As a direct response to local and imperial initiatives, the Ottoman sultaniyya (secondary) Maktab ‘Anbar was established in Damascus in the mid 1880s at the end of the Tanzimat period. As with other educational establishments in the Tanzimat public civil school system, the creation of Maktab ‘Anbar and its infrastructure are the consequence of pluralistic influences, each one exerting, in different ways, its educational and ideological agenda on the Tanzimat educational program. On the most visible level, Maktab ‘Anbar is a result of the Tanizmat educational policy to create an Empire-wide network (urban and rural) of civil schools aimed at educating “Ottoman youth” (both genders), “regardless of religion”, in subjects deemed important by Istanbul for the future of the Empire (instruction in European languages, administrative and bureaucratic sciences, arithmetic, etc.). This is indeed part of the official policy of the Ottoman Tanzimat schools along with creating a consciousness of belonging to the Ottoman world. But over and beyond these straightforward political objectives on the part of Istanbul and on the part of the Damascene religious-commercial-political elite regarding modern educational needs organized by the state (the elite correctly seeing Maktab ‘Anbar as a vehicle for upwards social mobility for its children), a look at this school’s study curriculum shows a complex interweaving of other influences. While the Tanzimat civil school infrastructure intentionally removed education (with the approval of some ‘ulama) outside of a religious framework (which nonetheless continued to exist in parallel structures along with missionary schools, millet schools, etc.) towards one controlled by the state, Maktab ‘Anbar’s study program reveals nevertheless a strong religious component. The curriculum shows in fact that the Islamic sciences were taught in the school by the Hanafi mufti of Damascus as well as other ‘ulama to the tune of some twelve hours per week. A combination of primary sources such as the Ottoman yearly almanacs (salnamas), local Damascene 19th chronicles (Qasatli), biographies on students who went through Maktab ‘Anbar (S. al-Qasimi) as well as publications on Maktab ‘Anbar (Z. al-Qasimi) will be utilized for this presentation. While the aim is ostensibly a case study, the underlying objective is to use this example to reflect upon Tanzimat educational policy “on the ground”, i.e. how it was concretized within a specific context but also how it was inscribed within the overall objectives and intersection of Tanzimat and Nahda on the local and imperial scale.