The Tanzimat edict caused a sensation not only because it radically altered the empire's political tradition, but above all because it promised the application of these provisions to all the sultan's subjects, " of whatever religion or sect they may be ". In the eyes of Europe, which had long considered that the empire's non-Muslim populations - read Christian - were living under the yoke and oppression of Islam, this provision had raised hopes that the rayas (tributaries) would one day achieve equal status with Muslims. The idea of equality, itself a recent invention in Europe, was very foreign to Ottoman political culture, which was based instead on inequalities managed by a notion of justice (adalet), to be understood in the sense of equity. Indeed, according to the " circle of justice " (daire-i adliye) that the Ottomans had taken as the basic principle of their politics since the 16th century, it was precisely the equity/justice dispensed by the rulers that justified their authority over the " herd " (reaya).
While the Tanzimat edict brought about a change in principle in relations between the state and its subjects, the question of the equality of non-Muslims with Muslims remained unresolved, particularly in the eyes of the representatives of the " grandes puissances ", who remained skeptical about the application of the measures proposed in this edict. Nevertheless, it was clear that the door to more radical reforms had been opened and many took advantage of this situation to promote more or less reasonable reform and regeneration projects. It was against this backdrop that we turned our attention to a very special case, unknown to this day, that of Dr. Barrachin. A dental surgeon and former officer in Napoleon's army, this fascinating character had, after many adventures in Iran and a short stint in the French army of occupation in Algeria, landed in Constantinople in 1838, where he managed to get himself recruited by the famous Mustafa Reşid Pasha as an advisor.
