APPENDIX I HAT-I-SHERIFF OF GULHANE (TANZIMAT), All the world knows that in the first days of the Ottoman Monarchy the glorious precepts of the Koran and the Laws of the Empire were always honoured. The Empire in consequence increased in strength and greatness, and all her subjects, without exception, had risen in the highest degree to ease and prosperity. In the last 150 years a succession of accidents and divers causes have arisen which have brought about a disregard for the sacred code of laws, and the regulations flowing therefrom, and the former strength and prosperity have changed into weakness and poverty: an Empire, in fact, loses all its stability so soon as it ceases to observe its laws. These considerations are ever present to our mind; and, ever since the day of our advent to the throne, the thought of the public weal, of the improvement of the state of the Provinces, and of relief to the peoples, has not ceased to engage it. If, therefore, the geographical position of the Ottoman Provinces, the fertility of the soil, the aptitude and intelligence of the inhabitants are considered, the conviction will remain that, by striving to find efficacious means, the result, which by the help of God we hope to attain, can be obtained within a few years. Full of confidence, therefore, in the help of the Most High, assisted by the intercession of our Prophet, we deem it right to seek by new institutions to give to the Provinces composing the Ottoman Empire the benefit of a good Administration. These institutions must be principally carried out under three heads, which are: (1) The guarantees ensuring to our subjects perfect security for life, honour, and fortune. (2) A regular system of assessing and levying taxes. (3) An equally regular system for the levy of troops and the duration of their service... As to the regular and fixed assessment of the taxes, it is very important to settle that matter, for the State which is forced to incur many expenses for the defence of its territory cannot obtain the money necessary for its armies and other services except by means of contributions levied on its subjects. Although, thanks be to God; our Empire has for some time past been delivered from the scourge of Monopolies, falsely considered in times of war as a source of revenue, a fatal custom still exists, although it can only have disastrous consequences; it is that of venal concessions, known under the name of 'Iltizam'. Under that name the civil and financial administration of a locality is delivered over to the passions of a single man; that is to say, sometimes to the iron grasp of the most violent and avaricious passions, for if that contractor is not a good man he will only look to his own advantage. It is therefore necessary that henceforth each member of the Ottoman Society should be taxed for a quota of a fixed tax, according to his fortune and his means, and that it should be impossible that anything more could be exacted from him. It is also necessary that special laws should fix and limit the expenses of our land and sea forces. Although, as we have said, the defence of the country is an important matter, and that it is the duty of all the inhabitants to furnish soldiers for that object, it has become necessary to establish laws to regulate the contingent to be furnished by each locality, according to the necessity of the time, and to reduce the term of military service to four or five years. For it is at the same time doing an injustice and giving a mortal blow to agriculture and to industry to take, without consideration to the respective population of the localities, in the one more, in the other less, men than they can furnish; it is also reducing the soldiers to despair, and contributing to the depopulation of the country, by keeping them all their lives in the service. In short, without the several laws, the necessity for which has just been described, there can be neither strength, nor riches, nor happiness, nor tranquillity for the Empire; it must, on the contrary, look for them in the existence of these new laws. From henceforth, therefore, the cause of every accused person shall be publicly judged in accordance with our Divine Law, after inquiry and examination, and so long as a regular judgement shall not have been pronounced, no one can, secretly or publicly, put another to death by poison or in any other manner. No one shall be allowed to attack the honour of any other person whatever. Each one shall possess his property of every kind, and shall dispose of it in all freedom, without let or hindrance from any person whatever; thus, for example, the innocent heirs of a criminal shall not be deprived of their legal rights, and the property of the criminal shall not be confiscated. These Imperial concessions shall extend to all our subjects, of whatever religion or sect they may be; they shall enjoy them without exception. We therefore grant perfect security to the inhabitants of our Empire, in their lives, their honour, and their fortunes, as they are secured to them by the sacred text of our law. As for the other points, as they must be settled with the assistance of enlightened opinions, our Council of Justice (increased by new members, as shall be found necessary), to whom shall be joined, on certain days which we shall determine, our Ministers and the Notabilities of the Empire, shall assemble, in order to frame laws regulating the security of life and fortune and the assessment of the taxes. Each one in those assemblies shall freely deliver his ideas and