Ottoman Constitution of 1876

The Ottoman Constitution of 1876, known in Ottoman Turkish as the Kanun-i Esasi, or Basic Law, was the Ottoman Empire's first and only written constitution, promulgated on December 23, 1876 under Sultan Abdul Hamid II. It was drafted chiefly by the Young Ottoman reformer Midhat Pasha with substantial input from the Ottoman Armenian advisor Krikor Odian, and it established a bicameral General Assembly consisting of a Senate appointed by the Sultan and an elected Chamber of Deputies, along with rights such as freedom of the press and access to education regardless of religious affiliation, declaring all Ottoman subjects equal under the law. Enacted partly in response to European pressure and a sense of imperial decline, the constitution nonetheless left the Sultan with sweeping powers, including the authority to declare war, dismiss ministers and approve legislation. It was suspended after operating from 1876 to 1878 and was reinstated following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, remaining formally in force through the Second Constitutional Era until it was superseded in 1924.