The Grand National Assembly abolishes the Ottoman sultanate
After 623 years of rule by Osman's dynasty, the last sultan boards a British ship and leaves the country he no longer governs.
Quick facts
- Sultanate abolished
- 1 November 1922, by the Grand National Assembly
- Last sultan
- Mehmed VI, exiled 17 November 1922
- Treaty of Lausanne
- 24 July 1923
- Republic proclaimed
- 29 October 1923
What happened
With the Turkish War of Independence militarily won and Allied occupying forces withdrawing from Anatolia, the Grand National Assembly in Ankara formally abolished the Ottoman sultanate on 1 November 1922, separating the offices of sultan and caliph and ending 623 years of rule by the House of Osman as a governing monarchy. The last Ottoman sultan, Mehmed VI, left Constantinople aboard the British warship HMS Malaya on 17 November 1922, going into exile. The Assembly retained the caliphate as a separate religious office under a different member of the dynasty, but the following year, once the Treaty of Lausanne on 24 July 1923 secured international recognition of Turkish sovereignty, the Republic of Turkey was formally proclaimed on 29 October 1923 with Ankara as its capital and Mustafa Kemal as its first president.
Why it matters
The abolition ended the longest-ruling dynasty in the region's history and replaced it with a secular republican government built on popular sovereignty rather than hereditary succession. The caliphate itself, retained for another sixteen months as a separate office, was abolished in March 1924, removing the last formal remnant of Ottoman monarchical and religious authority.
How we know
A SUNY-hosted world history course documents the 1 November 1922 abolition of the sultanate by the Grand National Assembly, Mehmed VI's departure aboard HMS Malaya, and the subsequent Treaty of Lausanne and proclamation of the Republic, tracing the legal transition from empire to republic in sequence.
Sources
- SUNY, Lumen Learning World History. Ataturk and Turkish Independence · General sourcecourses.lumenlearning.com · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Ottoman Empire · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Part of a timelineThe Ottoman Empire31 events · A frontier warband on the edge of Byzantium grows into a 600-year empire spanning three continents, then dissolves into a modern republic.View all →