Mahmud II

Mahmud II was the <a href="/facts/Sultan_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/kEpbIIMQ">sultan of the Ottoman Empire</a> from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "<a href="/facts/Peter_the_Great/plNUAaWM">Peter the Great</a> of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms. His disbandment of the conservative <a href="/facts/Janissary/oAgdrtpw">Janissary Corps</a> removed a major obstacle to his and his successors' reforms in the Empire, creating the foundations of the subsequent <a href="/facts/Tanzimat/I83H2yXu">Tanzimat</a> era. Mahmud's reign was also marked by further Ottoman military defeats and loss of territory as a result of nationalist uprisings and European intervention.
Mahmud ascended the throne following an <a href="/facts/Ottoman_coups_of_1807%25E2%2580%25931808/aEds2csW">1808 coup</a> that deposed his half-brother <a href="/facts/Mustafa_IV/Fb3xkLU3">Mustafa IV</a>. Early in his reign, the Ottoman Empire ceded <a href="/facts/Bessarabia/Qe3PXVcJ">Bessarabia</a> to Russia at the end of the <a href="/facts/Russo-Turkish_War_(1806%25E2%2580%25931812)/rKSelNMV">1806–1812 Russo-Turkish War</a>. Greece waged a <a href="/facts/Greek_War_of_Independence/bIXHUpJ7">successful war of independence</a> that started in 1821 with British, French and Russian support, and Mahmud was forced to recognize the independent Greek state in 1832. The Ottomans lost more territory to Russia after the <a href="/facts/Russo-Turkish_War_(1828%25E2%2580%25931829)/t4C1qMq8">Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829</a>, and <a href="/facts/Regency_of_Algiers/7NTmU9u8">Ottoman Algeria</a> was <a href="/facts/French_conquest_of_Algeria/k1rLM9RH">conquered by France</a> beginning in 1830.
The Empire's continued decline convinced Mahmud to resume the reforms that were halted before he came to power. In 1826, he orchestrated the <a href="/facts/Auspicious_Incident/lRYpDTKT">Auspicious Incident</a>, in which the <a href="/facts/Kap%25C4%25B1kulu/SWjg0RSI">Kapıkulu</a> were forcibly abolished and many of its members executed, paving the way for the establishment of a <a href="/facts/Asakir-i_Mansure-i_Muhammediye/FxQs4tcC">modern Ottoman army</a> and further military reforms. With this modern army, Sultan Mahmud initiated a campaign of recentralization in the empire that saw the submission of <a href="/facts/Derebey/BchQhQLN">derebeys</a> and <a href="/facts/Ayan_(class)/W33U1vpg">ayans</a> to central authority. He also made sweeping changes to the bureaucracy to reestablish royal authority and increase administrative efficiency. He oversaw a reorganisation of the <a href="/facts/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(Ottoman_Empire)/I8RcMkwQ">Ottoman foreign office</a>. In 1838, Mahmud established the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Council_of_Judicial_Ordinances/DrAprda3">Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances</a>, and the following year, he introduced a <a href="/facts/Council_of_Ministers_(Ottoman_Empire)/0A20ETzR">Council of Ministers</a>. He died of <a href="/facts/Tuberculosis/ggPyovAl">tuberculosis</a> later that year and was succeeded by his son <a href="/facts/Abd%25C3%25BClmecid_I/F5qsUyN7">Abdülmecid I</a>, who would continue to implement his modernization efforts.

Mahmud II open-in-new

Mahmud II