Mustafa Reşid

1800 - 1858

Ottoman foreign minister, grand vizier, and reformer.

Mustafa Reşid is considered one of the major forces promoting the Tanzimat reforms that modernized the Ottoman Empire in the mid-nineteenth century. He was born in Constantinople (now Istanbul), the son of Mustafa Efendi, an administrator of religious foundations. Intending a career as a religious scholar, he studied at the ilmiyye, but at the age of ten his father died and he was forced to withdraw from school and live with his uncle, Ispartali Ali Paşa, a court chamberlain of Sultan Mahmud II. In 1816, Reşid accompanied Ali Paşa to the province of Morea, where the latter had been appointed governor. It was during Ali Paşa's second term as governor (1820 - 1821), that Reşid witnessed the rout of Ottoman forces by the European-supported Greek rebels and by the modernized army of Muhammad Ali, governor of Egypt, in the Greek War of Independence. Reşid learned two lessons from this experience: first, that reform of the basic institutions of the Empire was needed, and second, that diplomacy aimed at acquiring European support for the empire was as crucial as modernization of the army.

In 1826, with the help of an influential family friend, Mustafa Reşid entered the civil service as a clerk in the scribes bureau of the foreign minister, where he quickly rose to become assistant to the minister in charge of foreign affairs. From this position, Mustafa Reşid participated in negotiations with Muhammad Ali in 1830; the latter was so impressed with his talents that he offered him a high position in the Egyptian administration. In 1832, Reşid was appointed amedçi in the foreign ministry. Between 1834 and 1836, he was ambassador to France, where he became acquainted with European statesmen, including the famous Austrian foreign minister, Prince Klemens von Metternich. In 1836, he was transferred to Britain as ambassador to the Court of Saint James, where he discussed reforms with Lord Palmerston. In 1837, Sultan Mahmud II, seeking a counterweight to Mehmet Koja Husrev, the leader of the conservative opposition to reform, appointed Mustafa Reşid, now a leading advocate of reform, foreign minister, giving him the title Paşa. For the next eighteen months, Reşid Paşa remained in London and Paris, while attempting to bolster Mahmud II's reform program and to convince the sultan to place his trust in the British. He returned to Constantinople only upon receiving news of the death of the sultan and of the ascension to the throne of his son, Abdülmecit I.

In 1839, Mustafa Reşid Paşa skillfully blended his mastery of domestic and foreign affairs to deter military disaster while advancing reform. As foreign minister and representative of the Sublime Porte in London, he had been unable to prevent his conservative rival Mehmet Koja Husrev Paşa from becoming grand vizier. But when Muhammad Ali, governor of Egypt, sent an army commanded by his son Ibrahim into Syria, Husrev Paşa responded by attempting to appease Muhammad Ali, offering to appoint him life-time governor not only of Egypt, but of Syria and Adana. Recognizing that this would result in a virtual dismemberment of the empire that would guarantee Russian domination, Mustafa Reşid Paşa negotiated with British foreign minister Lord Palmerston for the European support needed to counter the Egyptian advance. European, particularly British, military and diplomatic support, which was crucial in defusing the crisis, was linked to a commitment to support internal reform. Sultan Abdülmecit recognized the key role played by Reşid Paşa and rewarded him with a promise to advance the program of the reformers. On 3 November 1839 Sultan Abdülmecit initiated this reform program with the proclamation of the Imperial Re-script of Gülhane, a document which was composed by Mustafa Reşid and which is considered the opening salvo of the Tanzimat. Though the Tanzimat was initiated at a time of increased European involvement in the empire, it was promoted by Ottomans like Mustafa Reşid Paşa who recognized the need for continued reforms to remedy defects in the administration of the empire. Mustafa Reşid sought British support, but he was not acting under British pressure.

Mustafa Reşid Paşa's importance did not cease with the proclamation of the Tanzimat. He was one of the architects of a new commercial code, promulgated in 1841, that was based on French commercial law. When asked whether the new law was in comformity with Islamic law, he reportedly replied, "the Holy Law has nothing to do with it." Vociferous reaction from Islamic scholars led to suspension of the law and Mustafa Reşid's Paşa's dismissal. He served as ambassador to France until 1845, when he began a second period as leader of the reform movement. Over the next fifteen years, he served six times as grand vizier (28 September 1846 to 28 April 1848; 12 August 1848 to 26 January 1852; 5 March to 5 August 1852; 23 November 1854 to 2 May 1855; 1 November 1856 to 6 August 1857; and 22 October 1857 to 7 January 1858) and three times as foreign minister.

In addition, Reşid played a crucial role in recruiting and training a cadre of reform-minded bureaucrats who, under his leadership, became known as the "men of the Tanzimat" (tanzimatcilar). In order to learn more about Islamic law, he retained Ahmet Cevdet as a tutor, subsequently hiring him as his personal scribe, and then appointing him to educational positions in the administration. The most well-known of his protégés were Mehmet Emin Ali Paşa, who served as Mustafa Reşid's translator and scribe in the embassy in London and later served as foreign minister and as grand vizier, and Mehmet Fuad Paşa, who became Mustafa Reşid's protégé in 1837. Mehmet Ali and Mehmet Fuad led the reform program during the last two decades of the Tanzimat. Whereas Mustafa Reşid had always sought alliance with Britain, his two protégés sought to orient empire politics toward an alliance with France. Partially as a result of this difference, the two eclipsed Mustafa Reşid Paşa in the early 1850s, though at the time of his death in 1858, Mustafa Reşid was once again grand vizier. After his death, his sons carried on the tradition of service to the empire, serving as ministers and ambassadors.

Bibliography

Baysun, Cavid. "Mustafa Reşid Paşa." In Tanzimat. Istanbul, 1940.

Shaw, Stanford J., and Shaw, Ezel Kural. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 2: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808 - 1975. Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

— DAVID WALDNER