According to legend:
Roksolana failed to achieve the abolition of the law adopted in 1478 "On fratricide". She fought this law all her life. However, in this matter, Suleiman the Magnificent, despite his boundless love for her, remained adamant. A ban on this law would allow Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska to consolidate her power in the palace, and she could practically be the Valide Sultan all her life, retaining power over the Empire in her hands. Suleiman on this issue, one of the few, did not agree with Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. As a result, Roksolana could not carry out all her plans, in many respects this was prevented by the early death of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. However, it was with Hurrem Sultan that the most destructive period in history for the empire began, which ultimately led to the collapse of the state - the Women's Sultanate. The women who appeared in the court of the Sultan after the death of Roksolana were able to achieve a ban on the "law of Fatih". This prohibition is the only positive moment in this historical period. The Women's Sultanate itself for the Ottoman Empire became a great evil, which destroyed the Empire.
Historical evidence:
Many fictional stories and legends are associated with the Fatih Law and the Women's Sultanate, these two historical concepts are so closely intertwined that it is very difficult to understand them. It is even more complicated than with the reasons for the premature death of Shehzadeh, who died in 1553. To determine the truth, let us turn to the prehistory of the appearance of these two phenomena and consider each of them separately.
In 1478 he introduced the law "On succession to the throne", the second more common name - the law "On fratricide" is not official, but more accurately conveys the meaning of this law, which reads:
« Any person who dares to encroach on the Sultan's throne must be executed immediately. Even if my brother wishes to take the throne».
Mehmed II introduced his law at the end of his reign. He was supposed to serve the heirs of Mehmed II as reliable protection from the pretenders to the throne, dissatisfied with the power of opponents, primarily from the relatives and stepbrothers of the ruling sultan, who could openly oppose the padishah and raise a riot. To prevent such unrest, the brothers had to be executed immediately after the accession of the new Sultan to the throne, regardless of whether they encroached on the throne or not. This was very easy to do, since it was impossible to deny that at least once in their life the lawful shehzade did not think of the throne.
The theory that Roksolana was making efforts to repeal this law appeared after the release in the late 1990s. on the screens of the popular Ukrainian television project "Roksolana", in which many events were fictional and not based on real historical facts, only the names of historical characters were preserved exactly. Of course, the position of the sons of Roksolana was very precarious, but scientists did not find any evidence that Khyurrem Sultan opposed this law and wanted to get it banned.
The "Women's Sultanate" or "Sultanate of Women", on the contrary, is a very real historical period in the life of the Ottoman Empire. Many researchers do not quite correctly act when they associate the activities of women of this period on the abolition of the "Fatih Law" with Khyurrem Sultan, who allegedly also fought against this law. As a result, only on the basis of this assumption, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is ranked among the representatives of the period of the "Women's Sultanate", which, according to the same researchers, should prove the harmful influence of Haseki Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska on the fate of the Ottoman Empire. As for the "Women's Sultanate" itself, most historians consider this period destructive for the Empire and characterize it as a negative phenomenon.
These conclusions are extremely doubtful, since there are many real facts that prove that Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska could not have become the first of the representatives of the "Women's Sultanate", who, rather, embodied the ban on the Fatih law, than were engaged in its formal abolition. So let's take a look at these facts:
Women's Sultanate- the historical period of the life of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted a little over a century. It is characterized by the transfer of actual power into the hands of the four mothers of the sultans, whose sons, the ruling padishahs, obeyed them unconditionally, making decisions on domestic and foreign policy, national issues.
Historians still do not have a consensus on what date should be considered the time of the beginning of the Women's Sultanate. Some researchers, who want to make the first woman from the Women's Sultanate, call the date of its formation 1541. True, it is not clear what these researchers are guided by when naming this particular date. Indeed, according to their theory, it was possible to name, for example, 1521, in which Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was awarded the title of Haseki, or 1534, in which Aishe Hafsa Sultan died and power over the harem was completely transferred to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, or 1553, in which Mustafa was executed. It is not possible to understand such researchers.
But the writer Danishmend Ismail Hani says this about the Women's Sultanate:
« The stagnation (collapse) of the Ottoman Empire was caused by the reasons that manifested themselves in the days of its greatest prosperity. Therefore, let me remind you once again that the Women's Sultanate is not the cause of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, but its consequence».
This statement of Danishmend is quoted by many Internet and print media. However, even if we do not take into account that often this writer expresses ideas of a nationalist nature and claims that only the native Turks were able to make positive changes in the development of the Ottoman Empire, and the exaltation of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is only the only exception to this rule, Danishmend's statement about the character of the Feminine The sultanate can be considered erroneous and even meaningless, since it contains several obvious inaccuracies at once.
First of all, “stagnation” and “collapse” cannot be synonymous words, since they mean different phenomena in the life of the state. Almost a century and a half passed between the collapse and stagnation in the Ottoman Empire. Stagnation began in the empire after the end of the period of the Women's Sultanate, when the country's territorial and economic development stopped. In addition, it is important to remember that all the representatives of the Women's Sultanate ruled for a very short time, and they are also united by the fact that they all bore the title of "Valide Sultan". Naturally, Danishmend does not dispute these obvious conclusions, although none of them can be applied to characterize Khyurrem Sultan. She did not manage to become Valida, since she died 8 years earlier. The reign of Suleiman I is simply impossible to call the collapse of the Empire, if you really call the Women's Sultanate a consequence of the collapse of the empire.
If we also admit the put forward theories of the beginning of the Women's Sultanate in 1541, then this will also include an 8-year term when she ruled the harem, performing in 1558-1566. duties Valide. However, none of the researchers of this period of history dares to call her time the Women's Sultanate.
Hence, the conclusion suggests itself that the correct date for the beginning of the Women's Sultanate should be considered 1574, when Valide Sultan became. And it is Nurbanu Sultan who should be considered the first representative of the historical period of the Ottoman Empire called the Women's Sultanate. Nurbanu began to lead the harem in 1566, but there is not a single evidence that during this period she influenced the decision-making of the ruling sultan, her husband. Nurbanu managed to seize the real power only during the reign of her son.
