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Sultan Abdul Aziz
His Father's Name: Mahmoud the Second
His Mother's Name: Pertevniyal Valide Sultana
Date of Birth: February 8th, 1830
Date of Death: June 4th, 1876
His Sultanate: 1861-76 (15 years)
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in full ABDÜLAZIZ OGLU MAHMUD II (b. Feb. 9, 1830, Constantinople,
Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Tur.]--d. June 4, 1876, Constantinople),
Ottoman sultan (1861-76) who continued the westernizing reforms
that had been initiated by his predecessors until 1871, after
which his reign took an absolutist turn.
Sultan Abdulaziz Khan was well educated,
with a vast knowledge of literature. He was tall, round-faced
and broad-shouldered with a light brown beard. He had a huge,
imposing body and would wrestle with world champions. At the
same time he was a composer, poet and painter.
Like his brother Abdülmecid I, whom
he succeeded as sultan on June 25, 1861, Abdülaziz was
an ardent admirer of the material progress in western Europe.
Educated in the Ottoman tradition, however, he could not always
accept the adoption of Western institutions and customs. Abdülaziz
was a member of the Mawlawiyah (Mevlevi) order of dervishes
(Muslim mystics).
He worked hard for the benefit of his country
and designed men-of-war for the navy. He traveled to Egypt
in 1863 and to Europe in 1867. The Council of State was established
in 1868 and the Suez Canal opened the following year.
Between 1861 and 1871, reforms were continued
under the leadership of Abdülaziz' able chief ministers,
Fuad Pasa and Âli Pasa. New administrative districts
(vilayets) were set up (1864); on French advice a council
of state was established (1868); public education was organized
on the French model and a new university founded; and the
first Ottoman civil code was promulgated. Abdülaziz cultivated
good relations with France and Great Britain and was the first
Ottoman sultan to visit western Europe.
By 1871 Abdülaziz' ministers Âli
and Fuad were dead, and France, his western European model,
had been defeated by Germany. In 1871 Midhad Pasha became
Grand Vizier but he was dismissed after a fraud was discovered
in the Imperial budget. In 1874 Husein Avni Pasha was made
SadrulAzam, but was dismissed the following year. He was a
vindictive man and felt that he had a grudge against the Sultan.
At the time Sultan Abdulaziz was under great pressure as he
could not find officials of a suitably high caliber to help
him run the Empire.
When insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina
spread to Bulgaria (1876), ill feeling mounted against Russia
for its encouragement of the rebellions. The crop failure
of 1873, the sultan's lavish expenditures, and the mounting
public debt had also heightened public discontent. Abdülaziz
was deposed by his ministers on May 30, 1876. Midhad Pasha,
Mahmoud Pasha and Husein Pasha, men with little or no ability,
staged a political demonstration that turned into a full scale
rebellion and Sultan Abdulaziz was deposed. He was later assassinated,
an attempt being made to fool the public into thinking that
he had committed suicide.
Abdulaziz had given the Ottoman Empire great
power once again but he was deposed by men of low character.
Even in death he was not safe, as all of his personal property
was pillaged by his assassins.
At the time of his death Abdulaziz Khan
was 46 years old. His corpse was committed to the mausoleum
of Sultan Mahmoud at Divanyolou.
He had seven sons and three daughters.
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