Previously the Grand Vizier, upon the counsel of his advisor, managed the internal affairs of the state, but in 1860 a western-style ministry of the interior was established as part of a reform of the empire's administration.

[2] The Ministry of the Interior held the responsibility for central administration of all internal matters of the empire.

In its portfolio were all operations and personnel associated with security, police forces, local administrations, and the control over all bureaucrats outside the central government.

[3] During the Tanzimat era the Ministry of the Interior maintained three inspectorates: Rumeli, Anatolia, and the Arab world.

During the First Balkan War the commission was reincarnated as the Directorate for the Settlement of Tribes and Refugees [İskan-ı Aşair ve Muhacirin Müdüriyeti, 1913–1916], and then the General Directorate for Tribes and Refugees [Aşair ve Muhacirin Müdüriyet-i Umumiyesi, 1916–1922].