29. Ottoman Sultan
Mustafa IV
- Reign
- 1807 – 1808
- Born
- 1779
- Died
- 1808
He came to the throne after the anti-reform movement; his reign did not last a year.
Sultan Mustafa IV was born in Istanbul on 8 September 1779. His father was Sultan Abdul Hamid I, his mother Nüketseza Kadın Sultan, who took great pains to have him well educated. But Mustafa IV, an ambitious, cunning and irritable man, gave more importance to living in pleasure and indulgence than to education and learning.
He was twenty-eight when he came to the throne on 29 May 1807, in place of his cousin Selim III, deposed at the end of the Kabakçı Mustafa revolt. That Mustafa IV entered into cooperation with the rebels against Selim III — who throughout his years as prince had treated him like a son — and gave the order for his death says something about his character.
When he came to the throne the central authority and control of the state were steadily weakening, and supporters of Selim III and of the Nizam-ı Cedid were being killed wherever they were caught. Kabakçı Mustafa and his followers, who had brought Mustafa IV to the throne, played an active role in the government of the state and placed their own men in important posts.
After this revolt the Ottoman state made very great concessions to the Janissaries. Yet the demands of the Janissaries never ended. Indeed an agreement was made such as had never been seen in Ottoman history. Under this agreement, drawn up by the Janissary commanders who had played the leading role in the Kabakçı Mustafa revolt in order to secure themselves, the Janissaries would not meddle in affairs of state, and the Ottoman state would not hold the Janissary corps responsible for the revolt.
Amid this confusion the supporters of Selim III had taken refuge with Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, the notable of Ruse, who had shown great success in the Ottoman-Russian wars and won the sympathy of the members of the army.
Mustafa IV occupied himself with calligraphy and has left very fine writings. He is, after Sultan Murad V, among those of the Ottoman house who reigned for the shortest time.
- Daughters: Emine Sultan
Source: Osmanlı Tarihi Interaktif CD-ROM (Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları XXXI. Dizi-Sa.2)