Tanzimat was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began in 1839 and ended in 1876 with the era of the first constitution. These reforms, greatly influenced by European ideas, were based on the theological principles aimed at overthrowing a fundamental change in the empire rather than the modern state. It was characterized by the modernization of the Ottoman Empire and various efforts to protect its territorial integrity against internal nationalist movements and external aggressive forces. These reforms encouraged Ottomanism among the various ethnic groups in the empire and sought to stem the tide of nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire. European powers were involved in increasing rivalries in the Balkans and the Near East. Eventually, the further collapse was threatened from within the Ottoman Empire.
Many of the key provisions of Tanzimat reform were mentioned in Galyan’s Hat-Arif (1839; “Noble notation of the Rose Chamber”). The document calls for the establishment of new institutions that guarantee life, property, and respect for all aspects of the empire, regardless of religion or caste. The result was, in part, improved governance and government, and improved judiciary, and an increase in secular education. Nevertheless, resistance to the feudal response hinders the consistent and significant implementation of the most essential promises made in the district order, namely, the guarantee of protection of life, honor, and property of the Sultan in all matters. These reforms included the development of a new secular school system, the reorganization of the army based on the Prussian concrete system, the formation of a provincial council of representatives, and the introduction of a new code of commercial and criminal law, originally modeled after France. In addition, these laws were governed by state courts established independently of those lamas of the Islamic Religious Council. Many changes were made to promote civil liberties, but many Muslims saw them as foreign influence in the Islamic world. This realization is a complex reformist effort by the state.
Tanzimat contributed to the economic development of Turkey as a whole, to the development of the Turkish national bourgeoisie, to the development of the Turkish bourgeoisie, to the development of science and literature, and to the formation of a Turkish intellectual. During the Tanzimat period, the government’s constitutional reforms included a fairly modern army, reform of the banking system, decriminalization of homosexuality, religious law with secular laws, and the replacement of the guild with modern factories. The Ottoman Ministry was established on 23 October 1840 at the post in Constantinople (Istanbul).
