19. Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed IV
Avcı, the Hunter
- Reign
- 1648 – 1687
- Born
- 1642
- Died
- 1693
He came to the throne at seven; the grand viziers of the Köprülü era stand out. Deposed after the failure of the second siege of Vienna.
Sultan Mehmed IV was born in Istanbul on 2 January 1642. His father was Sultan İbrahim I, his mother Turhan Hatice Sultan. He was of middle height, fair-skinned and weather-beaten in the face. Because he rode so much, his body was bent forward. His mother raised him very well and he received a good education. On the killing of his father Sultan İbrahim he became sultan on 8 August 1648, at only seven years old. He was greatly devoted to hunting and to literature; because of his passion for the hunt, history knows him as "Avcı Mehmed", Mehmed the Hunter.
He banned alcohol and had the distilleries closed. In giving the grand vizierate to the Köprülü family he took a very sound decision.
Much of his life passed amid palace intrigue. After the rout at the second siege of Vienna he was deposed on 8 November 1687 by the unanimous decision of the army and the men of state. The rest of his life passed in complete confinement in a room in the palace with two concubines placed beside him. He died at Edirne on 6 December 1693. His body was sent to Istanbul and buried in his tomb at the Yeni Mosque, beside his mother Turhan Sultan.
- Sons: Mustafa II, Ahmed III, Bayezid
- Daughters: Hatice Sultan, Safiye Sultan, Ümmü Gülsüm Sultan, Fatma Sultan
Source: Osmanlı Tarihi Interaktif CD-ROM (Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları XXXI. Dizi-Sa.2)