give his advice. The laws regulating the military service shall be discussed by a Military Council, holding its sittings at the Palace of the Seraskier. As soon as a law shall be passed, in order to be for ever valid, it shall be presented to us; we shall give it our approval, which we will write with our Imperial sign manual. As the object of these institutions is solely for the purpose of reviving religion, government, the nation, and the Empire, we engage not to do anything which is contrary thereto. In testimony of our promise, we will, after having deposited them in the Hall containing the glorious mantle of the Prophet, in the presence of all the Ulemas and the Grandees of the Empire, make Oath in the name of God, and shall afterwards cause the Oath to be taken by the Ulemas and the Grandees of the Empire. After that, those from among the Ulemas or the Grandees of the Empire, or any other persons whatsoever, who shall infringe these institutions, shall undergo, without respect of rank, position, and influence, the punishment corresponding to his crime, after having been well authenticated. A Penal Code shall be compiled to that effect. As all the public servants of the Empire receive a suitable salary, and that the salaries of those whose duties have not, up to the present time, been sufficiently remunerated are to be fixed, a rigorous law shall be passed against the traffic of favouritism and of appointments (richvet), which the Divine Law reprobates, and which is one of the principal causes of the decay of the Empire. The above dispositions being an alteration and a complete renewal of ancient customs, this Imperial Rescript shall be published at Constantinople, and in all places of our Empire, and shall be officially communicated to all the Ambassadors of the friendly Powers resident at Constantinople, that they may be witnesses to the granting of these institutions, which, should it please God, shall last for ever. . . . II FIRMAN AND HAT-I-HUMAYUN (SULTAN OF The guarantees promised on our part by the Hat-i-Humayun of Gulhané,1 and in conformity with the Tanzimat, to all the subjects of my Empire, without distinction of classes or of religion, for the security of their persons and property and the preservation of their honour, are to-day confirmed and consolidated, and efficacious measures shall be taken in order that they may have their full and entire effect. All the privileges and spiritual immunities granted by my ancestors ab antiquo, and at subsequent dates, to all Christian communities or other non-Mussulman persuasions established in my Empire under my protection, shall be confirmed and maintained. Every Christian or other non-Mussulman community shall be bound, within a fixed period, and with the concurrence of a Commission composed ad hoc of members of its own body, to proceed, with my high approbation and under the inspection of my Sublime Porte, to examine into its actual immunities and privileges, and to discuss and submit to my Sublime Porte the reforms required by the progress of civilization and of the age. The powers conceded to the Christian Patriarchs and Bishops 1 Generally known as the Hat-i-Sheriff of Gulhané. See above I, p. 139 by the Sultan Mahomet II and his successors shall be made to harmonize with the new position which my generous and beneficent intentions ensure to these communities. The principle of nominating the Patriarchs for life, after the revision of the rules of election now in force, shall be exactly carried out, conformably to the tenor of their Firmans of Investiture. The Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Archbishops, Bishops, and Rabbins shall take an oath on their entrance into office according to a form agreed upon in common by my Sublime Porte and the spiritual heads of the different religious communities. The ecclesiastical dues, of whatever sort or nature they be, shall be abolished and replaced by fixed revenues of the Patriarchs and heads of communities, and by the allocation of allowances and salaries equitably proportioned to the importance, the rank, and the dignity of the different members of the clergy. The property, real or personal, of the different Christian ecclesiastics shall remain intact; the temporal administration of the Christian or other non-Mussulman communities shall, however, be placed under the safeguard of an Assembly to be chosen from among the members, both ecclesiastics and laymen, of the said communities. In the towns, small boroughs, and villages, where the whole population is of the same religion, no obstacle shall be offered to the repair, according to their original plan, of buildings set apart for religious worship, for schools, for hospitals, and for cemeteries. The plans of these different buildings, in case of their new erection, must, after having been approved by the Patriarchs or heads of communities, be submitted to my Sublime Porte, which will approve of them by my Imperial order, or make known its observations upon them within a certain time. Each sect, in localities where there are no other religious denominations, shall be free from every species of restraint as regards the public exercise of its religion. In the towns, small boroughs, and villages where different sects are mingled together, each community, inhabiting a distinct quarter, shall, by conforming to the above-mentioned ordinances, have equal power to repair and improve its churches, its hospitals, its schools, and its cemeteries. When there is a question of the erection of new buildings, the neces |