The Ottoman Empire has existed for more than 6 centuries. Her story begins in 1299 and ends in the 23rd year of the 20th century. The Ottomans came from the Central Asian Kayi tribe. These people lived in the region of Balkh. Part of the Kayi tribe, fleeing the Mongol-Tatar horde, headed west. Their leader Ertogrul entered the service of Khorezmshah Jalal ud-Din. After some time, he led his people to Anatolia - in the possession of the Sultan Kay-Kubad I, and he granted the leader of Kei Uj Sogyut. So the beginning of the Great Ottoman Empire was given . Sultan Mustafa The first, which will be discussed in this article, is her 15th ruler. He went down in history as the crazy ruler of the Ottomans, although some of his subjects considered him not insane, but a saint. Nevertheless, he twice, although not for long, became the head of the Ottoman Empire. He was also called the Caliph of Islam, the ruler of the faithful and the keeper of two shrines.
Mustafa Sultan: biography, life story
He was born in 1591 in the city of Manis. His father was the 13th ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Mahmoud the Third, and his mother was Halime, the concubine of the Sultan. He spent the first 14 years of his life in a harem, in a so-called cage, where his brother Ahmed the First imprisoned him. Whether the future Sultan Mustafa was demented from birth or if he was affected by his life spent in prison, no one knows. However, stories have come down to us that he loved to feed fish in the Bosphorus when he was a teenager, moreover, not with bread or anything else from food, but with gold coins. Over the years, his illness progressed. He was afraid of women, avoided them, resisted if they wanted to bring a concubine to him in the harem.
About father
As already noted, Mustafa 1 is the son of the concubine Halima and Sultan Mehmed the 3rd. So what does the story say about his father? Mehmed 3rd ascended the throne 4 years after the birth of Mustafa. Immediately after this, he executed all his brothers, and he had 19. He was afraid of a conspiracy and was afraid for his life. He also introduced a harmful custom, according to which the princes were not allowed during their father's life to take part in the government of the country. They were supposed to be locked up in a harem, in the so-called “cage” pavilion. Under the rule of Mehmed the Third in Constantinople, the Russian ambassador Danilo Isleniev was detained, and then he disappeared without a trace. The Ottoman Empire then fought with the Austrians. The latter made great strides and had a great advantage over the Ottomans. This caused discontent among the people, in particular the Janissaries, which led to the uprising in Constantinople. In order to regain the confidence of the people, Mehmed III decided to make a trip to Hungary. In the Battle of Kerestets, he defeated the Hungarians, but he did not go further than this, because a comfortable palace life attracted him, and he hastened to return to Constantinople. At the same time, unrest began in the territories captured from the Persians. It is said that it was from the beginning of the reign of Mehmed that the magnificent Ottoman Empire began to decline. In history, Mehmed the Third appears as an incredibly bloodthirsty and depraved ruler, although he worships art, especially literature and poetry. He was also considered an ardent persecutor of Christians. Before Mehmed ascended the throne, he was governor in the city of Manisa for 12 years. It was here that he had a son - the future Sultan Mustafa 1 - and his three brothers - Selim (in 1596 he was executed by order of his own father), Mahmoud (he and his mother were executed by the Sultan-father in 1603) and Ahmet. Two more sons were born after he became a sultan, but they died in infancy. And he had 7 daughters. After the death of Mehmed, Ahmet ascended the throne, but he did not execute, according to custom, his brother Mustafu, since he was moronic. Nevertheless, he twice tried to strangle him personally, but something prevented him from carrying out this crime.
About mother
The story of Sultan Mustafa, of course, begins with how the concubine Halime, a very wise woman, gave birth to the Third Son from Mehmed. She was an Abkhazian by origin and a very young girl fell into a harem to the governor Manis Mehmed, the future 13th ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Mustafa was not her only child. The first son of the concubine Halima was called Mahmud, as already noted, he was executed by his father. In addition to her two sons, she also had a daughter, whose name is unknown. However, the story says that she later became the wife of the great vizier, who was implicated in the murder of the Sultan Osman II. After Mehmed the Third ascended the sultan throne, Halime went with him to the Topkapi Palace. Here, the sole owner was Valide Sultan, Ahmed's mother, Safie, who was the main instigator of the execution of her grandson, Mahmud. The story goes that Walida was able to intercept a letter from a certain seer stating that within six months Mehmed III would die and Mahmoud, his eldest son, would ascend the throne.
How Mustafa Stay Alive
When the father of Shehzade, Sultan Mahmed the Third, died in 1603, his thirteen-year-old son Ahmed ascended the throne of the Ottoman Empire. And then before the concubine Halime the question arose about the life of her surviving son, Mustafa, who, as you remember, was moronic. It was this that helped him to avoid death, because, being blessed, he could not claim the throne, which means he would not have organized conspiracies against the newly made Sultan Ahmed. That's why he wanted to save his stepbrother’s life. It is said that his favorite concubine Kyosem also had a great influence on this decision. She was afraid that if Ahmed suddenly dies, his son Osman, born of her rival Mahfiruz, will ascend the throne, and her sons will be executed.
