Abdul Hamid II

His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful (also known as Abdul Hamid II, Abd Al-Hamid II Khan Ghazi and The Crimson Sultan) (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, Turkish: İkinci Abdülhamit) (21/22 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was the last Sultan to exert effective control over the Ottoman Empire. He oversaw a period of decline in the power and extent of the Empire, ruling from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed on 27 April 1909. He was succeeded by Mehmed V. His deposition following the Young Turk Revolution was hailed by most Ottoman citizens, who welcomed the return to constitutional rule.

During his tenure, he was responsible for both modernisation of the Ottoman Empire, as well as exerting maximum control over its affairs. Changes included: rationalisation of the bureaucracy; the ambitious Hijaz Railway project; the creation of a modern system of personnel records (1896); establishment of an elaborate system for population registration and control over the press; systematization of officials salaries (1880); first modern law school (1898). Between the period 1871-1908, the Sublime Porte thus reached a new degree of organizational elaboration and articulation.