In the year of accession to the throne, Murad III, which sends us to the original topic of our article, "the law of Fatih", succumbing to the influence of Nurban's mother and Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokollu, who was an obedient executor of Nurban's will, gave the order to execute all his half-brothers. Until that moment, Fatih's law had not been used for 62 years. Murad III, explaining his decision, mentioned exactly this law of 1478.
After 21 years, the son of Murad III, Mehmed III again uses this law and again this will be done at the insistence of the mother of the Sultan, already. Mehmed III executed 19 of his half-brothers in 1595. This year will go down in history as the bloodiest year of the application of the Fatih law.
After Mehmed III, he will ascend the throne, whose concubine will be the famous Kosem, in the future the domineering and cunning Valide Sultan. Ahmed I will introduce the practice of imprisoning the brothers of the ruling sultans in one of the palace pavilions, in "Kafes" (translated as a cage), which, however, did not mean the abolition of the Fatih law.
And Kyosem Sultan did not make any efforts to introduce this practice, since she was able to intervene in the decision of the sultans much later. By the way, most of the negative features that are attributed to Khyurrem Sultan were taken just from the image of Kyosem. We will only mention that the ruling Sultan Murad IV, the son of Kosem in 1640, left without heirs, will try to re-introduce the law of Fatih, ordering to kill his brother, another son of Kosem, Ibrahim. However, Kyosem, who at that time had tremendous power, would prevent this, because otherwise the rule of the Ottoman dynasty would have ended, and the Ottomans ruled the Empire for 341 years.
In fairness, we note that the Fatih law was never officially canceled, it operated until the beginning of the twentieth century, until the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. It was last used in 1808, 121 years after the end of the period called the Women's Sultanate (it ended in 1687, 4 years after the last influential Valide Turhan Sultan died). In 1808, Sultan Mahmud II, who took the throne, will kill his brother Sultan Mustafa IV.
Regarding the influence of the Women's Sultanate on the development of the history of the Ottoman Empire, we can say the following: the representatives of the Women's Sultanate really, albeit indirectly, contributed to the beginning of stagnation in the Ottoman Empire. Although the actions of the last of them, Turhan Sultan and Mehmed IV, her son, who lost the Battle of Vienna on September 11 in 1683, led to this most of all. However, the Women's Sultanate cannot be called the main reason for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The widespread phrase "Ukrainian woman began, Ukrainian woman and ended", directly hinting at Roksolana Khyurrem, as the first representative of this period, is clearly inaccurate, erroneous.
Later, at the beginning of the 18th century. the heirs began to take the throne at a fairly mature age. Therefore, many of their mothers died before their sons became ruling sultans, or they were so old that they could no longer fight for power and intervene in solving state issues. Therefore, by the middle of the 18th century, the Valide did not have special power at court and did not influence the ruling sultans, they no longer interfered in the solution of any issues of the country.
As for other shifts that began precisely during the period of the Women's Sultanate and continued to operate after its completion, the most important of them is the use of the practice of imprisoning the Sultan's brothers in Kafes instead of the Fatih law. Although this solution to the issue was more humane, it turned out to be not very useful for the empire. The heirs were no longer appointed to the post of governors of the provinces, as a result of which many mediocre and cowardly governors, bankrupt rulers appeared in the empire. In addition, during the period of the Women's Sultanate, Turhan Sultan helped her son to appoint Mehmed Köprülü as the Grand Vizier. This marked the beginning of a new period in the history of the Ottoman state, but this fact deserves a separate article.
Since the creation of the Ottoman Empire, the state has been continuously ruled by the descendants of Osman through the male line. But despite the fertility of the dynasty, there were those who ended their lives childless.
The founder of the dynasty Osman Gazi (ruled 1299-1326) was the father of 7 sons and 1 daughter.
The second ruler was the son of Osman Orhan Gazi (project 1326-59gg) had 5 sons and 1 daughter.
God also did not deprive Murad of the offspring of 1 Hudavendigur (son of Orhan, pr.1359-89) - 4 sons and 2 daughters.
The famous Bayazid Lightning (son of Murad 1, project 1389-1402) was the father of 7 sons and 1 daughter.
Bayazid's son Mehmet 1 (1413-21) left behind 5 sons and 2 daughters.
Murad 2 Big (son of Mehmet1, project 1421-51) - 6 sons and 2 daughters.
The conqueror of Constantinople Fatih Mehmet 2 (r. 1451-1481) was the father of 4 sons and 1 daughter.
Bayazid 2 (son of Mehmet 2, project 1481-1512) - 8 sons and 5 daughters.
The first Caliph from the Ottoman dynasty Yavuz Sultan Selim-Selim the Terrible (pr 1512-20) had only one son and 4 daughters.
2.
The famous Suleiman the Magnificent (Legislator), the husband of no less famous Roksola (Khyurrem Sultan, 4 sons, 1 daughter), was the father of 8 sons and 2 daughters from 4 wives. He ruled for so long (1520-1566) that he outlived almost all of his children. The eldest son Mustafa (Mahidevan) and the 4th son Bayazid (Roksolana) were strangled by order of Suleiman 1 on charges of conspiracy against his father.
The third son of Suleiman and the second son of Roksolana Selim 2 (Red Selim or Selim the Drunkard, pr. 1566-1574) had 8 sons and 2 daughters from 2 wives. Despite his love of wine, he was able to expand his holdings from 14.892.000 km2 to 15.162.000 km2.
And now let's welcome the record holder - Murad 3 (pr. 1574-1595). He had one official wife, Safiye Sultan (Sofia Baffo, the daughter of the ruler of Corfu, was kidnapped by pirates) and many concubines, from whom 22 sons and 4 daughters survived (they write that at the time of his death, the heir Mehmet 3 ordered to strangle all his pregnant wives). But despite his love for the weaker sex, he was able to expand his possessions to 24.534.242 km2.
Mehmet 3 (pr. 1595-1603) was the record holder for another part - on the night of his father's death, he ordered to strangle all his brothers and sisters. In terms of fertility, he was much inferior to his father - only 3 sons from 2 wives
The eldest son of Mehmet 3, Ahmet 1 (pr. 1603-1617, died of typhus at the age of 27), having ascended the throne, introduced a new dynastic law, according to which the eldest son of the deceased ruler became the ruler.
