Imperial anthems of the Ottoman Empire

During the reign of Mahmud II, when the military and imperial band were re-organized along Western European lines, Giuseppe Donizetti was invited to head the process.

Donizetti Pasha, as he was known in the Ottoman Empire, composed the first Western-style imperial anthem, the "March of Mahmud".

As was the case in many 19th-century monarchies, such as the Austrian Empire, the anthem of the Ottoman Empire was an imperial anthem, not a national one, so it paid homage to a specific ruler.

However, unlike Western Europe, where the same music was used with modified lyrics (e.g. „Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser“ and « Marche Henri IV »), a new anthem was composed after each Ottoman imperial succession.

The first was Murad V, who reigned for 3 months in 1876, and the second was the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, who used "March of Mahmud".