The Tanzimat (Turkish: [tanziˈmat]; Ottoman Turkish: تنظيمات, romanized: Tanzimāt, lit. 'Reorganization', see nizām) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Part of the reform policy was an economic policy based on the Treaty of Balta Liman of 1838. Many changes were made to improve civil liberties, but many Muslims saw them as a foreign influence on the world of Islam. That perception complicated reformist efforts made by the state.