Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A huge ire sweeps through the city, destroying 400 houses and 140 mosques and caus-
ing 1000 deaths.
1839
Mahmut II implements the Tanzimat reforms, which integrate non-Muslims and non-
Turks into Ottoman society through civil liberties and regulations.
1853-56
The Ottoman empire ights in the Crimean War against Russia; Florence Nightingale ar-
rives at the Selimiye Army Barracks near Üsküdar to nurse the wounded.
1914
The government enters WWI; the Bosphorus and Dardenelles are closed to shipping,
leading to the Allies' decision to attack Gallipoli.
1915
Many prominent members of the city's 164,000-strong Armenian population have their
property coniscated and are deported from the city.
1922
The Turkish Grand National Assembly abolishes the Ottoman sultanate; the last sultan,
Mehmet VI, leaves the country on a British warship.
1923
The Grand National Assembly relocates the nation's capital from İstanbul to Ankara;
shortly afterward, it proclaims the Turkish Republic.
1925
The Republican government bans Dervish orders; many of the city's historic
tekkes
(Der-
vish lodges) are demolished.
1942
A wealth tax is introduced on aluent citizens. Ethnic minorities are taxed at a higher
rate than Muslims; many are bankrupted and forced to leave the city.
2006