Mustafa1, who sat on the throne due to the minority of his son Akhmet 1 (pr.1617-1623, d. 1639), apparently had to pay for the sins of his father - he was not only childless, but 6 years after accession to the throne began fall into madness, and according to a fatwa, Sheikh-ul-Islam was removed from the throne.
Little-known facts from the life of the sultans ...
When they start talking about the Ottoman rulers, people automatically have an image of formidable, cruel conquerors in their heads who spent their free time in a harem among half-naked concubines. But everyone forgets that they were mere mortals with their own shortcomings and hobbies ...OSMAN 1.
It is described that when he stood, his lowered arms reached his knees, based on this, it was believed that he had either very long arms or short legs. Another distinguishing feature of his character was that he never wore outerwear again. And not because of this. being a dude, he just loved giving his clothes to the commoners. If someone looked at his caftan for a long time, he would take it off and give it to that person. Osman was very fond of listening to music before a meal, was a good fighter and skillfully wielded weapons. The Turks had a very interesting old custom - once a year, ordinary members of the tribe took away from the chief's house everything that they liked in this house. Osman and his wife left the house empty-handed and opened the doors for their relatives.
ORKHAN.
Orhan's reign lasted 36 years. He owned 100 fortresses, and spent all his time bypassing them. He did not stay in any of them for more than one month. He was a great admirer of Mevlana-Jelaleddin Rumi.
MURAD 1.
In European sources, a brilliant ruler, a tireless hunter, is a very gallant knight and was a symbol of honesty. He was the first Ottoman ruler to set up a private library and was killed in the battle on the Kosovo field.
BAEZIT 1.
For his ability to quickly overcome long distances with his army, and to appear in front of the enemy at the most unexpected moment, he received the nickname Lightning Fast. He was very fond of hunting and was an avid hunter, often participated in wrestling competitions. Historians also note his mastery of weapons and horse riding. He was one of the first rulers to write poetry. He was the first to lay siege to Constantinople, and more than once. He died in captivity with Timur.
MECHMET CHELEBI.
He is considered the revivalist of the Ottoman state as a result of the victory over the Timurils. When he was with him, he was nicknamed the wrestler Mkhemet. During his reign, he introduced the custom of sending gifts to Mecca and Medina every year, which was not abolished even in the most difficult times until the First World War. Every Friday night he cooked food with his own money and distributed it to the poor. Like his father, he loved hunting. While hunting for a boar, he fell from his horse and broke his hip bone, which is why he soon died.
And tell us how it happened in general that there are portraits, because Islam prohibits the image of a person.
Have you found Italian infidels to perpetuate yourself, the greats?
Mothers of padishahs
Murat 1,3th ruler of the Ottoman Empire, was the son of Orhan and the Byzantine woman Holofira, (Nilufer Khatun).
Bayezid 1 Lightning fast, the 4th ruler ruled from 1389 to 1403. His father was Murat 1, and his mother was Bulgarian Maria, after the adoption of Islam Gulchichek Khatun.
Mehmet 1 elebi, 5th Sultan. His mother was also a Bulgarian, Olga Khatun.
1382-1421
Murat 2 (1404-1451) was born from the marriage of Mehmet elebi and the daughter of the ruler of the beylik Dulkadiroglu Emine Khatun. According to some unconfirmed sources, his mother was Veronica.
Mehmet 2 the Conqueror (1432-1481)
Son of Murat 2 and Hyuma Khatun, daughter of a bey from the Jandaroglu clan. It was believed that his mother was Despina, a Serb.
Bayezid 2 was also no exception - his mother was also a Christian Cornelia (Albanian, Serbian or French). After accepting Islam, her name was Gulbahar Khatun. The father was Fatih Sultan Mehmet 2.
SELIM 1. (1470-1520)
Selim 1 or Yavuz Sultan Selim, the conqueror of Egypt, Baghdad, Damascus and Mecca, the 9th padish of the Ottoman state and the 74th Caliph was born of Bayezid II and the daughter of an influential bey in western Anatolia from the Dulkadiroglu Gulbahar Khatun clan.
SULEMAN 1 (1495-1566).
Suleiman Qanuni was born on April 27, 1495. He became sultan when he was 25 years old. An uncompromising fighter against bribery, Suleiman won the favor of the people with good deeds and built schools. Suleiman Qanuni patronized poets, artists, architects, wrote poetry himself, was considered a skillful blacksmith.
Suleiman was not as bloodthirsty as his father, Selim I, but he loved conquests no less than his father. Moreover, neither kinship nor merits saved him from suspicion and cruelty.
Suleiman personally directed 13 campaigns. A significant part of the wealth obtained from military booty, tribute and taxes was spent by Suleiman I on the construction of palaces, mosques, caravanserais, tombs.
Also, under him, laws (kanun-name) were drawn up on the administrative structure and position of individual provinces, on finances and forms of land tenure, the duties of the population and the attachment of peasants to the land, on the regulation of the military-military system.
Suleiman Qanuni died on September 6, 1566 during another campaign in Hungary - during the siege of the fortress of Szigetvar. He was buried in the mausoleum at the cemetery of the Suleymaniye Mosque together with his beloved wife Roksolana.
The 10th Ottoman ruler and 75th Muslim Caliph Suleman the Magnificent, also known for being the husband of Roksolana, was born of Selim 1 and the Polish Jewess Helga, later Havza Sultan.
Havza Sultan.
SELIM 2. (1524-1574)
The son of the famous Roksolana (Khyurrem Sultan) Selim 2 ascended the throne after her death. Her real name was Alexandra Anastasia Lisovskaya, was the beloved wife of Suleiman.
MURAT 3 (1546-1595).
Born of Selim II and the Jewess Rachel (Nurbanu Sultan) Murat 3, he was their eldest son and heir to the throne.
MEKHMET 3 (1566-1603).
He ascended the throne in 1595 and ruled until his death. His mother was also no exception, she was also kidnapped and sold into the harem. She was the daughter of a wealthy Buffo family (Venice). She was taken prisoner while traveling by ship when she was 12 years old. In the harem, the father of Mehmet the 3rd fell in love with Cecilia Buffo and married her, her name became Safiye Sultan.
