Nizam-i Cedid
Encyclopedia
The Nizam-ı Cedid was a series of reforms carried out by the Ottoman Empire
sultan Selim III
during the late eighteenth century in a drive to catch up militarily and politically with the Western Powers. Specific reforms included conscription, new taxes, new legal categories, and the promotion of a more territorially-based state structure achieved by more strictly defined regions and administrative centralization. The term later came to refer to the new regular army
established under the reform program.
European states welcomed such reforms as useful for their imperial agenda and efforts to civilize colonial holdings. Both the French and the British sent military instructors to the reorganized Muslim regimes; they also sold them artillery. Conversely, some domestic Muslims criticized the reforms as infidel importations. The reformers countered that the reforms were new armies that could be used to defend the Muslim world from European crusades and other invasions.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
sultan Selim III
Selim III
Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...
during the late eighteenth century in a drive to catch up militarily and politically with the Western Powers. Specific reforms included conscription, new taxes, new legal categories, and the promotion of a more territorially-based state structure achieved by more strictly defined regions and administrative centralization. The term later came to refer to the new regular army
Regular army
A regular army consists of the permanent force of a country's army that is maintained under arms during peacetime.Countries that use the term include:*Australian Army*British Army*Canadian Forces, specifically "Regular Force"*Egyptian army*Indian Army...
established under the reform program.
European states welcomed such reforms as useful for their imperial agenda and efforts to civilize colonial holdings. Both the French and the British sent military instructors to the reorganized Muslim regimes; they also sold them artillery. Conversely, some domestic Muslims criticized the reforms as infidel importations. The reformers countered that the reforms were new armies that could be used to defend the Muslim world from European crusades and other invasions.