Ancient discovery or mystery,Mahmud II’s Early Reforms and the Shadow of the Janissaries (1812–1820)

The times following Alemdar Mustafa Pasha’s death left Istanbul in a fragile equilibrium. Sultan Mahmud II, now in his late twenties, had survived both the fury of the Janissaries and the collapse of the Sekban- ı Cedid fraternity. Yet the megacity remained tense, the thoroughfares filled with the echoes of fire and rebellion, and the conglomerate itself teetered on the edge of internal decomposition and external trouble. Mahmud understood that survival needed tolerance, cunning, and the civilization of pious abettors , but he also honored that time was transitory. He could n't allow the Janissaries’ unbounded power to persist indefinitely.