ABSTRACT
The restoration of Ottoman authority after the Egyptian occupation came with a conscious ‘ottomanisation’ of Damascus, a process encouraged by the Tanzimat (‘orderings’) administrative reforms, the first series of which was introduced at Istanbul in 1839. The changes reoriented the functions of the state towards a more European model, away from the complex Ottoman system that had represented an unwieldy balance between the power of local bosses and the centre; religious versus civil authority. The opening of more active links with the West, encouraged by the Ottoman process of reform, saw greater recognition of minorities’ rights leading to the full status of citizens of the Empire.
