TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Treaty · 1809
At war with Russia and Britain since 1806 because of its pro-French policy, the Ottoman state made peace with Britain on learning that Napoleon had discussed partitioning Ottoman lands with the tsar at Tilsit and Erfurt. According to the TDV article on the Straits question, Article 11 of the Treaty of the Dardanelles, signed in January 1809, made Britain accept that the closure of the Straits to foreign warships in peacetime was an ancient rule of the Ottoman state. The principle thus entered an international instrument for the first time, though the state's absolute right to open and close the Straits was also limited. The 1809 treaty is therefore seen as the first seed of the London Straits Convention of 1841. The war with Russia went on until the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812.
| Signed | January 1809 |
|---|---|
| Place of signing | Kal'a-i Sultaniyye (Çanakkale) |
| Parties | Ottoman Empire, United Kingdom |
The principle of closure of the Straits entered an international instrument for the first time; it is seen as a forerunner of the 1841 London Convention.
Took place during the reign of Mahmud II (1808–1839). Mahmud II
Open the reign of Mahmud II on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 4,551,000 km² in 1809; at the start of Mahmud II's reign they measured 4,551,000 km², at its end 3,803,000 km².
During Mahmud II (1808–1839) the atlas records 0 regions gained and 6 regions lost.
Regions lost: Cyclades (Naxos) (1821), Morea (Peloponnese) (1828), Akhaltsikhe (Childir) (1828), Athens–Central Greece (1829), Algiers (1830), Euboea (Negroponte) (1833).
He recentralised the state: he abolished the Janissaries and founded modern ministries, schools and the census. The territorial losses were heavy (Greece, Algiers, Bessarabia), but the administrative structure he built made the Tanzimat possible.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “BOĞAZLAR MESELESİ” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Treaty of the Dardanelles (1809): Terms, Date and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/treaty-of-the-dardanelles/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections