<P> While the Ottoman Empire had population records prior to the 1830s, it was only in 1831 that the Office of Population Registers fund (Ceride - i Nüfus Nezareti) was founded . The Office decentralized in 1839 to draw more accurate data . Registrars, inspectors, and population officials were appointed to the provinces and smaller administrative districts . They recorded births and deaths periodically and compared lists indicating the population in each district . These records were not a total count of population . Rather, they were based on what is known as "head of household". Only the ages, occupation, and property of the male family members only were counted . </P> <P> The first nationwide Ottoman census was in 1844 . The first national identity cards which officially named the Mecidiye identity papers, or informally kafa kağıdı (head paper) documents . </P> <P> In 1856, the Hatt - ı Hümayun promised equality for all Ottoman citizens regardless of their ethnicity and religious confession; which thus widened the scope of the 1839 Hatt - ı Şerif of Gülhane . Overall, the Tanzimat reforms had far - reaching effects . Those educated in the schools established during the Tanzimat period included Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and other progressive leaders and thinkers of the Republic of Turkey and of many other former Ottoman states in the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa . These reforms included guarantees to ensure the Ottoman subjects perfect security for their lives, honour and property; </P> <P> Establishment of the Ministry of Healthcare (Tıbbiye Nezareti, 1850); the Commerce and Trade Code (1850); establishment of the Academy of Sciences (Encümen - i Daniş, 1851); establishment of the Şirket - i Hayriye which operated the first steam - powered commuter ferries (1851); the first European style courts (Meclis - i Ahkam - ı Adliye, 1853) and supreme judiciary council (Meclis - i Ali - yi Tanzimat, 1853); establishment of the modern Municipality of Istanbul (Şehremaneti, 1854) and the City Planning Council (İntizam - ı Şehir Komisyonu, 1855); the abolition of the capitation (Jizya) tax on non-Muslims, with a regular method of establishing and collecting taxes (1856); non-Muslims were allowed to become soldiers (1856); various provisions for the better administration of the public service and advancement of commerce; the establishment of the first telegraph networks (1847--1855) and railways (1856); the replacement of guilds with factories; the establishment of the Ottoman Central Bank (originally established as the Bank - ı Osmanî in 1856, and later reorganised as the Bank - ı Osmanî - i Şahane in 1863) and the Ottoman Stock Exchange (Dersaadet Tahvilat Borsası, established in 1866); the Land Code (Arazi Kanunnamesi, 1857); permission for private sector publishers and printing firms with the Serbesti - i Kürşad Nizamnamesi (1857); establishment of the School of Economical and Political Sciences (Mekteb - i Mülkiye, 1859); </P>

What started the decline of the ottoman empire