name="NNp117">Template:Cite book</ref>
He admitted many Arabs in the civil service, including in the positions of qaimaqam and mutasarrif, and gave minorities broad representation in the administration.<ref name="Dūrīp165"/> He encouraged the development of the press, and the number of newspapers rose to more than twelve.<ref name="Dūrīp165"/> He took an interest in the construction of roads, and in the maintenance of security.<ref name="Dūrīp165"/> 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.<ref name="Dūrīp165">Template:Cite book</ref> He then resigned the post, as he felt Istanbul was offering him an insufficient amount of support.<ref name="AMp378"/> His reputation in Europe was that his reforming zeal was an aberration, based on individual strength of personality.<ref name="Dodgep54"/> They believed Midhat Pasha could not succeed, citing the inefficient and corrupt nature of the Ottoman state, and the fractured nature of its society.<ref name="Dodgep54">Template:Cite book</ref>
Imprisonment and death
He served briefly in İzmir as governor of the vilayet of Aydin,<ref name="Šārôn1986">Template:Cite book</ref> but on 17 May 1881, after only a few months on that post, he was arrested.<ref name="Finkel2012">Template:Cite book</ref> Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, the justice minister, brought him to Istanbul, where he was charged with the murder of Sultan Abdulaziz.<ref name="Finkel2012"/> The interrogation and court proceedings took place at Yildiz.<ref name="Finkel2012"/> In conclusion, he was convicted and charged with the murder, and was sentenced to death. However the execution was commuted to life imprisonment in Taif in Hejaz.
Some historians claim that these to be trumped-up accusations<ref name="AMp378"/> as they believe that confessions were extracted from some suspects through the use of torture, and the use of forged evidence and paid witnesses led to his conviction.<ref name="Finkel2012"/><ref name="Edibp203">Template:Cite book</ref> However, they claim that the British pressure impeded his execution,<ref name="AMp378">Template:Cite book</ref> so he was imprisoned in the fortress of Taif, in Hejaz.<ref name="Somelp188">Template:Cite book</ref> It was reported that, soon after his arrival, the Emir of Mecca received a message from Istanbul demanding the death of Midhat from "an accident".<ref name="Baker1979">Template:Cite book</ref> The incumbent Emir Abdul Muttalib was a close friend of Midhat however, and no action was taken by him.<ref name="Baker1979"/> As a result, Osman Pasha (Uthman Pasha), governor of Hejaz, surrounded the Emir's summer residence in Taif and imprisoned him.<ref name="Baker1979"/> After that, Midhat Pasha's fate was sealed.<ref name="Baker1979"/> He was assassinated in his cell on 26 April 1883.<ref name="Hershlagp36-37">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="AMp378"/>
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.<ref>Hürriyet Şehidimiz Mithat Paşa Dün Toğrağa Verildi, Milliyet Gazetesi, 27.06.1951</ref>
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."<ref name="Finkel2012" /> The Midhat Pasha Souq in Damascus still bears his name.<ref name="NNp117" /> 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."<ref name=":0" /> Midhat Pasha is described as a person with a liberal attitude.
Gallery
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Midhat Pasha (left) with the Iranian Qajar prince Morad Mirza Hesam o-Saltaneh (right), ca. 1870
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Midhat Pasha on the cover of Vanity Fair, 30 June 1877
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Bust of Midhat Pasha in Istanbul
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Midhat Pasha's palace in Niš
See also
- Krikor Odian, an advisor to Midhat
Sources
References
External links
- Death of Midhat Pasha, the Career of the Great Reformer in Turkey from the New York Times (12 May 1884)
- The life of Midhat Pasha (1903 biography)
- Template:Cite EB1911
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Template:Grand Viziers of Ottoman Empire Template:Governors of the Aidin Vilayet
- Pages with broken file links
- Pashas
- 1822 births
- 1883 deaths
- Politicians assassinated in the 1880s
- 19th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire
- Ottoman governors of Damascus
- Executed people from the Ottoman Empire
- Ottoman governors of Aidin
- Politicians from Istanbul
- 19th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire
- Reform in the Ottoman Empire
- Ottoman governors of Baghdad
- Baghdad vilayet
- Assassinated politicians from the Ottoman Empire
- Politicians from the Ottoman Empire
- Revolutionaries from the Ottoman Empire
- Exiles from the Ottoman Empire
- Government ministers of the Ottoman Empire
- People from Constantinople vilayet
- Political people from the Ottoman Empire
- Turkish revolutionaries
- Turks from the Ottoman Empire