Imprisonment
During the reign of Ahmed, the prince Mustafa, the son of Halime Sultan, was imprisoned in a harem, in a small pavilion "keshka", which is located on the territory of the Sultan's palace. He led a secluded life, was under constant supervision. Sometimes the eunuchs wanted to bring the concubines to him, but he raised a tantrum, and soon this issue was closed. As already noted, he liked to be on the terrace overhanging the Bosphorus and feed the fish with gold coins. Mustafa I lived in such a "rhythm" until 1617. It was at that time that his brother, Sultan Ahmed, died of typhus. He was then 28 years old.
Reign of Sultan Mustafa
The death of Ahmed I caused a dilemma: to whom from the shekhzade to inherit the throne? In view of this, the yard was divided into two fractions. The first - led by Sofu Pasha, replacing the great vizier, and Sheikh-ul-Islam Khojasadettin, wanted to elevate the lunatic Mustafa to the throne. Another faction, led by the head of the black eunuchs, saw on the throne the son of Ahmet the First - Osman. The former said that Osman was too young to rule the empire, while the latter insisted that the lunatic could not be a sultan. Nevertheless, the sultan Mustafa was elevated to the throne. From this day on, a new law on inheritance appeared in the country, according to which, after the death of the Sultan, he was replaced as the ruler of the empire by the eldest in the Shehzade clan. By the way, Mustafa in the history of the empire was the first to ascend the throne after his brother, not his father.
Tricks of the Crazy Sultan
The court healers believed that after Mustav came out of the “cell”, he would be able to recover, because the cause of the disease was his isolation from society. However, even after 2-3 months, no improvement in the patient's condition was observed. He behaved eccentrically and allowed himself such acts that no one had yet committed. For example, he could scream with a squeal at the viziers in the couch, rip off their trousers and yank at his beards, or scream with his rooster while solving important issues. Having become a sultan, he continued to do his favorite thing, namely, he fed birds and fish with gold coins. If his other actions were not always seen by the people and the courtiers, or were considered by them for the “sanctity” of their lord, then this peculiarity of the Sultan aroused indignation in people. He also appointed two of his favorite young concubines as governors of Damascus and Cairo. And one of the most important posts in gave the country to some farmer who treated him with delicious wine during the hunt.
Mustafa's removal from the throne
Despite all these tricks, the court of the first camp was in the hands of the board of the demented sultan. After all, he was none other than a pawn in their skillful hands. By the way, his mother Halime after his accession to the throne became a valid-sultan. All his short reign Mustafa I was only a pawn in the hands of the courtiers. And the empire was actually ruled by Khalil Pasha, the great vizier. However, Mustafa’s rule was short-lived. A few months later, in 1618, he was overthrown, and Osman II was elevated to the throne . Poor Mustafa was again imprisoned in a “cage”.
Second board
Sultan Mustafa again ascended the throne in 1622. And this was the first time in the history of the empire. The Janissaries rebelled and ousted Osman II from the throne. After he was strangled in his chambers. According to rumors, after that his nose and one ear were severed and Halimesultan was delivered. Once on the throne, Mustafa began to behave even worse: his illness progressed. Sometimes he showed glimpses of consciousness, and then he plaintively admitted that he did not want to be the ruler of the empire and that he was left alone. The mad sultan thought that Osman was alive, he wandered around the palace in search of his nephew, knocked on locked doors and asked to relieve him of the heavy burden. But since his accession was in the hands of his brother-in-law, Davud Pasha (by the way, it was he who was suspected of the death of Osman II), they were not going to remove him from power.
Insurrection
After the death of Osman, the Janissaries rebelled and demanded revenge for the death of the Sultan of Osman the Second. To crush the rebellion, Halime Sultan issued an order to execute her son-in-law, Davud Pasha. However, even after this, the Janissaries did not calm down and besieged Ankara. Different courtiers appeared at the post of great vizier, and finally Kemankesh Kara Ali Pasha came to power. Together with the clergy, he persuaded the Halime Sultan to remove Mustafa from the throne. She had to agree, but only on condition that her son was saved. Soon, the 11-year-old Shehzade Murad IV, the son of the concubine Kiosem and Sultan Ahmed I, was elevated to the throne, and Mustafa was again sent to Cafes - in his “cell”, where he lived until his death. The death of Sultan Mustafa has not changed anything in the country. Nobody cared about him. He died in 1639. He was buried in the former Hagia Sophia Baptistry.