The Gulhane proclamation

I was going through the Gulhane Proclamation in regards to the snow day assignment and i felt i should post my discussion board responses here.

Looking at this document, it seems to me that the Gulhane Proclamation talks about change. At first it looks to be very backward looking as it sorts of tries to reincarnate the good old days when the empire was at its greatest. As you go further in the reading, the tone struck me as being more a stylistic way of writing than actually being an exhortation about the need to return to the past when the empire ran according to the law.

This is best described when one see that there are actually new changes being spoken about in the proclamation thereby indicating that it is forward looking and not just wanting the old days. In cases where the proclamation declares that “From henceforth” this shows that this was an example of reform introducing something that was never there before thus the document looks forward. An example of reforms suggested is the practice that without judgment being pronounced, a person can neither secretly nor publicly kill someone else. This shows a clear progression from the old ways of meting justice.

The proclamation also suggests other changes that are useful as well as progressive in approach such as ensuring property rights. For me this was most impressive considering that even today many countries around the world are only beginning to understand the importance of property rights to a well functioning society, while some have not even gotten there yet. For the Ottomans to have been suggesting this in 1839, when the modern world had to go through colonialism in Africa, two world wars and communism to understand the same thing, is quite impressive.