Sultan Mahmud II (1808–1839) and the First Shift in Modern Ruler Visibility in the Ottoman Empire

The purpose of this article is to inquire into the causes and consequences, single events and long-term processes, of change in the notion and practice of Ottoman sultanic power representation during the reign of Mahmud II. The main organizing principle is the notion of modern ruler visibility—a composite concept, combining projected traits of personal character, with short-term and long-term imperatives of policy, both domestically and abroad. It incorporates not only a physical aspect—a monarch’s more active participation in public events and ceremonies—but also the more frequent occurrence of references to and discussions of his person in the press. The article disputes prevailing notions of the famous nineteenth-century Tanzimat reforms both in terms of their timing and nature. It does so through the medium of cyclical pan-imperial royal ceremony, with a heightened sensitivity to its target audiences, both at home and abroad, on the basis of untapped Ottoman archival evidence, in combination with other, underutilized sources, such as memoirs and newspapers. In the process, this article breaks new ground regarding the relations between Ottoman non-Muslim subjects and the Ottoman ruler in the 1830s, and, by extension, the avenues of formation of group awareness in the Ottoman Empire leading over time to ethnonational consciousness.