Abd-ul-Medjid, ahbd'ul me jeed', (1823-1861), thirty-first sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his father, Mahmud II, in 1839. Abd-ul-Medjid favored reforms, but most of them remained inoperative, or caused bloody insurrections where attempts were made to carry them out. His reign was marked by the Crimean War and by the menace of Mehemet Ali of Egypt.