Abd al-Majid

Abd al-Majid

(äb'däl-mäjēd`) or

Abdülmecit

(Turk. äbdül` mäjēd`), 1823–61, Ottoman sultan (1839–61), son and successor of Mahmud IIMahmud II,
1784–1839, Ottoman sultan (1808–39), younger son of Abd al-Hamid I. He was raised to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) upon the deposition of his brother, Mustafa IV, and continued the reforms of his cousin, Selim III.
..... Click the link for more information.  to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. The rebellion of Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali,
1769?–1849, pasha of Egypt after 1805. He was a common soldier who rose to leadership by his military skill and political acumen. In 1799 he commanded a Turkish army in an unsuccessful attempt to drive Napoleon from Egypt.
..... Click the link for more information.  was checked by the intervention (1840–41) of England, Russia, and Austria. Abd al-Majid was influenced by the British ambassador, Viscount Stratford de RedcliffeStratford de Redcliffe, Stratford Canning, Viscount,
1786–1880, British diplomat. He entered (1807) the foreign office under the aegis of his cousin, George Canning. Sent (1808) to Turkey, he negotiated the Treaty of Bucharest (1812) between Turkey and Russia.
..... Click the link for more information. , who helped persuade the sultan to introduce Western reforms. Two decrees (1839 and 1856) led to many changes but did not have permanent effect. Confident in British and French support, Abd al-Majid resisted (1853) the Russian claim to act as protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. This was a primary cause of the Crimean WarCrimean War
, 1853–56, war between Russia on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France, and Sardinia on the other. The causes of the conflict were inherent in the unsolved Eastern Question.
..... Click the link for more information. . Turkey received no concrete gains at the Congress of Paris (1856; see Paris, Congress ofParis, Congress of,
1856, conference held by representatives of France, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Sardinia, Russia, Austria, and Prussia to negotiate the peace after the Crimean War. In the Treaty of Paris (Mar.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The sultan was succeeded by his brother, Abd al-AzizAbd al-Aziz
or Abdülaziz
, 1830–76, Ottoman sultan (1861–76), brother and successor of Abd al-Majid. The economic and political reforms enacted under his rule could not outpace the decline of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
..... Click the link for more information. .