Sultan Abdülmecid I’s Gülhane Edict began the Tanzimat (“Reorganization”) era, aiming to modernize Ottoman government and society. Although not an education law by itself, it created the political framework for later state-led schooling reforms that increasingly competed with madrasa-based religious education.
The Dârülmuallimîn-i Rüşdî (a state teacher-training school for secondary/junior-high level) was established in Istanbul to supply trained teachers for the expanding modern school network. Building a corps of trained teachers mattered because it helped shift education from informal religious instruction toward standardized state schooling.
The 1856 Reform Edict promised broader equality for Ottoman subjects, including in areas connected to education and public life. In practice, implementation varied, but the edict strengthened the idea that the state could set empire-wide standards that reached beyond traditional religious institutions.
The Ottoman state created the Maârif-i Umûmiye Nezareti (Ministry of Education) to centralize and manage education policy. This was a major step toward treating schooling as a state responsibility rather than mainly a religious or charitable activity, strengthening the administrative base for secular education.
Galatasaray Mekteb-i Sultani (later Galatasaray High School) opened as a prestigious modern secondary school influenced by French schooling. It trained students for state service and helped normalize a curriculum centered on modern subjects alongside, and sometimes instead of, traditional religious education.
The 1869 Maarif-i Umumiye Nizamnamesi (“General Education Regulation”) created a more systematic, ministry-led structure for primary, secondary, and higher education. It also strengthened planning for teacher training and administration, supporting a longer-term move toward standardized, secular schooling.
The Dârülmuallimât, a state college to train women teachers, opened in Istanbul. This supported the spread of girls’ schooling within the state system and expanded the modern education workforce beyond male teachers trained through older institutions.
The Ottoman state reorganized and renamed the Darülfünun as Darülfünûn-u Şahâne, offering higher education in fields including mathematics, literature, and theology. This institution became a key arena where modern academic disciplines developed alongside religious studies, setting up later debates about secular university standards.
The Islah-ı Medaris Nizamnâmesi (“Madrasa Reform Regulation”) reorganized many Istanbul madrasas under a more centralized structure and updated curricula. This was an attempt to modernize religious schools to keep pace with state schools, but it also showed that the state increasingly expected religious education to fit administrative and curricular standards set from the center.
The Republic adopted the Tevhid-i Tedrisat (Law on the Unification of Education), bringing all education under the Ministry of National Education. In practice, it ended the independent madrasa system by closing madrasas and placing religious instruction under state control, making secular public education the main pathway.
On the same day as major education reforms, the state abolished the Ministry of Sharia and the Foundations and reorganized its functions under new directorates. This change reinforced the shift away from clerical oversight of schooling by placing education fully within the secular state administration.
Law No. 2252 formally closed the Istanbul Darülfünun and mandated the creation of a new university under the Ministry of Education. The reform aimed to build a modern, research-oriented, and more secular university system aligned with the Republic’s goals, culminating decades of educational centralization and secularization.
Istanbul University started operations after the 1933 University Reform, replacing the Darülfünun as the Republic’s flagship university. This opening marked a clear end point for the 1839–1933 arc: a state-run, secular-leaning education system in which madrasas were closed and higher education was reorganized under modern university principles.
Closure of madrasas and secularization of education culminating in the 1933 University Reform (1839–1933)