Rumi calendar


The Rumi calendar, a specific calendar based on the Julian calendar, was officially used by the Ottoman Empire after Tanzimat and by its successor, the Republic of Turkey until 1926. It was adopted for civic matters and is a solar based calendar, assigning a date to each solar day.

History

In the Islamic state of the Ottoman Empire, the religious Islamic calendar was in use. In this calendar, months coincide with lunar phases. Because a "lunar year" is shorter than the solar year, the seasons cycle through the lunar months as the solar years pass. As the Astronomical Almanac states: "As a result, the cycle of twelve lunar months regresses through the seasons over a period of about 33 years".

1677 introduction of the fiscal calendar

In 1677, Head Treasurer Hasan Pasha under Sultan Mehmed IV proposed the correction of financial records by dropping one year every 33 years, resulting from the difference between the lunar Islamic calendar and the solar Julian calendar.
In 1740 during the reign of Sultan Mahmud I, March was adopted as the first month of the fiscal year for the payment of taxes and dealings with government officials instead of Muharram following Treasurer Atıf Efendi's proposal.
Proposed by Treasurer Moralı Osman Efendi during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid I, the range of the fiscal calendar applications was extended in 1794 to state expenditures and payments in order to prevent surplus cost arising from the time difference between the Islamic and Julian calendar.

1840 adoption of the Julian calendar

The Julian calendar, used from 1677 AD on for fiscal matters only, was adopted on March 13, 1840 AD, in the frame of Tanzimat reforms shortly after the accession to the throne of Sultan Abdülmecid I, as the official calendar for all civic matters and named "Rumi calendar". The counting of years began with the year 622 AD, when Muhammad and his followers emigrated from Mecca to Medina, the same event marking the start of the Islamic calendar. The months and days of the Julian calendar were used, the year starting in March. However, in 1256 AH the difference between the Hijri and the Gregorian calendars amounted to 584 years. With the change from lunar calendar to solar calendar, the difference between the Rumi calendar and the Julian or Gregorian calendar remained a constant 584 years.

1917 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar

Since the Julian to Gregorian calendar changeover was finally being adopted in neighboring countries, the Rumi calendar was realigned to the Gregorian calendar in February 1917, leaving the difference of 584 years unchanged, however. Thus, after February 15, 1332 AH, the next day instead of being February 16 suddenly became March 1, 1333 AH. The year 1333 AH was made into a year with only ten months, running from March 1 to December 31. January 1, AD 1918 thus became January 1, AH 1334. The Rumi calendar remained in use after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire into the first years of the succeeding Republic of Turkey.

1925 discontinuation of the Rumi calendar

The use of the AH era was abandoned as part of Atatürk's reforms by an act of December 26, 1341 AH and was replaced by the Gregorian year from 1926.

Calendar months

The names of four months that occur in pairs in the Semitic/Arabic naming system were changed on January 10, 1945 to Turkish language names, Ekim, Kasım, Aralık and Ocak, for simplicity. From 1918 the fiscal year has commenced on 1 January. The other months' names were from the Syriac language, except for Mart, Mayıs, and Ağustos, which were derived from Latin.
MonthFiscal yearTurkishOttomanDaysNotes
111th monthKânûn-ı Sânîكانون ثانی31İkinci Kânûn
212th monthŞubat شباط 28 or 29
31st monthMart مارت 31
42nd monthNisan نیسان 30
53rd monthMayıs مایس 31
64th monthHaziran حزیران 30
75th monthTemmuz تموز 31
86th monthAğustos اغستوس 31
97th monthEylül ایلول 30
108th monthTeşrin-i Evvel تشرین اول 31Birinci Teşrin
119th monthTeşrin-i Sânî تشرین ثانی 30İkinci Teşrin
1210th monthKânûn-ı Evvel كانون اول 31Birinci Kânûn

1917 conversion table

In 1917, a major calendar reform aligned the Rumi calendar with the Gregorian calendar. This table, adapted from the work of Richard B. Rose, lists the equivalent dates for that year.
Ottoman fiscal calendarGregorian calendarJulian calendarHijri calendar
Teşrin-i Sânî 1–30, 1332Nov 14 – Dec 13, 1916Nov 1–30, 1916Muharram 18 – Safar 17, 1335
Kânûn-ı Evvel 1–31Dec 14, 1916 – Jan 13, 1917Dec 1–31, 1916Safar 18 – Rabi' al-Awwal 19
Kânûn-ı Sânî 1–31Jan 14 – Feb 13, 1917Jan 1–30, 1917Rabi' al-Awwal 20 – Rabi' al-Thani 19
Şubat 1–13Feb 14–26Feb 1–13Rabi' al-Thani 20 – Jumada al-Awwal 3
Şubat 14Feb 27Feb 14Jumada al-Awwal 4
Şubat 15Feb 28Feb 15Jumada al-Awwal 5
Mart 1, 1333Mar 1Feb 16Jumada al-Awwal 6
Mart 2Mar 2Feb 17Jumada al-Awwal 7
Mart 3Mar 3Feb 18Jumada al-Awwal 8
Mart 4–13Mar 4–13Feb 19–28Jumada al-Awwal 9–18
Mart 14–31Mar 14–31Mar 1–18Jumada al-Awwal 19 – Jumada al-Thani 6
Nisan 1–30April 1–30Mar 19 – Apr 17Jumada al-Thani 7 – Rajab 7
Mayıs 1–31May 1-31Apr 18 – May 18Rajab 8 – Sha'ban 8
Haziran 1-30Jun 1–30May 19 – Jun 17Sha'ban 9 – Ramadan 9
Temmuz 1–31Jul 1–31Jun 18 – Jul 18Ramadan 10–Shawwal 10
Ağustos 1–31Aug 1–31Jul 19 – Aug 18Shawwal 11 – Dhu al-Qa'dah 12
Eylül 1–30Sep 1–30Aug 19 – Sep 17Dhu al-Qa'dah 13 – Dhu al-Hijja 12
Teşrin-i Evvel 1–31Oct 1-31Sep 18 – Oct 18Dhu al-Hijja 13 – Muharram 14, 1336
Teşrin-i Sânî 1–30Nov 1–30Oct 19 – Nov 17Muharram 15 – Safar 14
Kânûn-ı Evvel 1–31Dec 1–31Nov 18 – Dec 18Safar 15 – Rabi' al–Awwal 16
Kânûn-ı Sânî 1–31, 1334Jan 1–31, 1918Dec 19, 1917 – Jan 18, 1918Rabi' al-Awwal 17 – Rabi' al-Thani 17
Şubat 1–28Feb 1 – 28Jan 19 – Feb 16Rabi' al-Thani 18 – Jumada al-Awwal 16