Here I am for the friendship of peoples and confessions. Now is the 21st century and people should not be differentiated by race or confession. Do we see how many sultans had Christians? By the way, the last sultan, if I am not mistaken, had an Armenian grandmother. Russian tsars also have German, Danish and British parents.
Son of Murat 2 and Hyuma Khatun, daughter of a bey from the Jandaroglu clan. It was believed that his mother was a Serb Despina -
And I read that the mother of Mehmet II was an Armenian concubine.Palace intrigues of the wives of the padishahs
Khyurem Sultan (Roksolana 1500-1558): thanks to her beauty and intelligence, she not only managed to attract the attention of Suleiman the Magnificent, but also became his beloved woman. Her struggle with Suleiman's first wife, Mahidevan, was the most famous intrigue of that time, such a struggle was not for life, but for death. Roksolana bypassed her in all respects and finally became his official wife. As her influence on the ruler intensified, her influence in state affairs also increased. She soon succeeded in displacing the Veziri-i Azam (Prime Minister) Ibrahim Pasha, who was married to Suleiman's sister. He was executed for adultery. She married the next vizier-i Azam Rustem Pasha to her daughter and with the help of which she managed to discredit, by substituting letters, accuse the eldest son of Suleiman Shahzade Mustafa of hostile ties with the main enemies of the Iranians. For his intelligence and great abilities, Mustafa was predicted to be the next padishah, but on the orders of his father he was strangled during the campaign to Iran.
Over time, during the meetings, being in the secret department, Khyurem Sultan listened and shared her opinion with her husband after advice. From the poems dedicated to Suleiman Roksolana, it becomes obvious that his love for her was dearer to him than anything else in the world.
Nurbanu Sultan (1525-1587):
At the age of 10, she was kidnapped by corsairs and sold at the famous Pera market in Istanbul to slave traders. The traders, noting her beauty and intelligence, sent her to a harem, where she managed to attract the attention of Hyurem Sultan, who sent her to be raised in Manisa. From there she returned. a real beauty and managed to win the heart of her son Khyurrem Sultan Selim 2, who soon married her. The poems written by Selim in her honor were included as fine examples of lyrics. Selim was the youngest son, but as a result of the death of all his brothers, he becomes the only heir to the throne, to which he ascended. Nurbanu became the only mistress of his heart and, accordingly, the harem. There were other women in Selim's life, but none of them could win his heart like Nurbanu. After the death of Selim (1574), her son Murat 3 became the padishah, she becomes Valide Sultan (the root mother) and for a long time held the threads of government in her hands, despite the fact that this time her rival was the wife of Murat 3, Safiye Sultan.
Safiye Sultan
A life of intrigue became the theme of many novels after her death. Just like Nurbanu Sultan, she was kidnapped by corsairs and sold to a harem, where she was bought for a lot of money by Nurbanu Sultan for her son Murat 3.
The son's fervent love for her shaken the mother's influence on her son. Then Nurbanu Sultan begins to introduce other women into the life of the son of other women, but the love for Safiya Sultan was unshakable. Soon after the death of his mother-in-law, he actually ruled the state.
Kosem Sultan.
Murad's mother 4 (1612-1640) Kosem Sultan became a widow when he was still little. In 1623, at the age of 11, he was elevated to the throne and Kosem Sultan became regent under him. Actually ruled by the state.
As her son grew up, she receded into the shadows, but continued to influence her son until his death. Her other son, Ibrahim (1615-1648), was elevated to the throne. The beginning of his reign was the beginning of the struggle between Kosem Sultan and his wife Turhan Sultan. Both of these women sought to establish their influence in public affairs, but over time this struggle became so obvious that it served to form opposing groups.
As a result of this long struggle, Kosem Sultan was found strangled in her room, and her supporters were executed.
Turhan Sultan (Hope)
She was kidnapped in the steppes of Ukraine and donated to the harem. Soon she became the wife of Ibrahim, after whose death her young son Menmet 4 was placed on the throne. Although she became regent, her mother-in-law Kosem Sultan was not going to let go of the threads of government from her hands. But she was soon found strangled in her room, and her supporters were executed the next day. The regency of Turhan Sultan lasted 34 years and this was a record in the history of the Ottoman Empire.
Roxolana, with the help of her son-in-law, slandered him in front of his father, letters were written allegedly written by Mustafa to the Iranian shah, where he asks the latter to help seize the throne. All this is happening against the backdrop of a sharp struggle between the Turks of Rumelia (Ottomans) and the Turks of Iran for the possession of the East. Anatolia, Iraq and Syria. Suleiman ordered Mustafa to be strangled.
Could Mara save Krnstantinople? The 15th century was marked by an unrelenting Ottoman assault on Byzantium. By this time, only Constantinople remained from Byzantium. As Sultan Mehmet 2 once said, "Either I will take Constantinople, or he will take me."
Anastasia Gavrilovna Lisovskaya, or Roksolana, or Khurrem (1506-1558) - at first was a concubine, and then became the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Nobody knows why she was named with this name Khurrem, but in Arabic it can mean “cheerful, bright”, but about Roksolana there are serious disputes, the name goes back to Rusyns, Russians - that was the name of all the inhabitants of Eastern Europe ..
And where she was born, no one knows the exact location. Perhaps the city of Rohatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region, or the city of Chemerovtsy, Khmelnitsky region. When she was little she was kidnapped by the Crimean Tatars and sold to the Turkish harem.
Life in the harem was not easy. She could die or fight. She chose to fight and is now known throughout the world. Everyone in the harem was ready for anything to get the Sultan's tenderness. Everyone wanted to survive and put their offspring on their feet. The life of Roksolana-Nastya is well known to everyone, but there is little information about other slaves who could also escape from slavery.
Kezem Sultan
The most famous Valide Sultan Közem Sultan (1589-1651), she was the beloved concubine of Sultan Ahmet the First. During her short girlhood, she was the girl Anastasia, the daughter of a priest from the Greek island of Tinos.
She was officially and solely at the head of the Muslim empire for many years. She was a tough woman, but mercy was also present in her - she freed all her slaves after 3 years.
