Education and State Policy In The Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the profound transformation of education in the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century. In this study, Dr. Vehbi Baysan traces the shift from a ulema’s medrese system to a centralized, state-controlled public education framework. The analysis begins with the pre-reform foundations, before examining the decisive challenges posed by Sultan Mahmud II’s reforms. Accelerated by the abolition of the Janissaries and the establishment of a modern army, these changes introduced pioneering military schools (Mekteb-i Harbiye, Mekteb-i Tıbbiye) and the first civil rüşdiye schools, redefining education as a core public policy concern.