Midhat Pasha a day or two Deaths were usually few The authorities generally responded to such spontaneous outbursts with “a calculated blend of punishment and mercy,” and the outcome commonly led to redress of the community’s specific grievances The Mexican historian Agustín Cue Cánovas has identified more than 100 conspiracies and rebellions during the 300 years of Spanish colonial rule in New Spain, while U.S historian William B Taylor has unearthed evidence for more than 140 episodes of communities in revolt against Spanish rule Scholars are just beginning to unravel the complexity of these episodes of rural and urban unrest and the variety of ways in which violent collective action by Indian communities shaped the overall structure of colonial society and of Spanish-Indian relations in the heartland of Spain’s American empire Further reading Gosner, Kevin Soldiers of the Virgin: The Moral Economy of a Colonial Maya Rebellion Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1992; Hu-DeHart, Evelyn Missionaries, Miners and Indians: History of the Spanish Contact with the Yaqui Nation of Northwestern New Spain, 1533–1820 Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1981; Katz, Friedrich, ed Riot, Rebellion, and Revolution: Rural Social Conflict in Mexico Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988; Taylor, William B Drinking, Homicide, and Rebellion in Colonial Mexican Villages Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1979 Michael J Schroeder Midhat Pasha (1822–1884) Ottoman reformer Midhat Pasha entered the Ottoman government service as a young man and rose quickly within the ranks He worked in Syria and then in Istanbul before being appointed governor (vali) over Bulgaria in 1857 Midhat quickly restored order to the rebellious province and instituted a wide-ranging series of modernization projects While he supported modernization of the empire, Midhat opposed local nationalist sentiments and repressed Bulgarian nationalism His anti-panSlavic stance incurred the enmity of Russia and owing to Russian pressure he was withdrawn from Bulgaria and brought back to Istanbul Midhat served as provincial governor over Baghdad from 1869–72 As governor of Baghdad, he in effect ruled all of Iraq He extended Ottoman influence into the Arabia Peninsula and, as in Bulgaria, worked 277 to modernize the territory He modernized Baghdad with the construction of new roads and a bridge across the Tigris River, a bank, and textile factory He also improved shipping lanes for the Shatt al-Arab leading into the Persian Gulf and enlarged irrigation projects to increase productivity and income Midhat also efficiently applied Ottoman Land Law to regularize and register land titles and the collection of taxes Midhat served as Grand Vizier from 1876–77 and was accorded the title of pasha However, Midhat’s efficiency, financial acuity, and honesty threatened many increasingly corrupt officials who frequently intrigued against him On the other hand, the pro-reform Young Ottomans called Midhat “the ideal statesman.” Midhat supported the programs of the Young Ottomans who wanted the implementation of a constitutional monarchy over the Ottoman Empire Midhat and the Young Ottomans sought to halt the further erosion of Ottoman financial independence to European creditors and to prevent national uprisings in the Balkans In 1876, the Young Ottomans and Midhat were instrumental in ousting Sultan Abd al-Aziz, who was subsequently assassinated, and placing Murad V on the throne Murad V only served a few months before mental illness forced his removal His brother Abdul Hamid II became the new sultan after promising to implement the constitution written by Midhat and to support reforms The first Ottoman parliament opened in 1877, but Abdul Hamid II used the impending war with Russia as the excuse to suspend the constitution and parliament within a year Midhat was ousted from office on charges of complicity with the assassination of Abd al-Aziz To escape further persecution, Midhat then toured Europe and observed the House of Commons in session in London He was called back to serve as governor of Syria, but within months the sultan reconsidered and brought him back to be tried with others for the killing of Abd al-Aziz In a highly biased trial, Midhat was sentenced to death, but following pressure from the British his sentence was commuted to banishment He was exiled to Taif, Arabia, where an agent of the sultan probably was responsible for his death by strangulation in 1884 See also Young Ottomans and constitutionalism Further reading: Davison, Roderic H Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–1876 Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963; Zachs, Fruma Ottoman Reform and Muslim Regeneration London: I.B.Tauris, 2005 Janice J Terry