She died a violent death, was strangled by the order of the future sultan-valid by the chief eunuch of the harem.
Handan Sultan
The Valide Sultan was also Handan (Handan) Sultan, the wife of Sultan Mehmed III and mother of Sultan Ahmed I (1576-1605). Previously, she was Helena, the daughter of a priest, also Greek.
She was abducted into the harem, and tried by all means to get to power.
Nurbanu Sultan
Nurbanu Sultan (translated as "princess of light", 1525-1583) was the beloved wife of Sultan Selim II (Drunkards) and the mother of Sultan Murad III. She was of noble birth. But this did not stop the slavers from kidnapping her and taking her to the palace.
When her husband died, she surrounded him with people to wait for her son to arrive and ascend the throne.
The corpse lay like that for 12 days.
Nurbanu was related to the most influential and wealthy people in Europe, such as the senator and poet Giorgio Baffo (1694-1768). In addition, she was a relative of the ruler of the Ottoman Empire - Safiye Sultan, who was of Venetian origin.
At that time, many of the Greek islands belonged to Venice. They were relatives both "on the Turkish line" and "on the Italian".
Nurbanu corresponded with many ruling dynasties, pursued a pro-Venetian policy, for which the Genoese hated her. (There is also a legend that she was poisoned by a Genoese agent). They built the Attik Valide mosque in honor of Nurbanu not far from the capital.
Safiye Sultan
Safiye-Sultan was born in 1550. She was the wife of Murad the Third and the mother of Mehmed the Third. In freedom and girlhood, she bore the name Sofia Baffo, was the daughter of the ruler of the Greek island of Corfu and a relative of the Venetian senator and poet Giorgio Baffo.
She was also kidnapped and taken to the harem. She corresponded with European monarchs - even Queen Elizabeth I of Great Britain, who even gave her a real European carriage.
Safiye-Sultan made excursions around the city in a donated carriage, the subjects were shocked by this behavior.
She was the ancestor of all subsequent Turkish sultans after her.
There is a mosque in her honor in Cairo. And the Turkhan Khatis mosque, which she herself began to build, was completed by another Valide-Sultan Nadia from a small Ukrainian town. She was kidnapped when she was 12 years old.
Sultans due to circumstances
The stories of these girls are not happy. But they did not die, did not sit in confinement in the most distant rooms of the palace, they were not expelled. They themselves began to rule, it seemed impossible to everyone.
They achieved power by cruel means, including orders to kill. Turkey is their second homeland for them.
They didn’t try to commit suicide, but someone had thrust a knife out of the many thousands of girls of many nationalities sold to the seraglio. And someone just died. And some decided to rule over those who robbed them of their home, parents and homeland. We will not blame them for anything.
What was the strength of character and willpower of the girls, who found themselves in such situations. They fought for their lives, intrigued, killed. But is life in a harem so sweet?
Titenko Yulia
Class 7 "A", MBOU "Lyceum", RF, Dalnerechensk
Olga Yakovlevna Barabash
supervisor, teacher of the highest category, history teacher, MBOU "Lyceum", RF, Dalnerechensk
The Ottoman or Ottoman Empire was formed in 1299, when a man who went down in history as the first sultan of the Ottoman Empire under the name Osman I Gazi, declared the independence of his small country from the Seljuks and took the title of Sultan (although a number of sources note that officially such a title is the first began to be worn only by his grandson - Murad I). The dawn of the Ottoman Empire is considered the reign of Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent (1521-1566).
In the XVI-XVII centuries. The Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful countries in the world. Its territory by 1566 extended from Budapest (Hungary) in the north and Baghdad (Persia) in the east to Algeria in the west and Mecca in the south. From the 17th century, the influence of the Ottoman Empire in the region began to gradually disappear. It finally disintegrated after defeat in the First World War. The rule of the Ottoman dynasty lasted 623 years, from 1299 to November 1, 1922, when the monarchy was abolished.
Unlike European monarchies, women in the Ottoman Empire (as well as in any other Islamic state) were not allowed to rule the country. But in the history of this country, there is a period called the Women's Sultanate, when women exerted a great influence on state affairs. This term was first proposed by the Turkish historian Ahmet Refik Altynai in 1916 in a book of the same name. Disputes about the impact this period had on the great Ottoman Empire do not subside in our time. There is also no consensus on what should be considered the main reason for this phenomenon unusual for the Islamic world and who should be considered its first representative.
Some historians believe that the Women's Sultanate gave rise to the period of the end of the campaigns, on which the system of conquering vast expanses and obtaining huge military booty was based. Others, call the cause of the emergence of the Women's Sultanate the struggle for the abolition of the law of Mehmed II Fatih "On succession to the throne", according to which all the brothers of the Sultan, after his accession to the throne, had to be executed, regardless of their intentions, and call the founder of the Women's Sultanate of the Ottoman Empire Khyurrem Sultan the wife of Sultan Suleiman I, who for the first time in the history of this state, in 1521 became the bearer of the title "Haseki Sultan", which literally means "the most beloved wife."
Khyurrem Sultan or Alexandra (Anastasia) Lisovskaya (known in Europe as Roksolana) was born in 1505 in the city of Rohatyna, in Western Ukraine. In 1520, she came to the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, where Sultan Suleiman I gave her a new name - Khyurrem, which in Arabic means “bringing joy”. The title "Haseki Sultan", given to her by her husband Sultan Suleiman I, gave her a lot of power, which became even stronger after the death of Valide Sultan in 1534, when Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska began to rule the harem. The most educated woman of her time, who knew several foreign languages, Khyurrem Haseki Sultan answered letters from foreign rulers, influential nobles and artists, and received foreign ambassadors. In fact, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was a political adviser to her husband Sultan Suleiman I, who spent a significant part of his reign in campaigns.
But, as noted above, not all researchers are inclined to rank Khyurrem Sultan among the representatives of the Women's Sultanate. Among the main arguments, they note the fact that each of its representatives was characterized by two points: the presence of the title "Valide", and the relatively short terms of rule of the Sultans. None of them related to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, since she did not live up to the possibility of becoming "Valide" for 8 years, and to call the term of Suleiman I's rule short is simply absurd (Suleiman I ruled for 46 years), as it is actually called "decline" his actions during the reign (if the Women's Sultanate is considered a consequence of the "decline" of the empire).
