Midhat Pasha

Ahmet Şefik Midhat Pasha

Mithat Pasha on the cover of the Vanity Fair on June 30, 1877 .

Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha (born October 18, 1822 in Istanbul , † May 8, 1884 in Taif , today Saudi Arabia ) was a pro-Western, enlightened Turkish reformer, statesman and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire . He is considered to be the father of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 . He was also the author of the Provincial Ordinance ( Vilâyet nizâmnâmesi ) of 1863/67 and the founder of the rural credit system and the establishment of trade schools in Anatolia . In 1881 he was sentenced to death, ultimately exiled to the Arab Taif, and in 1884 murdered under unexplained circumstances, probably by the Sultan's henchmen.

After the Young Turkish Revolution of 1908, Midhat Pasha was rehabilitated, celebrated as a Turkish patriot and has since been named at the same time as the poet and publicist Namık Kemal .

Life

Midhat was born in Istanbul in 1822 as the son of the judge ( kadi ) Mehmed Eşref Efendi from Russia . His father, a reformist, prepared him for a career in administration. Midhat learned Arabic , Persian and some French . At the age of 22 he became the secretary of the Faik Efendi, whom he accompanied in Syria for three years . Upon his return to Istanbul, Midhat was appointed chief director for confidential reports and, after a new financial mission in Syria, second scribe (katip) of the Divan-ı humayün - the Grand Diwan or the Grand Imperial Council. His opponents successfully ousted him from this post, accusing him of supporting a revolt and wild robbery mischief in Rumelia .

His judicial action was harsh, its success surprising, and the government made him a first-rate official and restored him to his place in the Divan-ı humayün. From 1849 he was employed in the Supreme Judicial Council. The next year he was sent to Syria as an inspector, where he was able to uncover a number of grievances in customs leasing and military administration. In 1854/55 he toured the areas of Sliven and Shumen in a similar capacity .

In a similarly energetic manner he investigated incidents in northern Bulgaria in 1857 . However, when his investigations into well-known personalities from the palace were rejected, he went on a journey through Europe for six months. In 1860 he became vizier and pasha, and in January 1861 Wali (governor) over the Vilayet Niš . His efforts in the fight against robberies and the emigration of Bulgarians to Serbia that this caused were successful, so that in 1863 the problematic Prizren was placed under him. Since his reforms were so useful, Sultan Abdülaziz commissioned him, as well as Fuad Pasha and Ali Pasha , to prepare a template for the adaptation of the reforms for the whole empire. This later became known as the Provincial Ordinance (Vilâyet nizâmnâmesi). It comprised 83 articles that regulated the tasks of the administrative units from the village to the province and should initially be implemented in a model province. The provinces of Silistria , Niš and Vidin were merged to form the Vilayet Tuna and Midhat Pasha was entrusted with the government.

In the next three years, Midhat Pasha led or carried out a wide range of reforms. They included the construction of roads and bridges, the establishment of a Danube shipping company, the establishment of credit institutions and trade schools, the organization of the tax system and the police budget, the establishment of a postal service and local government. By increasing the quick-wittedness of the military and police units, it was possible to increase public security and the Bulgarian liberation movement to be undermined for a long time. The construction and opening of the Varna - Russe railway line in 1866 also fell during his reign. Midhat Pascha continued to initiate the establishment of the cooperatively organized Memleket sandıkları (Landkassen) , which later became the Ziraat Bankası , a major Turkish bank that still exists today. emerged. In 1863 the first of these cash registers was founded in the small town of Pirot (today: Serbia).

From 1867, Midhat Pasha's reforms were to be carried over to most of the Ottoman Empire; in March 1868, he himself was appointed chairman of the State Council (Şura-ı Devlet). In the same year he again intervened in Bulgaria and led the extermination of the free group of Khadji Dimitar and Stefan Karadscha .

From 1869 to 1872 Midhat Pasha was governor of Baghdad , with his jurisdiction also extending to Basra and Mosul . Here, too, he worked as a reformer, trying to make the Euphrates and Tigris navigable and re-establishing effective control of the Ottoman Empire over Kuwait , al-Hasa and Qatar .

In 1871 the anti-reform influence of the Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha on Midhat Pasha seemed a danger to the country, and in a personal conversation with the Sultan he emphatically expressed his point of view. The Sultan was so impressed by his opinion and selflessness that he became Midhat Pasha appointed Grand Vizier instead of Mahmud Nedim Pasha. But since he turned out to be too independent for the court, Midhat only remained in power for three months and after a brief governorate in Saloniki , he lived far from all state affairs until 1876 in Istanbul. In late 1876 and early 1877, however, he took part in the Constantinople Embassy Conference, which dealt with the future of the Balkan peoples.

While sympathizing with the ideas and intentions of the Young Ottomans, Midhat Pasha tried to hold back his impatience, but the sultan's obstinacy resulted in an alliance between the Grand Vizier, the Minister of War, and Midhat Pasha. The alliance deposed the Sultan in May 1876 and on June 4, 1876 Abdülaziz was assassinated .

