Image of Mahmud II in the high school history textbooks of the Republic period of Turkey

The aim of this study is to reveal the image of Mahmud II, who ascended to the throne at the beginning of the 19th century, a time of great changes in the world and in Turkey, and who was subjected to many internal and external difficulties during his sultanate, in history textbooks taught in secondary education. In this study, case study, one of the qualitative research methods, document analysis as a data collection technique and descriptive analysis were used to analyse and interpret the data. The data obtained was analysed under five categories as Turkish History Thesis Preparation Period, Turkish History Thesis Period, Humanist Period, Turkish-Islamic Synthesis Period and Constructivist Education Period. The study consists of five sections as Introduction, Conceptual Framework, Method, Findings and Interpretation, Discussion and Conclusion. As a result of this study, it has been determined that the image of Mahmud II was not as negative as some other sultans in the disintegration period of the Ottoman Empire, and that it was positive especially from the Humanist Period onwards. While Mahmud II was mostly portrayed as an "imperious, intellectual and enlightened" sultan who tried to establish a centralised administrative system in the Ottoman Empire, during the Preparation Period for the Turkish History Thesis and the Turkish History Thesis Periods, he was portrayed as a reformist sultan from the Humanist Period onwards. In the history textbooks examined within the scope of this study, it has been determined that among the political events of the period of Mahmud II, the Serbian-Greek rebellions were mostly included. Although the Greek Rebellion was given such a wide coverage, it was determined that the massacre of Turks that took place during the rebellion was given very little coverage. After the nationalist minority rebellions, the abolition of the Janissary Corps was given extensive coverage in the textbooks. It has been observed that there were no differences of opinion about this event in the history textbooks examined and that almost all of the textbooks affirmed the event and referred to it as "Vak'a-i Hayriye / the auspicious incident". While the other important phenomenon of the period of Mahmud II, the reforms, were given little place in the textbooks during the Preparation Period for the Turkish History Thesis and the Turkish History Thesis Period, it has been determined that they were given extensive coverage from the Humanist Period onwards, with the emphasis on the reformist aspect of Mahmud II. Also, the change in the images of Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Pasha, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, Tepedelenli Ali Pasha, Halet Efendi, who were important figures of the period of Mahmud II, in the textbooks has been discussed. Key Words: History Education, History Teaching, History Textbooks, Sultan Mahmud II.