The appearance of the Turkic tribes Se (Sakha) in the west of Altau occurred in the year 200 BC. Then they were oppressed by the Tibetan tribe and they had to move further west. Another Chinese traveler Zhang Tsang mentioned the Western Turks, who were called Kanly. It was in 130 BC. At that time, small khanates were subordinate to the Kanlams. They ruled Bukhara, Khiva, Kerman, Samarkand and Tashkent. They were also called Scythians or Saks.
In 1219, Genghis Khan acted very aggressively and the Kanls had to retreat to the lands of Rum. They were headed by Khan Kabi in those days. The Kanls in the foreign land had to wait until the incessant wars had passed, and then they were about to return to native land. Then they were headed by the son of Kabi Khan, Suleiman. But these plans were not destined to be fulfilled, when Suleiman and his people crossed the Frat River, they drowned. So his son begins to rule - the brave and courageous Torgul. Part of the people remained at Arz-Rum to protect the lands of Konya, which at that time were under the rule of King Allaidden. And the raids on them are made by the son of Genghis Khan, Chagatai. Allaidden was very grateful to Torgul for accomplishing feats, and gives him the post of commander-in-chief of the army and bestows the lands of Eskud, Karashatau and Tomanshi. The son of Torgul, Osman, also differs in military leadership. He also becomes commander-in-chief of the army of Konya. After Torgul died in 1272, Osman becomes commander-in-chief in his place. The territory of the kingdom was greatly expanded during that period due to the lands that were captured. Ten years later, Osman was appointed by Allaidden to independently rule one of the territories that had been captured - Karashi Khasar. During the time that Khan Osman ruled, the country became larger and more prosperous, and in the end it became greatest empire. The formation of the empire took place in 1300, then the local Turks began to be called the Ottoman Turks, and Khan Osman - the Turkish Sultan, the first in a row. Total in history Ottoman Empire there were thirty-six sultans, and the fate of the state changed under each of them.

Ottoman Empire, once existed, was the birthplace of 36 Turkish sultans. In fact, everywhere Turkish sultans are called Ottoman, but since the Ottomans were none other than Turks, people from Turkic tribes, I will allow myself to call the sultans of the Ottoman Empire Turkish rulers until 1922.

The Ottoman Turks are from the Central Asian Oguz tribe called Kayı, who, fleeing the conquests of Tamerlane's ancestors, first fled west from their habitat (the city of Balkh is now an Afghan province), and then settled in Anatolia under the borders of the Byzantine Empire.

The ancestors of the Turkish sultans are Shah Suleiman, whose son, Ertogul, gave birth in 1258 to the first ruler of the entire Ottoman Empire, Osman the First.

Sultans of Turkey: list

In this table you can see all 36 sultans of Ottoman Turkey and the years of their reign.

Interregnum- the period of interregnum in the Ottoman Empire, when the three sons of Lightning Bayazid could not share the throne, lasted about 11 years (1402-1413). These were the first difficulties in the ruling dynasty of this type, after which this problem was solved by the murder of their brothers by the ascending sultan.

Definition of titles of Turkish sultans

Ulubey or Ujbey (ulubey) is the title of the Ottoman ruler, the leader of the border Turkic tribe with other foreign tribes.

Sultan- the title of the ruler of an Islamic state. If a country is ruled by a sultan, then the country is called a sultanate.

Padishah- a monarchical title from Iran, which began to be used in other Asian countries. Europeans perceived the title of padishah as the title of emperor.

Caliph- the highest Muslim title, which in different time interpreted in different ways. In general and in general, it is a combination of such concepts as: the spiritual head of all Muslims, the state and political leader of all Muslims, the supreme judge and the supreme commander in chief.

Now let's see how each Turkish sultan distinguished himself during his years of ruling the Ottoman Empire.

Sultans of Turkey: the structure of personalities on the line of 717 years

Osman I Ghazi. The son of the leader of a small Turkic tribe, located on the strategic borders with Byzantium and the Balkans. He bore the title of ulubey, he began his reign at the age of 24. Osman 1 in history is characterized as a brave warrior with a noble nomadic spirit, but at the same time a complete barbarian who organized military campaigns on the way to creating a great Ottoman Empire. Having declared his possessions free from the Seljuks, Osman 1 was able to conquer a new part of Asia Minor, Byzantine Ephesus, the Black Sea cities of Anatolia and draw up a conquest plan, in which Osman the First was buried. The Turkish Sultan died of old age in 1324.

OrhanI Ghazi. This sultan of ancient Turkey is the youngest son of Osman 1, whose dates of death and the end of his reign are described differently by different sources. To be honest, I don’t know which date is correct (1359 or 1362), but, nevertheless, it was under Orhan the First that the territory of the Ottoman Empire expanded quite noticeably. The Turkish Sultan made every effort to create the right conditions for the growth of a great power.

During his reign, the first Ottoman coins began to be minted, it was Orkhan 1 who established the famous detachments of the Janissaries, and the first, after the end of the capture of all of Asia Minor, went to conquer Europe. Under Orhan, the population of the state increased to 500,000 people, and in 1354 this Ottoman sultan captured the current capital of Turkey -.

Murad I. This ruler was able to raise his state to the level of an empire, after which he acquired the title of great sultan. He took Adrianople from the Greeks, where he moved the capital of the state, conquered part of Bulgaria, and on his last campaign he went to the Serbs, and defeated the enemy in an “epic-memorable” battle on the Kosovo field. However, Sultan Murad 1 was also killed there, in 1389. He was killed by a Serb who posed as a defector.

This Sultan of Turkey was illiterate, he sealed contracts with a fingerprint, not a signature. But it is worth paying tribute to him - Murad 1 was very religiously tolerant, providing foreigners with citizenship and the same privileges as Muslims, while remaining a true defender of the Islamic faith.

Bayezid I the Lightning. The first step as the ruler of the empire, Bayazid 1 made towards the murder of his own brother. It was this Turkish sultan who introduced the state tradition of fratricide upon accession to the throne. It must be said that this tradition settled quite firmly in the empire as the elimination of competitors. Bayazid the Lightning loved luxury, he feasted and had fun, drinking wine, which is unusual for the Muslim religion. Nevertheless, this sultan of Turkey was able to conquer Asia Minor to the end, take large lands in the Balkans and give a crushing rebuff to the crusaders.

He was going to take Constantinople, which he besieged for 6 whole years, but Tamerlane was advancing on the Ottomans from the east, who captured the Turkish sultan. Bayazid 1 died in captivity in 1402, according to some sources, he committed suicide.

Mehmed I Celebi. He emerged victorious from the internecine war and officially took the throne in 1413. He enjoyed the strong support of the Janissaries, he was loved for his education, prudence and strict disposition. He managed to keep the empire shaken after the captivity of his father and start military campaigns again. He was the youngest son of Bayezid the First, who maintained peace with Byzantium and Europe, strengthening the returned lands that Tamerlane had once taken.

Murad II. He married, like his grandfather Bayezid I, a Slavic woman - the daughter of a Serbian ruler, giving his wife complete freedom of religion. After the battle of Varna (in 1444), Murad 2 emerged victorious, suppressing all the energy of Europe. From that time until the end of the 16th century, the entire history of the Turkish sultans is full of victories and conquests.

Mehmed II the Conqueror. Ruled by the Ottomans 2 times, giving his throne to his father Murad 2 for 6 years because of youthful judgments in terms of conquering Constantinople. After the death of his father, Mehmed Fatih the Conqueror finally began to carry out his plans. It was this Turkish sultan who took and allowed him to be brutally robbed for three days. It was Mehmed 2 who transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire to this city, and converted the sacred temple of Hagia Sophia into the main mosque of old Turkey. The name of the city was also given by this Turkish sultan, and also Mehmed Fatih insisted on the presence of representatives of the Islamic clergy of the residence of the patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Armenian and chief Jewish rabbi. He also deprived Serbia of autonomy, conquered Bosnia, captured the Crimean Khanate, and almost reached Rome, his death prevented the Turkish sultan from capturing this city.

Bayezid II Dervish. He fought little, is considered the first sultan who refused to personally command his army, and Bayezid 2 went down in history as a patron of culture and literature. Abdicated the throne, passing it to his youngest son Selim.

Selim I the Terrible. Nicknamed the Merciless, for having ordered the death of his brothers and nephews, as well as for the brutal reprisal against the Shiites, killing approximately 45,000 people. He took Kurdistan from the Persians, conquered Western Armenia, conquered Syria with Palestine, Jerusalem, Arabia with Mecca and Medina, plus Egypt. Selim I the Terrible doubled the territory of the Ottoman Empire in almost 10 years. This Turkish sultan transported the banner and cloak of the Prophet Muhammad to Istanbul, thereby asserting that he has the right to rule the entire Islamic world.

Suleiman I the Magnificent. Known as the Turkish Sultan the Legislator, the Magnificent, the Great and Kanuni in the Turkish way. Sultan Suleiman 1 also greatly expanded the borders of Ottoman Turkey, which, under his rule, occupied lands from Budapest to Aswan and the Nile rapids, from the Euphrates and Tigris to the Strait of Gibraltar. During his reign, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent dreamed of uniting the lands and peoples of the West and East. For the last 20 years, the famous Turkish sultan has been under the influence of his concubine, and then his wife Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska (Roksolana). Having led a new campaign in Hungary, Sultan Suleiman did not live to see the victory, he died in 1566. The death of the padishah was hidden - the empire was already ruled without a sultan, however, on his behalf, until his son and Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska came to the throne - Selim II, from whom the decline of the Ottoman Empire began.

Selim II the Drunkard. The son of the magnificent Turkish Sultan was a kind and educated person, he wrote exquisite poetry, was a talented poet, but, apparently, like all creative people, he had a special passion for something. Selim 2 was nicknamed the drunkard, he was very fond of wine, which prevented him from following the empire. It was during the reign of this Turkish sultan that the interests of Turkey and Muscovy clashed on the border of Azov and Astrakhan.

Sultan Selim Drunkard was able to conquer Cyprus, this was his only acquisition on the throne. Although, having drunk another glass of local wine in one gulp, all in the same Cyprus, in the bath, the Turkish Sultan slipped and fell. Hitting his head on a marble slab, he died in 1574.

Murad III. The son of Selim the Drunkard began his ascension to the throne with an order to strangle his five brothers, like his great-grandfather Selim 1. Murad the third was distinguished by strong greed for numerous concubines, which led to the results of extensive offspring - this Turkish sultan had over a hundred children.

Under Murad 3, Tiflis, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Tabriz were captured. But the beginning of the decline of the empire did not stop.

Mehmed III. Portrait - Depraved and Bloodthirsty. This Ottoman ruler did not lag behind his father Murad the Third in terms of killing his brothers. If you remember, his father had more than a hundred children. The Turkish Sultan Mehmed the Third ordered the murder of his 19 brothers - this event was the largest fratricide in the history of the Ottomans. Moreover, the newly-made ruler gave a decree to drown their pregnant concubines in the Bosphorus, and after some time, he sent his own son to death. The Ottoman Empire was led by his mother, but he managed to make one successful campaign against Hungary.

Ahmed I. Sultan Ahmed the First lived only 27 years and ruled the Ottoman Empire for 14 of them. He was a capricious, but very smart boy. During the reign, he showed character and changed his viziers and advisers when he pleased, or as the harem required. At the same time, Transcaucasia and Baghdad were lost to the Turkish sultan, Zaporizhzhya Cossacks began to raid the empire. Under him, corruption intensified, it was in honor of this sultan that the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul was built, originally bearing the name of Ahmediye, now simply - the Sultanahmet Mosque.

In 1612, in a letter to the Polish king, the Turkish signed as follows:

Sultan Ahmed-Khan, Most Serene, son of the Great God, King of all Turks, Greeks, Babylonians, Macedonians, Sarmatians, Ruler of Greater and Lesser Egypt, Alexandria, India, as well as all peoples on earth Sovereign and Monarch, Lord and Most Serene son of Mohammed, Protector and Guardian of the holy Grotto of the Heavenly God, King of all Kings and Sovereign of all Sovereigns, Sovereign and Heir of all heirs.

Mustafa I Lunatic. He ruled for two terms in 1617-1618 and in 1622-1623, - the feeble-minded brother of Ahmed I, was seen in sleepwalking. This newly minted sultan spent 14 years in prison, but some considered him a “holy” person, because in their mass, Muslims treated the mad with sacred reverence. In his prison, the Turkish Sultan Mustafa 1 did not throw crumbs into the Bosphorus, but real gold coins.

He remained alive at the behest of his brother Ahmed, who did not want to kill his only brother. When everyone realized that Mustafa could not rule, he again went to prison. He was replaced by his brother's son Osman 2, who was overthrown, and Mustafa was placed on the throne again.

Osman II the Cruel. This Sultan of Turkey ruled for almost 4 years, thanks to the Janissaries, who brought him to the throne at the age of 14. The portrait is a militant character and pathological cruelty (clear proof of this is that he used living people for targets: prisoners and his pages). He lost the battle with the Cossacks during the siege of Khotyn. Sultan Osman II was killed by the same Janissaries who suspected him of dishonesty. At the time of his death, Osman II was only 18 years old.

Murad IV the Bloody. Another son of Ahmed the first, who took the throne at the age of 11. This is the bloodiest Turkish sultan in the history of the Ottomans, however, it was he who cut the knot of the vizier yoke and army anarchy. Murad 4 could kill just for the sake of killing, a completely innocent person, but it was he who returned justice to the court, and discipline to the barracks. Under him, Erivan and Baghdad were recaptured. The bloodthirsty sultan died in a fever, and before his death he ordered to kill his own brother Ibrahim in order to pass for the last padishah of the Ottoman dynasty ... It is strange that, with all his cruelty, he did not kill him at all when taking the throne.

Ibrahim. Mother saved the Sultan of Turkey from death. Ibrahim ruled for 8 years, distinguished by weakness, lack of will, recklessness, but cruelty ... His mother ruled the state for him. The Sultan was strangled by the Janissaries.

Mehmed IV the Hunter. He began to rule the Ottoman Empire from the age of 6 for 40 years. This Turkish sultan managed to restore the military appearance of the empire, in order to then subject the country to unprecedented military humiliation, which ended with the beginning of the division of Turkey. It was to Sultan Mehmed the Fourth that the Cossacks wrote a letter in the famous painting by Repin.

Suleiman II. The portrait is religious, he spent 40 years in the Ottoman "cage" under the heading of a reserve heir. At the same time, the Sultan was given to Belgrade (which was later returned) and Bosnia, but Orshova was taken. Suleiman II died in 1691.

Ahmed II. Just like his brothers, Ahmed II spent about 40 years in isolation, he stayed on the throne for 4 years.

Mustafa II. He ruled for about 8 years, losing Azov to the Russians, and Podolia to Poland. Abdicated under pressure from the Janissaries, died in 1703.

Ahmed III. This Sultan of Turkey ruled for 27 years. According to history, he offered shelter to the Ukrainian hetman Mazepa and the King of Sweden Charles XII, who lost the battle of Poltava. He made peace with Peter I, lost a lot of land in Eastern Europe and North Africa.

Mahmud I. Ruled the Ottoman state for 24 years. He continued the war with Iran, started a war with Russia.

Osman III. Portrait - suffered from musicophobia and hated all the women in the world. He spent more than 50 years in prison as a reserve heir. He ruled for only three years, but 7 times he swept away the viziers, confiscating their personal property to his treasury. He hated Jews and Christians, ordering them to wear special stripes.

Mustafa III. The portrait is a far-sighted and sensible Sultan of Turkey, who tried in vain to stop the decline of the empire, but failed.

Abdul-Hamid I. This Turkish sultan ruled for about 14 years, having lost the Crimea to Catherine the Great, he brought the entire financial situation of the empire into decline to such an extent that sometimes employees and soldiers had nothing to pay.

Selim III. During his 8 years of ruling the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan tried in vain to modernize it. However, the war with Russian Empire made itself felt, he lost the Black Sea to the Russians from the Caucasus to Bessarabia. He loved music and patronized musicians, he even composed many compositions himself. And, like many Turkish sultans, he was overthrown by the Janissaries, and was subsequently killed on the orders of his ruling cousin.

Mustafa IV. Having ordered the murder of the deposed cousin and younger brother, the Turkish Sultan Mustafa 4 himself was able to hold the throne for just over a year. And he himself was killed by the new sultan, his younger brother, whom they could not kill.

Mahmoud II. The Ottoman sultan with French blood in his veins liquidated the Janissary corps during his reign and generally changed the military system in the country. He carried out a series of executions, killing, including his older brother, the former padishah. It was under this Sultan that the influence of France and England on Turkey increased. At times he suffered from prolonged binges, he died at the age of 54.

Abdul Mejid the Meek. The first and only Sultan of Turkey with that name. He ascended the throne at the age of 16 and ruled for 22 years. The portrait is a meek ruler with a position of equality and brotherhood. Bethlehem ceded to France and the feat of Nicholas I to declare to Turkey new war for the keys to the Holy Sepulcher. Sultan Abdulmejid died of tuberculosis in 1861.

Abdulaziz Nevezha. The portrait is a despot, ignorant, rude, who abolished the reforms begun by his predecessors. Author of a wild massacre in Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria. The Turkish Sultan Abdulaziz committed suicide in 1876 after being the Ottoman Padishah for about 15 years.

Abdul-Hamid II the Bloody. The years of reign of this Ottoman sultan - from 1876 to 1909, distinguished themselves by the establishment of a despotic regime called "Zulum", which meant simply violence and arbitrariness. The bloody sultan of Turkey, Abdul-Hamid II, was named for the massacre of Greeks in Crete and other cruel actions. Surrendered to the Russians Adrianople, captured by Murad the First, lost power in the Balkans and North Africa. Only the Young Turks organization was able to pacify the bloody Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul-Hamid 2, after which he later left the throne and was arrested. In fact, it was this Sultan of Turkey who was the last ruler of the Ottomans with the standard attributes of omnipotence.

Mehmed V Reshad. He is the brother of the bloody Abdul-Hamid, he came to the throne for the kingdom, but not for control. The portrait is already an elderly sultan, without much energy, who fell under the complete influence of the Young Turks. The Ottomans continued to lose land in year-long wars, and then participated in the First World War in cooperation with Germany. Mehmed V died in 1918.

Mehmed VI Vahideddin. The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who reigned for about 4 years. Achieved a truce with the Entente, I will lose warships, straits, railway and telegraph and radio lines. It meant one thing! End of the Ottoman Empire. When, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a war began with the Turkish invaders, victory came, Mehmed 6 fled abroad. After that, the parliament passed a law on the abolition of the sultanate, and a year later it came out into the world.

Who were the Turkish sultans

As you can see, dear readers, the rule of the Ottoman sultans was very different, it depended on their personal qualities and moods. Someone was brave and energetic, someone was distinguished by a brilliant mind and incredible military characteristics, and someone was angry, despotic, rude and cowardly. In general, the Ottoman Empire rose to unprecedented heights rapidly, but also quickly managed to lose them, only the small Republic of Turkey remained, with an area of ​​​​784.000 square kilometers, and this with a maximum territorial peak of 5.200.000 km2 in 1683.

was with you online magazine"" with a list of the sultans of Turkey, we wish you a pleasant pastime, until new adventures along the Turkish shores!

All sultans of the Ottoman Empire and the years of government history are divided into several stages: from the period of creation to the formation of the republic. These time periods have almost exact boundaries in the history of Osman.

Formation of the Ottoman Empire

It is believed that the founders of the Ottoman state arrived in Asia Minor (Anatolia) from Central Asia (Turkmenistan) in the 20s of the XIII century. The Sultan of the Seljuk Turks, Keykubad II, provided them with areas near the cities of Ankara and Segyut for living.

The Seljuk Sultanate in 1243 perished under the blows of the Mongols. Since 1281, Osman came to power in the possession allocated to the Turkmens (beylik), who pursued a policy of expanding his beylik: he seized small towns, proclaimed a gazzavat - a holy war against the infidels (Byzantines and others). Osman partially subdues the territory of Western Anatolia, in 1326 takes the city of Bursa and makes it the capital of the empire.

In 1324, Osman I Ghazi dies. They buried him in Bursa. The inscription on the grave became the prayer that the Ottoman sultans recited when they ascended the throne.

Successors of the Osmanid dynasty:

Expanding the boundaries of the empire

In the middle of the XV century. the period of the most active expansion of the Ottoman Empire began. At this time, the empire was headed by:

• Mehmed II the Conqueror - ruled 1444 - 1446 and in 1451 - 1481. At the end of May 1453 he captured and sacked Constantinople. Moved the capital to the plundered city. Sophia Cathedral was converted into the main temple of Islam. At the request of the Sultan, the residences of the Orthodox Greek and Armenian patriarchs, as well as the chief Jewish rabbi, were located in Istanbul. Under Mehmed II, the autonomy of Serbia was terminated, Bosnia was subordinated, Crimea was annexed. The death of the Sultan prevented the capture of Rome. The Sultan did not appreciate at all human life, but wrote poetry and created the first poetic duvan.

  

• Bayazid II Saint (Dervish) - ruled from 1481 to 1512. Practically did not fight. He stopped the tradition of personal leadership of the Sultan's troops. He patronized culture, wrote poetry. He died, passing power to his son.
• Selim I the Terrible (Merciless) - ruled from 1512 to 1520. He began his reign by destroying the closest competitors. Brutally crushed the Shiite uprising. Captured Kurdistan, the west of Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. A poet whose poems were subsequently published by the German Emperor Wilhelm II.

  

• Suleiman I Kanuni (Legislator) - ruled from 1520 to 1566. He extended the borders to Budapest, the upper reaches of the Nile and the Strait of Gibraltar, the Tigris and Euphrates, Baghdad and Georgia. He carried out many government reforms. The last 20 years have passed under the influence of the concubine, and then the wife of Roksolana. The most prolific among the sultans in poetic creativity. He died during a campaign in Hungary.

  

• Selim II the Drunkard - ruled from 1566 to 1574. There was an addiction to alcohol. Talented poet. During this reign, the first conflict of the Ottoman Empire with the Moscow principality and the first major defeat at sea took place. The only expansion of the empire is the capture of Fr. Cyprus. He died from hitting his head on stone slabs in the bathhouse.

  

• Murad III - on the throne from 1574 to 1595 A "lover" of numerous concubines and a corrupt official who practically did not manage the empire. Under him, Tiflis was captured, the imperial troops reached Dagestan and Azerbaijan.

  

• Mehmed III - ruled from 1595 to 1603. Record holder for the destruction of competitors to the throne - on his orders, 19 brothers, their pregnant women and son were killed.

  

• Ahmed I - ruled from 1603 to 1617. The board is characterized by a leapfrog of senior officials, who were often replaced at the request of the harem. The empire lost Transcaucasia and Baghdad.

  

• Mustafa I - ruled from 1617 to 1618. and from 1622 to 1623. He was considered a saint for dementia and sleepwalking. He spent 14 years in prison.
• Osman II - ruled from 1618 to 1622. He was enthroned at the age of 14 by the Janissaries. He was pathologically cruel. After the defeat near Khotyn from the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, he was killed by the Janissaries for trying to escape with the treasury.

  

• Murad IV - ruled from 1622 to 1640 At the cost of a lot of blood, he brought order to the corps of the Janissaries, destroyed the dictatorship of the viziers, and cleared the courts and the state apparatus of corrupt officials. He returned Erivan and Baghdad to the empire. Before his death, he ordered to kill his brother Ibrahim, the last of the Osmanids. Died of wine and fever.

  

• Ibrahim - ruled from 1640 to 1648. Weak and weak-willed, cruel and wasteful, avid for women's caresses. Displaced and strangled by the Janissaries with the support of the clergy.

  

• Mehmed IV the Hunter - ruled from 1648 to 1687. Proclaimed sultan at the age of 6. The true government of the state was carried out by the grand viziers, especially in the early years. In the first period of the reign, the empire strengthened its military power, conquered Fr. Crete. The second period was not so successful - the battle of Saint Gotthard was lost, Vienna was not taken, the Janissaries rebelled and the Sultan was overthrown.

  

• Suleiman II - ruled from 1687 to 1691. He was elevated to the throne by the Janissaries.
• Ahmed II - ruled from 1691 to 1695. He was elevated to the throne by the Janissaries.
• Mustafa II - ruled from 1695 to 1703. He was elevated to the throne by the Janissaries. The first division of the Ottoman Empire under the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 and the Treaty of Constantinople with Russia in 1700

  

• Ahmed III - ruled from 1703 to 1730. He hid Hetman Mazepa and Charles XII after the Battle of Poltava. During his reign, the war with Venice and Austria was lost, part of the possessions in Eastern Europe, as well as Algeria and Tunisia, were lost.

  

Actually, with this haseki of the grandson of Roksolana, Sultan Murad III (1546-1595), the reign of unlimited (since their overlords were just a shadow of their prominent ancestors) imperious bitches, who are at enmity with each other for their influence on their husbands (for lack of better term) and sons. “Almighty” in the series Roksolana looks like a gentle violet and an innocent forget-me-not against their general background.

MELIKI SAFIE-SULTAN (SOFIA BAFFO) (c.1550-1618/1619).
There are two versions about the origin of the main haseka (she never became the legal wife of the Sultan) Murad III, as well as about the origin of her mother-in-law Nurbanu Sultan.
The first, generally accepted - she was the daughter of Leonardo Baffo, the Venetian governor of the island of Corfu (and, therefore, a relative of Nurban, nee Cecilia Baffo).
Another version, and in Turkey itself, it is she who is preferred - Safiye was from the Albanian village of Rezi, located on the Dukaga Highlands. In this case, she was a countrywoman, or, quite possibly, even a relative of the poet Tashlydzhaly Yahya Bey (1498-no later than 1582), a friend of Mustafa's shehzade executed by Suleiman I, the serial "admirer" Mihrimah Sultan, who was also an Albanian by origin.

In any case, Sophia Baffo was captured around 1562, at the age of 12, by Muslim pirates, and bought by the sister of the then ruling Turkish padishah Selim II, Mihrimah Sultan. In accordance with Ottoman traditions, the daughter of Roksolana left the girl in her service for a year. Since Mihrimah, both under her father, Sultan Suleiman, and later, during the reign of her brother Selima, ruled the main harem of Turkey, most likely, Sofia from the first days of her stay in the Ottoman Empire found herself immediately in Bab-us-Saad (the name of the Sultan's harem, literally - “The Gates of Bliss”), where, by the way, Nurbana, before she became a valid Sultan, to put it mildly, was not favored. In any case, such hardening at the very beginning of the career path of the young concubine was very useful to her in the future, including in the fight against her mother-in-law, when Murad became a sultan. After a year of teaching the girl everything that an odalisque needed to know, Mihrimah Sultan gave her to her nephew, shehzade Murad. It happened in 1563. Murad was then 19 years old, Safiye (most likely, the name Mihrimah gave her, in Turkish it means “clean”) - about 13.
Apparently, in Akshehir, where Suleiman I appointed Selim's son as a sanjak-bey in 1558, Safiye did not succeed immediately.
She gave birth to her first son (and first-born Murad), shehzade Mehmed, only three years later, on May 26, 1566. Thus, Sultan Suleiman, who was then living the last year of his life, managed to find out about the birth of his great-grandson (there is no information that he personally saw the newborn) 3.5 months before his own death on September 7, 1566.

As in the case of Nurbanu Sultan and Sehzade Selim, before Murad's accession to the throne, only Safiye gave birth to his children. However, what her position was fundamentally different from the position of her mother-in-law as a haseka of the heir to the throne was the fact that all this time (almost 20 years) she remained the only sexual partner of Murad (if he had, as befits a shehzade, a large harem ). The fact is that the son of Nurbanu Sultan had some intimate psychological problems in his sexual life, which he could only overcome with Safiye, and therefore had sex exclusively with her (with legal polygamy among the Ottomans, which is especially offensive). Haseki Murada bore him many children (their exact number is unknown), but only four of them survived early childhood - the sons Mehmed (born 1566) and Mahmud, and the daughters Aishe-Sultan (born 1570) and Fatma-Sultan (born 1580). The second son Safiye died in 1581 - by that time his father Murad III had been the sultan for 7 years, and thus, she, like Nurbanu, had her only son (and he was the only heir of the Ottomans in the male line).

Murad's selective impotence, which allowed him to have children only from Safiye, worried his mother Nurbanu Sultan very much only after she became a valid, and even then not immediately, but when it became clear to her that to give her all power without a fight her daughter-in-law is not going to - not so much because of his health, but because of the huge influence that the hated Safiye had on her son for this reason (and between the mother and the Haseki of Murad, who had just ascended the throne, a war had just begun for influence on him) .

Nurban is quite understandable - if Roksolana was presented to Sultan Suleiman, most likely by his mother, Aisha Hafsa-Sultan, and Nurban herself was chosen for Selim by his mother Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, then Safiye was the choice of Mihrimah-Sultan, and, accordingly, she did not owe anything to her mother-in-law (who, by the way, categorically refused to recognize her relationship with her).

One way or another, in 1583, Valide Sultan Nurbanu accused Safiye of witchcraft, which made Murad impotent, unable to have sex with other women. Several servants of Safiye were seized and tortured, but they could not prove her guilt (of what?).
In the chronicles of that time, they write that Murad's sister, Esmehan Sultan, presented her brother with two beautiful slaves in 1584, "whom he accepted and made his concubines." The fact that before that Sultan Murad met (at the insistence of his mother) in a secluded place with a foreign doctor is mentioned in passing in the same chronicles.

However, Nurbanu, nevertheless, achieved her goal - having received the freedom to choose sexual partners at the age of 38, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, literally, became obsessed with his libido. In fact, he devoted the rest of his life exclusively to harem pleasures. He bought beautiful slave girls practically in bulk and for any money, wherever he could. Viziers and sanjak-beys, instead of managing the state, looked for young charmers for him in their provinces and abroad. During the reign of Sultan Murad, the number of his harem, according to various estimates, ranged from two hundred to five hundred concubines - he was forced to significantly increase and rebuild the premises of Bab-us-Saade. As a result, in just the last 10 years of his life, he managed to become the father of 19-22 (according to various estimates) sons and about 30 daughters. Given the very high early childhood mortality at that time, we can safely assume that his harem gave birth to him during this time, at least, about 100 children.

The triumph of the valid Sultan Nurbanu, however, was short-lived - she somehow believed that with one blow (naive) she knocked out her most powerful weapon from the hands of the hated daughter-in-law. However, she still could not defeat Safiye in this way. The smart woman, having accepted the inevitable, never once showed her annoyance or discontent, moreover, she herself began to buy beautiful slaves for Murad's harem, which earned him gratitude and trust, no longer as a concubine, but as a wise adviser in state matters, and after her death (in 1583), Safiye easily and naturally took her place not only in the state hierarchy of the Ottoman Empire, but also in the eyes of Murad III. Having taken into their own hands along the way all the influence and connections of the mother-in-law in the Venetian merchant circles, which brought Nurban a lot of income, as a lobbyist for their interests in the Divan.

The fact that Valide Murad III switched all her son's vital interests to the pleasures of the flesh, in the end, benefited both herself and her daughter-in-law - they were able to completely take control of the now completely uninteresting power for Murad.

By the way, it was during the reign of the sexually preoccupied Murad III that representatives of the ruling European dynasties reappeared in the main harem of the Brilliant Porte after a very long break (almost two centuries). However, now they were content with the position not of the wives, but of the sultan's concubines, at best, their haseks. The political situation in Europe has changed a lot over these 200 years, the rulers of the states that fell under the Ottoman protectorate, and those who tried to maintain their independence from Istanbul, themselves offered their daughters and sisters to the harem of the Turkish padishah. So, for example, one of Murad's favorites was Fulane-hatun (real name is unknown) - the daughter of the Wallachian ruler Mircea III Draculeshtu, the great-granddaughter of that same Vlad III Tepes Dracula (1429 / 1431-1476). Her brothers, as vassals of the Ottoman Empire, participated with their troops in the campaign of the Turkish army against Moldova. And his nephew, Mikhna II Turk (Tarkitul) (1564-1601), was born and raised in Istanbul, in Topkapi. He was converted to Islam with the name Mehmed Bey. In September 1577, after the death of his father, the Wallachian ruler Alexander Mircea, Mikhne Turok was proclaimed by the Porte the new ruler of Wallachia.

Another haseki of Murad III, the Greek Elena, belonged to the Byzantine imperial dynasty Great Komnenos. She was a descendant of the rulers of the Trebizond Empire (the territory on the northern coast of modern Turkey, right up to the Caucasus), captured by the Ottomans back in 1461. The biography of her son Yahya (Alexander) (1585-1648) - an outstanding either adventurer or politician, but, of course, an excellent warrior and commander who devoted his whole life to organizing military anti-Turkish coalitions (with the participation of Zaporozhye Cossacks, Moscow , Hungary, the Don Cossacks, the states of Northern Italy and the Balkan countries) with the aim of capturing the Ottoman Empire and creating a new Greek state, deserves a separate story. I can only say that this daring man, both on the side of his father and on the side of his mother, was a descendant of the Galician Rurikovichs. And, of course, he had all the rights to the throne of Byzantium, if his escapade was a success. But now the conversation is not about him.

As a ruler, Sultan Murad was as weak as his father Selim. But if the reign of Selim II was quite successful thanks to his chief vizier and son-in-law, Mehmed Pasha Sokoll, an outstanding statesman and military figure of his time, then Murad after the death of Sokoll (he was his uncle, because he was married to his own aunt - his father's sister) five years after the beginning of his own sultanate, no such grand vizier could be found. The heads of the Divan replaced each other several times a year during his reign - not least due to the fault of the sultanas - Nurban and Safiye, each of whom wanted to see their own person in this position. However, even after the death of Nurbanu, the leapfrog with the Grand Viziers did not end. When Safiye was a valid sultan, 12 chief viziers were replaced.

However, the military forces and material resources accumulated by the ancestors of Sultan Murad still gave, by inertia, the opportunity for their mediocre descendant to continue the work of conquest they had begun. In 1578 (during the lifetime of the outstanding Grand Vizier Sokollu, and his works), the Ottoman Empire began another war with Iran. According to legend, Murad III asked his entourage which of all the wars that took place during the reign of Suleiman I was the most difficult. Upon learning that it was an Iranian campaign, Murad decided to surpass his great grandfather at least in some way. Having a significant numerical and technical superiority over the enemy, the Ottoman army achieved a number of successes: in 1579, the territories of modern Georgia and Azerbaijan were occupied, and in 1580, the southern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea. In 1585, the main forces of the Iranian army were defeated. According to the Constantinople peace treaty with Iran, concluded in 1590, most of Azerbaijan passed to the Ottoman Empire, including Tabriz, all of Transcaucasia, Kurdistan, Luristan and Khuzestan. Despite such significant territorial gains, the war led to the weakening of the Ottoman army, which suffered heavy losses, and undermined finances. In addition, the protectionist administration of the state, first by Nurbanu Sultan, and after her death by Safiye Sultan, led to a strong increase in bribery and nepotism in the country's supreme power, which, of course, also did not benefit the Brilliant Porte.

By the end of his life, Murad III (and he lived only 48 years) turned into a huge, fat, clumsy carcass suffering from urolithiasis (which, in the end, brought him to the grave). In addition to the illness, Murad was also tormented by suspicions about his eldest son and official heir, shehzade Mehmed, who was then about 25 years old and who was very popular with the Janissaries - Roksolana's grandson was afraid that he would try to take power from him. During this difficult period, Safiye Sultan made great efforts to save his son from the danger of poisoning or murder by his father.

By the way, despite the huge influence that she again acquired on Sultan Murad after the death of his mother Nurbanu, she failed to force him to make nikah with her. The mother-in-law, before her death, managed to convince her son that the marriage with Safiye would bring his own end closer, as happened with his father, Selim II - he died three years after nikah with Nurbanu herself. However, such a precaution did not save Murad - he lived 48 years without any nikah, two years less than Sultan Selim, who made nikah.

Murad III began to get seriously ill in the autumn of 1594, and died on January 15, 1595.
His death, like the death of his father, Sultan Selim 20 years ago, was kept in deep secrecy, wrapping the body of the deceased with ice, moreover, in the same closet where Selim's corpse had previously lay, until shehzade Mehmed arrived from the throne of Manisa on January 28 . He was met, already as a valid, by his mother, Safie Sultan. Here it should be noted that the father appointed Mehmed as the sanjak-bey of Manisa back in 1583, when he was about 16 years old. All these 12 years mother and son have never seen each other. This is a word about the maternal feelings of Safie Sultan.

The 28-year-old Mehmed III began his reign with the greatest fratricide in the history of the Ottoman Empire (with the full support and approval of his valid). On one day, on his orders, 19 (or 22, according to other sources) of his younger brothers were strangled, the eldest of whom was 11 years old. But even this, to ensure the safety of his reign, was not enough for his son Safiye, and the next day all the pregnant concubines of his father were drowned in the Bosphorus. What was an innovation even for those cruel times - in such cases, they waited for the woman's permission from the burden, and only male babies were killed. The concubines themselves (including the mothers of boys) and their daughters were usually left to live.

Looking ahead, it was “thanks” to the paranoidly suspicious Sultan Mehmed that the Ottoman ruling dynasty developed a pernicious custom - not to give shehzade the opportunity to take even the slightest part in the management of the empire (as was done before). The sons of Mehmed were kept locked up in a harem in a pavilion, which was called: “Cage” (Kafes). They lived there, albeit in luxury, but in complete isolation, drawing information about the world around them only from books. It was forbidden to inform shehzade about current events in the Ottoman Empire under pain of death. In order to avoid the birth of “extra” carriers of the sacred blood of the Ottomans (and, therefore, competitors to the throne of the Brilliant Porte), shekhzade had no right not only to their harem, but also to sexual life. Now only the ruling sultan had the right to have children.

Immediately after Mehmed came to power, the Janissaries rebelled and demanded higher salaries and other privileges. Mehmed satisfied their claims, but after that riots broke out among the population of Istanbul, which took on such a wide scale that the Grand Vizier Ferhad Pasha (of course, by order of the Sultan) used artillery against the rebels in the city for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire. It was only after this that the rebellion was put down.

At the insistence of the Grand Vizier and Sheikh ul-Islam, Mehmed III in 1596 moved with an army to Hungary (where in last years During the reign of Murad, the Austrians began to gradually regain the territories conquered from them earlier), won the battle of Kerestet, but failed to take advantage of it. The English ambassador Edward Barton, who, at the invitation of the Sultan, participated in this military campaign, left interesting records of the behavior of Mehmed in a military situation. On October 12, 1596, the Ottoman army captured the Erlau fortress in northern Hungary, and two weeks later it met with the main forces of the Habsburg armies, which took up well-fortified positions on the Mezokövesd plain. At this point, Mehmed lost his nerve, and he was ready to abandon his troops and return to Istanbul, but the vizier Sinan Pasha persuaded him to stay. When the next day, October 26, both armies met in a decisive battle, Mehmed was frightened and was about to flee from the battlefield, but Sededdin Khoja dressed the Sultan in the sacred ilash of the Prophet Muhammad and literally forced him to join the fighting troops. The result of the battle was an unexpected victory for the Turks, and Mehmed earned himself the nickname Ghazi (defender of the faith).

After his triumphant return, Mehmed III never again led Ottoman troops on a campaign. The Venetian ambassador Girolamo Capello wrote: "Doctors declared that the Sultan could not go to war because of his poor health, caused by excesses in food and drink."

However, the doctors in this case did not sin so much against the truth - the Sultan's health, despite his youth, was rapidly deteriorating: he weakened, lost consciousness several times and fell into oblivion. Sometimes it seemed that he was on the verge of death. One of such cases is mentioned by the same Venetian ambassador Capello in his message dated July 29, 1600: "Great Sovereign retired to Scutari, and it is rumored that there he fell into dementia, which had already happened to him several times before, and this attack lasted three days, during which there were brief periods of clearing of the mind ”. Like his father Sultan Murad at the end of his life, Mehmed turned into a huge fat carcass that no horse could withstand. So there was no question of any military campaigns.

Such a state of the son, who, even before his illness, was not very interested in state affairs, made the power of Sophia the Sultan truly unlimited. Having become a valid, Safiye received enormous power and a large income: in the second half of the reign of Mehmed III, she received only 3,000 akçe per day as a salary; in addition, profit was brought by lands given from state property for the needs of the valid sultans. When Mehmed III went on a campaign against Hungary in 1596, he gave his mother the right to manage the treasury. Until the death of Mehmed III in 1603, the country's policy was determined by the party, which was headed by Safiye together with Gazanfer Agha, the head of the white eunuchs of the main harem of the Ottoman Empire (eunuchs were a huge political force that, without attracting outside attention, participated in government and even, later - in the enthronement of sultans).
In the eyes of foreign diplomats, Valide Sultan Safie played a role comparable to that of queens in European states, and was even considered by Europeans as a queen.

Safiye, like her predecessor Nurbanu, followed a largely pro-Venetian policy and interceded regularly on behalf of the Venetian ambassadors. The sultana also supported a good relationship with England. Safiye was in personal correspondence with Queen Elizabeth I and exchanged gifts with her: for example, she received a portrait of the Queen of England in exchange for “two robes of silver fabric, one belt of silver fabric and two handkerchiefs with gold edging.” In addition, Elizabeth presented the Valide Sultan with a chic European carriage, in which Safiye traveled all over Istanbul and its environs, causing dissatisfaction with the ulema - they believed that such luxury was indecent for her. The Janissaries were unhappy with the influence that the Valide Sultan had on the ruler. English diplomat Henry Lello wrote about this in his report: She [Safiye] was always in favor and completely subjugated her son; despite this, muftis and military leaders often complain about her to their monarch, pointing out that she misleads him and dominates him.
However, the direct cause of the Sipah revolt that broke out in Istanbul in 1600 (a type of Turkish heavy cavalry armed forces Ottoman Empire, “brothers” of the Janissaries) against the mother of the Sultan was a woman named Esperanza Malkhi. She was a kira and Safie Sultan's mistress. Kirami were usually women of a non-Islamic faith (usually Jewish), who acted as a business agent, secretary and intermediary between the women of the harem and outside world. Safiye, who was in love with a Jewish woman, allowed her kira to cash in on the entire harem and even run her hand into the treasury; in the end, Malchi, together with her son (they “heated up” the Ottoman Empire for more than 50 million akce), was brutally killed by the sipahis. Mehmed III ordered the execution of the leaders of the rebels, since the son of the qira was Safiye's adviser and, thus, the servant of the Sultan himself.
Diplomats also left a mention of the sultana's passion for the young secretary of the English embassy, ​​Paul Pindar - however, which remained without consequences. “The Sultana really liked Mr. Pinder and she sent for him for a personal meeting, but their date was cut short”. Apparently, the young Englishman was then rushed back to England.

It was Safiye-Sultan who for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire began (informally) to be called the “great valide” - and for the reason that she (the first among the sultanas) concentrated in her hands the control of the entire Brilliant Porte; and because, due to the early death of her son, new valides appeared in the state - the mother of her grandchildren, the sultans, while she was then only 53 years old.

Uncontrollably power-hungry and greedy, Safiye, even more than Mehmed III himself, was afraid of the possibility of a coup by one of her grandsons. That is why she played a major role in the execution of Mehmed's eldest son, 16-year-old shehzade Mahmud (1587-1603). Safiye Sultan intercepted a letter from a certain religious seer sent to Mahmud's mother, Halime Sultan, in which he predicted that Mehmed III would die within six months and be succeeded by his eldest son. According to the notes of the British ambassador, Mahmoud himself was upset that “that his father is under the rule of the old sultana, his grandmother, and the state is collapsing, since she respects nothing more than her own desire to receive money, which his mother [Halime Sultan] often laments”, who was “not to the liking of the queen -mothers". Safiye immediately informed (under the necessary “sauce”) about everything to her son. As a result, the sultan began to suspect Mahmud of a conspiracy and became jealous of the popularity of shehzade among the Janissaries. All this, as expected, ended with the execution (suffocation) of his elder shehzade on June 1 (or 7), 1503. However, the first part of the seer's prediction still came true - two weeks late. Sultan Mehmed III died in his Istanbul Topkapı Palace on December 21, 1503, at the age of only 37, from a heart attack - an absolute wreck. Apart from his mother, no one regretted his death.

cruel and ruthless man, he apparently was not capable of passion and passionate feelings. Historians know five of his concubines who bore him children, but none of them ever bore the title of haseki, not to mention the possibility of a nikyakh padishah with any of them. Mehmed, as for the Sultan of the Sublime Porte, also had few children - historians know six of his sons (two died as teenagers during the life of his father, he executed one) and the names of four daughters (in fact, there were more of them, but how many and how called - covered in the darkness of the unknown).

This time there was no need to hide the death of the Sultan - all his sons were in Topkapi, in the harem "Cage" for shehzade. The choice was obvious - the 13-year-old eldest son of Mehmed, Ahmed I, ascended the throne of the Ottomans. By the way, at the same time, he saved the life of his younger brother (he was only a year younger than him), shehzade Mustafa. Firstly, because he was (before Ahmed had his own children) his only heir, and secondly (when Ahmed had his own children) because of his mental illness.

Well, Safiye Sultan was not in vain afraid of her grandchildren coming to power - one of the first decisions of Sultan Ahmed was to remove her from power and exile to the Old Palace, where all the concubines of the late sultans lived out their days. However, at the same time, Safiye, as the eldest, “great” Valide, continued to receive her fantastic salary of 3,000 Akçe per day.

Granny Sultana, although she lived, in general, not such a long (especially by the standards of our time) life - she died at about 68-69 years old, while outliving her grandson Sultan Ahmed (he died in November 1617 ), and found the beginning of the reign of his son, his great-grandson Osman II (1604-1622), who became sultan in February 1618, at the age of 14, after the overthrow of his uncle, the mentally disabled Sultan Mustafa I by the Janissaries. By the way, after the overthrow of Mustafa in the Old Palace was exiled by his mother, Halime Sultan. One must think she arranged "fun" last days the life of her mother-in-law Safiye, through whose fault Mehmed III executed her eldest son, Mahmud, in 1603.

The exact date of the death of the great valid Safie Sultan is unknown to historians. She died at the end of 1618 - beginning of 1619, and was buried in the Aya-Sofya mosque in the turba (mausoleum) of her sovereign, Murad III. There was no one to pay for it.

Nurbanu Sultan

Nurbanu Sultan (representative of a noble Venetian family), the wife of Sultan Selim II (1566-1574) and the mother (that is, Valide Sultan) of Sultan Murad III can be considered the full-fledged founder of the female sultanate.

It is characteristic that it is impossible to attribute the beginning of the period of special female influence to the reign of Selim II - under him, Nurbanu was simply the wife of the Sultan, albeit the main one. Her influence increased after the accession of her son Murad III, who, although he ascended the throne at the age of 28, showed no interest in governing the country, spending time in entertainment and enjoyment in the harem. Nurbanu Sultan can generally be called the shadow manager of the empire until her death in 1583.

Safiye Sultan

After Nurbanu Sultan, the role of "guardian" under Murad III was taken over by his main concubine, who never received the status of an official wife, Safiye Sultan. She was also a Venetian, moreover, came from the same family as her mother-in-law. She did not prevent the Sultan from spending time in entertainment, largely deciding state affairs for him. Her influence increased even more after the death of her husband in 1595 and the ascension to the throne of her son, Mehmed III.

The new sultan immediately executed 19 of his brothers and even all of his father's pregnant concubines and further showed himself to be a bloody and incompetent ruler. However, Safiye Sultan under him was very close to being a real ruler. She died in 1604, Mehmed III outlived her by a couple of months.

Kösem Sultan

Then for some time there was a break in the women's sultanate and women lost their influence - but only to be replaced by the real "sultana", Kösem Sultan, the wife of Sultan Ahmed I (1603-1617). With her husband, however, Kösem had no influence. She received it already in the status of a valid sultan, when in 1523, at the age of 11, her son Murad IV became the ruler. In 1540, he died and was replaced by his brother, another son of Kösem, Ibrahim I, who went down in history under the nickname Mad.

With her sons, Kösem Sultan was almost the full ruler of the Porte. After the assassination of Ibrahim I in 1648, he was succeeded by his son Mehmed IV. Initially, Kösem maintained a good relationship with her grandson, but quickly quarreled with him and was killed in 1651.

Turhan Sultan

The death of Kösem Sultan is often attributed to the last representative of the female sultanate, the wife of Ibrahim I and the mother of Mehmed IV, known as Turhan Sultan. She was Ukrainian by origin, her name was Nadezhda, and as a child she was kidnapped by the Crimean Tatars. At the age of 12, she became Ibrahim's concubine, she was presented to him by Kösem Sultan herself. At the age of 15, Turhan had already given birth to an heir, the future Mehmed IV. After her son came to power, Turhan now received the title of valid sultan and did not want to put up with an ambitious mother-in-law, whom, according to assumptions, she eliminated.

Mehmed IV was not very attentive to state duties, preferring to spend most of his time in hunting and outdoor sports. In the period from 1648 to 1656, it was Turhan Sultan who was the regent for her young son. However, when he was 14 years old, the Valide Sultan appointed Mehmed Köprül as grand vizier, who became the founder of a dynasty of grand viziers who concentrated in their hands real power for almost 60 years. Thus, the era of the female sultanate ended, and Turhan Sultan died in the summer of 1683, two months before the fatal defeat of the Ottoman Empire. in the battle of Vienna.

Alexander Babitsky