For the above reasons, most historians tend to consider four women as representatives of the Women's Sultanate of the Ottoman Empire: Valide Afife Nurbanu Sultan (1525-1583) - Venetian Cecilia Venier-Baffo; Valide Safie Sultan (1550-1603) - Venetian Sofia Baffo; Valide Makhpeiker Kyosem Sultan (1589-1651) - presumably the Greek woman Anastasia; Valide Hatice Turhan Sultan (1627-1683) - Ukrainian Nadezhda. The date of the beginning of the period of the Women's Sultanate of the Ottoman Empire, in their opinion, should be considered 1574, when Nurbanu Sultan received the title "Valide", and the date of its end is 1687, when Sultan Suleiman II ascended the throne, who received supreme power when he was already in adulthood. (4 years after the death of the last influential Valide in the history of the Ottoman Empire, Turhan Sultan).
Historians call the main reasons for the increased influence of women on state affairs: the love of the sultans for specific women, the influence of mothers on their sons, the incapacity of the sultans at the time of their accession to the throne, the intrigues and deceit of women, as well as a simple coincidence. Another important factor is considered to be the frequent change of the great viziers, the duration of their tenure at the beginning of the 17th century averaged just over a year, which created a situation of political fragmentation and chaos in the empire.
As for the assessments of the era of the Women's Sultanate, then, as noted above, they are very ambiguous. Indeed, once slaves and elevated to Walide status, women regents were often unprepared for political affairs. When selecting applicants and appointing them to important government positions, they relied on the advice of their entourage, often basing their choice not on the abilities of specific people or their loyalty to the dynasty, but on ethnic loyalty.
On the other hand, female rule also had its positive aspects. It made it possible to preserve the existing monarchical order, based on belonging to one dynasty of all sultans. The personal shortcomings or incompetence of the sultans (such as the mentally ill Mustafa I, the cruel Murad IV, the semi-insane and wasteful Ibrahim I) were offset by the strength of their women or mothers. And yet, one cannot but take into account the fact that the actions of women of this era indirectly pushed the empire towards stagnation, but, for the most part, at the expense of Turhan Sultan and her son Mehmed IV, who lost the Battle of Vienna on September 11, 1683.
In general, we can conclude that at the moment there is no unambiguous historical assessment of the influence of the era of the female sultanate on the empire. Some believe that the rule of women led to the destruction of the empire, others believe that the rule of women was more a consequence than the cause of the decline of the great empire. But one thing is clear: Ottoman women had incomparably less power and were further from absolutism than European female monarchs of that time (for example, Catherine II or Elizabeth I).
Bibliography:
- Kinross L. The rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire: trans. from English M .: Algorithm, 2013 .-- 240 p.
- Petrosyan Yu.A. Ottoman Empire: Power and Death. Historical sketches. M .: Eksmo, 2003.
- Suleiman the Magnificent, his reign and his family. [Electronic resource] - Access mode. - URL: http://www.portalostranah.ru/view.php?id=223 (date of treatment 03.16.2015).
- Shirokograd A. The rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. M .: Veche, 2012 .-- 420 p.
Ottoman Empire, which 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, descendants of Turkic tribes, I will allow myself to call the sultans of the Ottoman Empire Turkish rulers until 1922.
The Ottoman Turks are natives of the Central Asian Oguz tribe called the kayı, who, fleeing the conquests of the ancestors of Tamerlane, 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 their years of reign.
Interregnum- the period of inter-rule in the Ottoman Empire, when the three sons of Lightning Bayezid could not share the throne, lasted about 11 years (1402-1413). These were the first difficulties in a ruling dynasty of this type, after which they solved this problem by killing their brothers by the ascending sultan to the throne.
| Sultan's name | Years of reign | State rank | Parents |
| 1299-1324 | Ulubey | Ertogrul and Halima's concubine | |
| , Urkhan. Victorious | 1324-1362 | Ulubey | Osman I and Malhun Khatun |
| 1362-1389 | Sultan | Orkhan I and Nilufer Khatun | |
| Bayazid I Yildirim, Lightning | 1389-1402 | Sultan | Murad I and Gulchicek Khatun |
| - Suleiman Chelebi, Noble - Musa Chelebi - Mehmed I, elebi |
1402-1413 | Sultans | |
| Mehmed I elebi | 1413-1421 | Sultan | Bayezid I and Devlet Khatun |
| Murad II | 1421-1444 | Sultan | Mehmed I and Emine Khatun |
| Mehmed II Fatih. The Conqueror | 1444-1446 | Sultan / Padishah | Murad II and Hyuma Khatun |
| Bayezid II Dervish. Monk | 1481-1512 | Padishah | Mehmed II and Sitti Mykrim Khatun |
| Selim I Yavuz. Grozny | 1512-1520 | Padishah / Caliph | Bayezid II and Gulbahar Sultan |
| Suleiman I Qanuni. Legislator, Magnificent | 1520-1566 | Padishah / Caliph | Selim I and Aishe Hafsa Sultan |
| Selim II. Drunkard, Blond | 1566-1574 | Padishah / Caliph | Suleiman I and Khyurrem Sultan |
| Murad III | 1574-1595 | Padishah / Caliph | Murad III and Nurbanu Sultan |
| Mehmed III. Bloodthirsty, Depraved | 1595-1603 | Padishah / Caliph | Murad III and Safiye Sultan |
| Ahmed I | 1603-1617 | Padishah / Caliph | Mehmed III and Handan Sultan |
| Mustafa I | 1617-1618 | Padishah / Caliph | Mehmed III and Halime Sultan |
| Osman II | 1618-1622 | Padishah / Caliph | Ahmed I and Mahfiruz Khadiche Sultan |
| Murad IV | 1623-1640 | Padishah / Caliph | Ahmed I and Kyosem Sultan |
| Ibrahim I of Delhi. Thoughtless | 1640-1648 | Padishah / Caliph | Ahmed I and Kyosem Sultan |
| Mehmed IV the Hunter | 1648-1687 | Padishah / Caliph | Ibrahim I and Turhan Hatice Sultan |
| Suleiman II. Religious | 1687-1691 | Padishah / Caliph | Ibrahim I and Saliha Dilashub Sultan |
| Ahmed II | 1691-1695 | Padishah / Caliph | Ibrahim I and Khatije Muazzzez Sultan |
| Mustafa II | 1695-1703 | Padishah / Caliph | |
| Ahmed III | 1703-1730 | Padishah / Caliph | Mehmed IV and Emetullah Rabia Gulnush Sultan |
| Mahmoud I | 1730-1754 | Padishah / Caliph | Mustafa II and Saliha Sebkati Sultan |
