TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Revolt · 1878
Murad V, deposed three months after his accession because of mental illness (31 August 1876), lived in the Çırağan Palace, from which several attempts were made to spirit him away. According to the TDV article on the Çırağan incident, the one suppressed with bloodshed was Ali Suavi's attempt. According to the TDV article on Ali Suavi, on 20 May 1878 he raided the Çırağan Palace with a band of about 250 refugees from Plovdiv who had come to Istanbul from the Balkans because of the 1877–78 war; he most probably meant to restore Murad V to the throne. He was killed by a blow to the head with a club from Hasan Ağa (later Yedisekiz Hasan Pasha), commander of the Beşiktaş police post. Because his wife destroyed his papers, the affair has never been fully cleared up.
| Date | 20 May 1878 |
|---|---|
| Location | Çırağan Palace, Istanbul |
| Result | The raid was suppressed; Ali Suavi was killed |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire | Ali Suavi's band |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Hasan Ağa (Yedisekiz Hasan Pasha) | Ali Suavi |
Took place during the reign of Abdulhamid II (1876–1909). Abdulhamid II
The atlas records this territorial change for the year:
By the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 3,721,000 km² in 1878; at the start of Abdulhamid II's reign they measured 4,123,000 km², at its end 2,996,000 km².
During Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) the atlas records 0 regions gained and 19 regions lost.
Regions lost: Wallachia (1877), Moldavia (1877), Morava Serbia (Niš–Kruševac) (1877), Smederevo–Šumadija (1877), Belgrade–Šabac (1877), Northern Dobruja (Constanța–Tulcea) (1877), Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1877), Montenegro (1878), and 11 more.
His thirty-three-year reign saw both the greatest territorial loss and the most intensive investment in schools, railways and the telegraph. Proclaiming and then suspending the constitution, rule through a centralised intelligence network and the cost of the 1877–78 war make him the most controversial sultan in Ottoman history.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “ÇIRAĞAN VAK‘ASI” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Çırağan incident (1878): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/ciragan-incident/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections