The Turkish sultan Abdul-Hamid II (1842-1918) was a ruler of the Ottoman Empire. A reactionary autocrat, he delayed for a quarter century the liberal movement in the empire.

Born on Sept. 21, 1842, Abdul-Hamid was the son of Sultan Abdul-Medjid and of Tirimujgan, a Circassian. He obtained the throne in 1876, when his brother Murad V was ousted by a liberal reform group led by the grand vizier Midhat Pasha.

In fulfillment of promises made before his accession, Abdul-Hamid issued the empire's first constitution on Dec. 23, 1876, a document largely inspired by Midhat Pasha. It provided for an elected bicameral parliament and for the customary civil liberties, including equality before the law for all the empire's diverse nationalities. The issuance of the constitution undercut European ambitions and stalled, at least temporarily, pressure for reform.

The Sultan, however, was an autocrat by nature. In February 1877 Midhat Pasha was dismissed and exiled. Abdul-Hamid's reactionary...