| Osman III. Musicophobe | 1754-1757 | Padishah / Caliph | Mustafa II and Shehsuvar Sultan |
| Mustafa III | 1757-1774 | Padishah / Caliph | Ahmed III and Emine Mihrishah Sultan |
| Abdul-Hamid I. God-fearing | 1774-1789 | Padishah / Caliph | Ahmed III and Rabia Shermi Sultan |
| Selim III. Musician | 1789-1807 | Padishah / Caliph | Mustafa III and Mihrishah Sultan |
| Mustafa IV | 1807-1808 | Padishah / Caliph | Abdul Hamid I and Aishe Senieperver Sultan |
| Mahmoud II | 1808-1839 | Padishah / Caliph | Abdul Hamid I and Nakshidil Sultan |
| Abdul-Majid I | 1839-1861 | Padishah / Caliph | Mahmud II and Bezmialm Sultan |
| Abdul-Aziz | 1861-1876 | Padishah / Caliph | Mahmud II and Pertevnyal Sultan |
| Murad V. Crazy | 1876 | Padishah / Caliph | Abdul-Majid I and Shevkefza Sultan |
| Abdul Hamid II | 1876-1909 | Padishah / Caliph | Abdul-Majid I and Tirimyuzhgan Kadyn Efendi |
| Mehmed V Reshad | 1909-1918 | Padishah / Caliph | Abdul Majid I and Guljemal Kadyn Efendi |
| Mehmed VI Wahideddin | 1918-1922 | Padishah / Caliph | Abdul-Majid I and Gulustu Kadyn Efendi |
Determination 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 the 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. The Europeans perceived the title of padishah as the title of the emperor.
Caliph- the highest Muslim title, which has been interpreted in different ways at different times. In general and in general, it is a set of concepts such 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: personality structure on the 717 year line
Osman I Gazi... 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, and 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 the creation of the 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 plan of conquest, in which Osman I was buried. The Turkish Sultan died of old age in 1324.
OrhanI Gazi... This sultan of ancient Turkey is the youngest son of Osman 1, whose dates of death and the end of his reign are described in different ways 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 Orhan 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 in his last campaign he went to the Serbs, and in the "epic-memorable" battle on the Kosovo field he defeated the enemy. However, Sultan Murad 1 was also killed there, in 1389. He was killed by a Serb who pretended to be a defector.
This sultan of Turkey was illiterate; he sealed contracts with a fingerprint, not a signature. But we should pay tribute to him - Murad 1 was very tolerant, granting foreigners citizenship and the same privileges as Muslims, while remaining a true defender of the Islamic faith.
Bayezid I Lightning Fast... The first step as the ruler of the empire, Bayezid 1 made towards killing his own brother. It was this Turkish sultan who introduced the state tradition of fratricide upon accession to the throne. I must say, this tradition is quite firmly settled in the empire as the elimination of competitors. Bayazid Lightning loved luxury, he feasted and enjoyed himself, 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 had besieged for 6 years, but Tamerlane was advancing from the east to the Ottomans, who captured the Turkish Sultan. Bayazid 1 died in captivity in 1402, according to some sources he committed suicide.
Mehmed I elebi... 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 hold on to the empire that had been shaken after his father's captivity and again began military campaigns. He was the youngest son of Bayezid the First, who kept peace with Byzantium and Europe, fortifying the returned lands that Tamerlane had once taken.
Murad II... Like his grandfather Bayazid I, he married 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 to the end of the 16th century, the entire history of the Turkish sultans is full of some victories and conquests.
Mehmed II the Conqueror... He ruled the Ottomans 2 times, giving his father Murad 2 his throne for 6 years because of youthful judgments in terms of the conquest of 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 brutally rob him for three days. It was Mehmed 2 who transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire to this city, and converted the sacred temple of St. Sophia into the main mosque of old Turkey. The name of the city was also given by this Turkish sultan, and Mehmed Fatih also insisted on the presence with representatives of the Islamic clergy of the residence of the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Armenian and the chief Jewish rabbi. He also deprived Serbia of autonomy, conquered Bosnia, seized the Crimean Khanate, and almost reached Rome, his death prevented the Turkish sultan from seizing this city.
Bayezid II Dervish... He fought little, he is considered the first sultan who refused to personally command his army, and Bayezid 2 went down in history as the patron saint of culture and literature. Abdicated the throne, handing it over to his youngest son Selim.
Selim I the Terrible... Nicknamed the Merciless, for having ordered the murder of his brothers and nephews, as well as for the brutal massacre of 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 1 Grozny has doubled the territory of the Ottoman Empire in almost 10 years. This Turkish sultan carried the banner and cloak of the Prophet Muhammad to Istanbul, thereby confirming that he has the right to rule the entire Islamic world.
Suleiman I the Magnificent... Known as the Turkish Sultan Legislator, Magnificent, Great and Qanuni in Turkish style. Sultan Suleiman 1 also greatly expanded the borders of Ottoman Turkey, which, under his rule, occupied lands from Budapest to Assuan and the Nile rapids, from the Euphrates and the 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 the East. The last 20 years, the famous Turkish sultan was under the influence of his concubine, and then his wife Khyurrem (Roksolana). Leading a new campaign to Hungary, Sultan Suleiman did not live to see victory, in 1566 he died. The death of the padishah was hidden - the empire was already ruled without the sultan, but on his behalf, until his 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 predilection for something. Selim 2 was called a drunkard, he loved wine very much, 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 the 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. Having hit 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 the 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 decline of the empire did not stop.
