Abdul Hamid, the son of Sultan Abdul Majid, was born in 1842. He succeeded his insane brother, Murad V in 1876. He granted Turkey a parliamentary constitution in 1876 but the following year this was rescinded and ruled as a dictator for more than thirty years. Although some administrative reforms were made in certain provinces such as Syria and Palestine, little was done in the rest of the Empire.
Abdul Hamid died in 1918.