Abdülhamid I.

Sultan Abdülhamid I.

Abdülhamid I (March 20, 1725 - April 7, 1789 ) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from January 21, 1774 until his death . His reign was marked by the threat from the Russians and other powers, economic crises, civil unrest and wars. In order to overcome the weakness of the empire, approaches were made to economic, administrative and military reforms. While the Sultan largely left the actual government activities to his viziers and advisers, he distinguished himself as a builder and promoter of public institutions. In his time the title of caliph got more meaning again.

Life

His father was Ahmed III. The mother was Sermi Rabia Kadim. Abdülhamid was under the rule of his cousins Mahmud I and Osman III. as well as his older brother Mustafa III. Grew up imprisoned in the cafe of Topkapı Palace . During this time he received an education from his mother - including history and calligraphy .

Coin 1 piaster 1775 (1188AH) with the Tughra Sultan Abdülhamid I.

After the death of Mustafa III. he became his successor at the age of 49. As a result of the long imprisonment and his political inexperience, he left the actual management of government affairs to the grand viziers. If necessary, he himself acted as a mediator of different views. Under him the financial situation of the empire was badly damaged. For a time, even the Janissaries could not be rewarded.

Abdülhamid's beginning of government falls in the final phase of the Russo-Turkish War from 1768 to 1774 . He had to accept the peace of Küçük Kaynarca , which provided, among other things, to give independence to the previous vassal state of the Khanate of Crimea . Not only in terms of content, but also in terms of its form, the peace treaty was something new. The Sultan had to recognize Catherine the Great as an equal contractual partner. In response to the Russians' demand to exercise protective rights over Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman sphere of influence, the Ottoman diplomats gave the title of caliph an expanded meaning. The sultan no longer saw himself only as the successor of the prophet, but also as the spiritual leader of the Muslims. As such, he claimed religious suzerainty over Muslims in Crimea and later throughout Russia.

As a result, the Russians expanded their influence on the Crimea more and more. The Austrians annexed Bukovina in 1775 . Also Persia took advantage of the weakness of the Empire, and in 1776 it came to the loss of Mosul and Basra . At the same time, during his reign there were uprisings in Syria , Palestine , Egypt or Morea , which were suppressed in particular by Cezayirli Gazi Hassan Pasha . In 1783 the Russians annexed the Crimea. The Ottoman army was too weak to prevent this from happening.

In response to the Russian threat, two camps emerged within the political and military leadership. Supporters of a war course were Koca Yusuf Pascha and the Grand Admiral Cezayirli Gazi Hassan Pascha . The Grand Vizier Halil Hamid Pasha was in favor of a more peaceful course . For him, military reforms and the strengthening of the economy were necessary before military adventures. This is also what his policy focused on. Among other things, he tried to modernize the army through foreign advisors.

Because the Sultan stuck to his Grand Admiral and did not refuse the war course, the Grand Vizier Abdülhamid I tried in favor of the later Selim III. to fall. After the failure of this project, he was executed in 1785. The war party had thus also prevailed. Also from Britain and Prussia , the Sultan was pressured to take military action against the Russians.

After the Russians rejected the request to evacuate Crimea, the Sublime Porte declared war on Russia. Thus began the reign of Abdulhamid I the Russian-Austrian war against the Turks . The Ottoman leadership hoped to regain the Crimea. The deep economic and social crisis in the Ottoman Empire and the broken administration stood in the way of success.

Despite the external weakness, the sultan in Turkey was considered generous. He was credited with the effective use of the fire brigade in the great fire in Istanbul in 1782. He also promoted reconstruction as well as in the fires of 1777, 1784 and 1787. He had the Beylerbeyi and Emirgan mosques built on the Bosporus . He also sponsored numerous public institutions such as schools, libraries and soup kitchens. He founded his own (public) library. It was popular with foreign visitors and scientists.

The rooms he furnished in the Topkapı Palace are counted among the more important rooms of the palace. They are adorned with tall mirrors and murals with harbor views and seascapes. His personal taste was influenced by the French elegant style of the time.

With numerous wives he had a total of twenty-four offspring. There were ten sons. His successor was his nephew Selim III. Mustafa IV and Mahmut II came to the Ottoman throne from his sons .

The sultan died of a stroke when news of the Russians' capture of the Ochakiv fortress was brought to him.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christoph K. Neumann: The Ottoman Empire in its existential crisis (1768-1826). In: Klaus Kreiser, Christoph K. Neumann: Little History of Turkey (= Federal Center for Political Education. Series of publications. Vol. 529). Federal Agency for Political Education, Bonn 2005 p. 308

literature

• Hans Georg Majer: Abdülhamid I. , in: Biographical Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe . Vol. 1. Munich 1974, p. 3 f.
• Kahraman Sakul: Abdülhamid I. In: Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire . New York 2009, p. 6
• Abdülhamid I. In: Selçuk Akşin Somel: The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire . Lanham 2006, p. 3

Web links

Commons : Abdülhamid I.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Mustafa III.	Sultan and Caliph of the Ottoman Empire 1774–1789	Selim III.