Mehmed III... Portrait - Depraved and Bloodthirsty. This Ottoman ruler did not lag behind his father Murad III in terms of killing his brothers. If you remember, his father had over a hundred children. 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 14 of them ruled the Ottoman Empire. He was a capricious, but very smart boy. During his reign, he showed character and changed his viziers and advisers whenever he liked, or as the harem required. At the same time, the Turkish sultan lost the Transcaucasus and Baghdad, and the Zaporozhye Cossacks began raiding the empire. Under him, corruption intensified, it was in honor of this sultan that the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul was built, which originally bore the name of Ahmedie, now it is simply the Sultanahmet Mosque.
In 1612, in a letter to the Polish king, the Turkish signed as follows:
Sultan Ahmed Khan, the Most Blessed, the son of the Great God, the King of all Turks, Greeks, Babylonians, Macedonians, Sarmatians, the Sovereign of Great and Lesser Egypt, Alexandria, India, as well as of all peoples on earth Sovereign and Monarch, Lord and Most Serene son of Mohammed, Defender and Guardian of the Holy Grotto of the Heavenly God, King of all Kings and Sovereign of all Sovereigns, Sovereign and Heir to all heirs.
Mustafa I Lunatic... He ruled in two terms in 1617-1618 and in 1622-1623, - the feeble-minded brother of Ahmed I, seen in sleepwalking. This newly-made sultan spent 14 years in prison, but some considered him a "holy" person, because the majority of Muslims treated the madmen with sacred respect. In his prison, the Turkish sultan Mustafa 1 threw into the Bosphorus not crumbs, but real gold coins.
He survived 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 succeeded by the son of his brother Osman 2, who was overthrown, and Mustafa was again seated on the throne.
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 warlike character and pathological cruelty (a vivid proof of this - he used living people for targets: prisoners and his pages). Lost the battle with the Cossacks during the siege of Khotin. 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 entire history of the Ottomans, however, it was he who cut the knot of the Vizier's yoke and army anarchy. Murad 4 could kill just for the sake of murder, 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 ordered to kill his own brother Ibrahim, in order to be known as the last padishah of the Ottoman dynasty ... It is strange that with all his cruelty he did not kill him at all when accepting the throne.
Ibrahim... The mother saved from death of the Sultan of Turkey. Ibrahim ruled for 8 years, distinguished by weakness, weakness, 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 6 years for 40 years. This Turkish sultan managed to restore the military appearance of the empire, in order to then subject the country to an unprecedented military humiliation, which ended with the beginning of the partition of Turkey. It was to Sultan Mehmed the Fourth that the Cossacks wrote a letter on the famous painting by Repin.
Suleiman II... The portrait is religious, spent 40 years in the Ottoman "cage" under the signature of a reserve heir. At the same time, the Sultan was given Belgrade (which was later returned) and Bosnia, but Orshova was taken. Suleiman died the second 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 to the Russians in Azov, and to Poland in Podolia. Abdicated under the onslaught of 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 Karl XII, who lost the battle of Poltava. He made peace with Peter I, lost many lands in Eastern Europe and North Africa.
Mahmoud I... He ruled the Ottoman state for 24 years. He continued the war with Iran and started a war with Russia.
Osman III... Portrait - suffered from musicophobia and hated all women in the world. He spent over 50 years in captivity as a reserve heir. He ruled for only three years, but he swept the viziers 7 times, confiscating their personal property to his treasury. Hated Jews and Christians, ordering them to wear special patches.
Mustafa III... The portrait is a far-sighted and sane 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, losing to Catherine the Great Crimea, he brought the entire financial situation of the empire into decline to such an extent that sometimes employees and soldiers had nothing to pay with.
Selim III. During his 8 years of reigning the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan tried in vain to modernize it. However, the war with the 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 by order of the ruling cousin.
Mustafa IV. By ordering to kill the deposed cousin and sibling younger brothers, 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 during the period of his throne liquidated the Janissary corps and generally changed the military system in the country. He carried out a number of executions, killing, including his older brother, a former padishah. It was during this sultan that the influence of France and England on Turkey increased. At times he suffered from long drinking bouts, died at the age of 54.
Abdul-Majid the Meek... The first and only sultan of Turkey with that name. He ascended the throne at the age of 16, ruled for 22 years. The portrait is a meek ruler with an attitude of equality and brotherhood. Bethlehem lost to France and the feat of Nicholas I to declare a new war on Turkey "for the keys to the Holy Sepulcher." Sultan Abdul-Majid died of tuberculosis in 1861.
Abdul-Aziz Nevezha... The portrait is a despot, an ignoramus, a rude person who abolished the reforms initiated by his predecessors. The author of the wild massacre in Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria. Turkish Sultan Abdul-Aziz committed suicide in 1876, having been an Ottoman padishah for about 15 years.
Abdul Hamid II the Bloody... The years of the 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. Abdul-Hamid II was named the bloody sultan of Turkey for the massacre of the Greeks in Crete and other brutal actions. He surrendered to the Russians Adrianople, captured by Murad the First, and lost power in the Balkans and North Africa. Only the organization "Young Turks" 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 control. The portrait is already an elderly sultan, without much energy, who fell under the full influence of the Young Turks. The Ottomans continued to lose land in annual wars, and then to participate in the First World War in cooperation with Germany. Mehmed the Fifth died in 1918.
Mehmed VI Wahideddin... The last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who reigned for about 4 years. I achieved an armistice 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, the war with the Turkish invaders began, victory came, Mehmed 6 fled abroad. After that, parliament passed a law abolishing the sultanate, and a year later it went out into the world.
What 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 mood. Some were brave and energetic, some were distinguished by a brilliant mind and incredible governor characteristics, and some were angry, despotic, rude and cowardly. In general, the Ottoman Empire ascended to unprecedented heights rapidly, but also quickly was able to lose them, only the small Turkish Republic remained, with an area of 784,000 square kilometers, and this is with a maximum territorial peak of 5,200,000 km2 in 1683.
With you was the online magazine "" with a list of the sultans of Turkey, we wish you a pleasant pastime, until new adventures along the Turkish coast!