Midhat Pasha  Midhat Pasha, coloured
lithograph.Photos.com/Jupiterimages  Midhat Pasha, Pasha also
spelled Paşa   (born October 1822, Constantinople, Ottoman
Empire [now Istanbul, Tur.]—died May 8, 1883, Al-Ṭāʾif, Arabia
[now in Saudi Arabia]), twice Ottoman grand vizier who was known
for his honest ability, his administrative reforms, and his
initiation of the first constitution of the Ottoman Empire
(1876).  Son of a qāḍī (judge), Midhat was trained for an
administrative career. He joined the office of the grand vizier,
eventually becoming the second secretary to the Grand Council.
His enemies arranged for him to be given (1854) the nearly
impossible task of halting the revolt and brigandage rampant in
Rumelia, in the Balkans, where he achieved startling success.
After restoring order to Bulgaria (1857), he spent six months’
study leave in Europe.  In 1861 Midhat was made a vizier and
entrusted with the government of Niš, where his reforms were so
successful that Sultan Abdülaziz charged him to help prepare