His nephew Murad V was then deposed in August and replaced by his brother Abdülhamid II . Midhat Pasha became Grand Vizier; Reforms were promised and the Ottoman Parliament was solemnly opened. But the next February, Midhat was released and exiled on suspicion of complicity in the murder of Sultan Abdülaziz. So he visited various European capitals and stayed for some time in London , where he studied the detailed workings of the British House of Commons.

Governor of Syria

In November 1878, Midhat Pasha was appointed governor of Syria. He arrived in Damascus on December 3, 1878, and was enthusiastically welcomed by the intellectuals as the “father of liberals” ( abū l-aḥrār ) and “a staunch advocate of liberal and constitutional thought”. In 1878 his followers founded the first Syrian newspaper with the title Dimaschq . During his two-year governorship in Syria, Midhat Pasha himself founded several schools, including vocational schools, built roads, had a tram line built in Tripoli that connected the city with the port, expanded the gendarmerie and bureaucracy into which Christians were also integrated, founded in Damascus a theater and a public library. In his school projects he was assisted by Tāhir al-Jazā'irī , who acted as his inspector of the school system. Midhat Pasha was less successful in dealing with the Arab tribes who undertook several uprisings. Since Sultan Abdülhamit came to the conclusion that Midhat represented a danger to him, he recalled him in August 1880 and made him governor of Izmir.

Exile and death

In May 1881 the Sultan wanted to arrest him and although he managed to escape and sought refuge in the French consulate in Izmir, he was soon extradited on condition of a fair trial.

The three-day trial took place in June 1881 in the Çadır kiosk , which is located in Yıldız Park. Midhat Pasha and other co-defendants were sentenced to death. The conviction was generally viewed as a farce and, with the mediation of the British government, the death sentence was commuted to exile. For the last three years he lived in exile in Taif (Arabia), where he died on May 8, 1884, probably by strangulation. Whether the murder was on the orders of the Sultan could not be proven beyond doubt. On October 26, 1951, the body was transferred to the Abide-i Hürriyet cemetery in Istanbul.

According to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey , Midhat Pasha was a Freemason .

Trivia

The Inönü Stadı , home of the Turkish football club Beşiktaş Istanbul , was called the Midhat Pasha Stadium from 1952 to 1973.

literature

• Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder, Gerda Bartl: Midhat Pascha in Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas , Volume 3, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1979, p. 192ff.
• RH Davison: Art. Midḥat Pa sh a in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. VI, pp. 1031b-1035b.
• Hans-Jürgen Kornrumpf: Midhat Pascha, Ahmed Şefik . In: Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder (Ed.), Gerda Bartl (Red.): Biographical Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 3. Oldenbourg, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-486-48991-7 , pp. 192-194.
• Ali Haydar Midhat: The Life of Midhat Pasha . John Murray, London 1903 (digitized: [1] ).

Web links

• Bibliography of Ahmed Midhat Pasha ( Memento from January 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• A Turkish website that contains information about Mithat Pasha in
• Midhat Pasha . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DP Hupchick, The Balkans, p 244, ISBN 0-312-21736-6
2. ↑ K. Kreiser, Ch. K. Neumann: Small history of Turkey , p. 342. Federal Center for Political Education.
3. ^ Klaus Kreiser: Midhat Paşa . P. 421–434 in: Interfaces: Society, Nation, Conflict and Memory in Southeastern Europe: Festschrift for Holm Sundhaussen on his 65th birthday. Oldenbourg 2007. ISBN 3-486-58346-8
4. ↑ K. Kreiser, Ch. K. Neumann: Small history of Turkey . P. 335. Federal Agency for Civic Education
5. ^ Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder, Gerda Bartl: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas. Volume 3, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-486-48991-7 , p. 193.
6. ↑ Information on the bank's website
7. ↑ Cf. Antonino Pellitteri: Islam e Riforma. L'ambito arabo-ottomano e l'opera di Rafīq Bey al-ʿAẓm intelletuale damasceno riformatore (1865–1925). Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Palermo, 1998. p. 64.
8. ↑ Cf. Pellitteri: Islam e Riforma. 1998, p. 42.
9. ↑ Cf. Pellitteri: Islam e Riforma. 1998, p. 65f.
10. ↑ See Davison: Art. “Midḥat Pa sh a” p. 1034.
11. ^ Ali Haydar Mithat: The Life of Midhat Pasha. A Record of his Services, Political Reforms, Banishment, and Judicial Murder. Derived from Private Documents and Reminiscenses by his Son Ali Haydar Mithat Bey. John Murray, London 1903, p. 201 ff
12. ↑ Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey: Famous Turkish Freemasons ( Memento of April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Turkish)

predecessor	Office	successor
Mahmud Nedim Pasha	Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire July 31, 1872– October 19, 1872	Mütercim Mehmed Rüşdi Pascha
Mütercim Mehmed Rüşdi Pascha	Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire December 19, 1876– February 5, 1877	İbrahim Edhem Pasha