The reforming Ottoman sultan who destroyed the Janissary corps and launched the modernization that reshaped the empire — sometimes called its "Peter the Great."
Life
Mahmud II (reigned 1808–1839) confronted an empire beset by revolts, Russian wars, and Greek independence. In 1826, in the "Auspicious Incident," he violently abolished the entrenched Janissary corps, clearing the way for a modern army, centralized administration, new schools, dress, and institutions. Though he lost territory (Greece, and effectively Egypt under Muhammad Ali), his sweeping reforms laid the groundwork for the later Tanzimat modernization of the Ottoman state.