ABD AL-HAMID II (1842-1918)

Sultan, son of Abd al-Mejid I. He was brought to the Ottoman throne in 1876 by reformers led by Midhat Pasha to replace his deposed brother, Murad V. At first he bowed to the wishes of both the reformers and the Western powers by allowing the promulgation (1876) of the first Ottoman constitution. Parliament was opened in 1877, but closed a year later. Thereafter he ruled by decree, while the reform elements left the empire or went underground. Adopting a policy of pan-Islamism, he tried to unite all Muslims around himself as Caliph. In 1909 he was deposed by the Young Turks (q.v); he died in exile.