the secular system of education that had been introduced. This included reforming the elementary and middle schools, establishing a new level of preparatory schools for students wishing to go on to secondary and technical schools, and expanding teacher-training schools. While all of this was happening, efforts were made to depose Abdülaziz to secure a constitution. Ahmed opposed the idea but also opposed the government of Mahmud Nedim. As a result, he was disliked by constitutionalists and sent out of Istanbul. The grand vizier occupied Ahmed by making him inspector general to Rumelia and then governor of Syria for a year. Ahmet Cevdet Pasha's relative conservatism and experience in the ulema left him inimical towards the reformers who deposed Abdülaziz and promulgated the 1876 Ottoman constitution. However, Abdulhamid II succeeded Murad V in 1876 and soon began to dismantle the newborn First Constitutional Era in favor of a return to absolute monarchy with himself holding sole power. He succeeded in this in 1878, suspending the Ottoman parliament and the constitution. Ahmed Cevdet Pasha was close to Abdulhamid, serving as Minister of Justice in 1876, Minister of the Interior in 1877, Minister of Pious Foundations in 1878, Minister of commerce in 1879, and Minister of Justice again from 1880 to 1882. Death Ahmed Cevdet retired from public office for a couple of years in order to educate his daughters, Fatma Aliye and Emine Semiye, and to finish his book of Ottoman history, now known as ("History of Cevdet Pasha"). He also completed two other historical compilations, Tezakir ("Memoirs") and Maruzat. In 1886, he returned as Minister of Justice, but resigned four years later due to quarrels with Prime Minister (Grand Vizier) Yusuf Kamil Pasha. From that point on, Ahmed Cevdet Pasha acted as an elder statesman until his death in Constantinople on 25 May 1895. He is buried in the graveyard of the Fatih Mosque. Children Ahmed Cevdet had three children, a son, Ali Sedat (1857–1900), and two daughters. His daughters went on to become prominent figures of late Ottoman and early Turkish history. One daughter Fatma Aliye Topuz (1862–1936) is credited as the first female writer in Turkish literature. His other daughter Emine Semiye Önasya (1864–1944) was one of the first Turkish feminists and a political activist for women in the late Empire and early Republic. See also Turks in Bulgaria References Sources Further reading (In Turkish) Ekrem Buğra Ekinci and