Mustafa III

Mustafa III مصطفى ثالث
Caliph of Islam Amir al-Mu'minin Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
26th Ottoman Sultan (Emperor)
Reign	October 30, 1757 – January 21, 1774
Predecessor	Osman III
Successor	Abdülhamid I
Born	January 1717
Died	21 January 1774 (aged 56-57) Constantinople
Consorts	Fehmi Kadın Mihrişah Sultan Adilşah Kadın Aynülhayat Kadın Rif’at Kadın
Full name Mustafa bin Ahmed
Dynasty	House of Osman
Father	Ahmed III
Mother	Emine Mihrişah Sultan
Religion	Sunni Islam
Tughra

Mustafa III (Ottoman Turkish: مصطفى ثالث‎, lit. 'Muṣṭafā-yi sālis') (18/28 January 1717 – 21 January 1774) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30) and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89). He was born in Edirne Palace. His mother was Âminā Mihr-î-Shâh Sultan.

Reign

An energetic and perceptive ruler, Mustafa III sought to modernize the army and the internal state machinery to bring his empire in line with the Powers of Europe.

Mustafa III did secure the services of foreign generals to initiate a reform of the infantry and artillery. The Sultan also ordered the founding of Academies for Mathematics, Navigation and the Sciences.

He was well talented and educated . He was an excellent poet, his poetry being written under the pseudonym of Cihangir.^[1]

He died at Topkapi Palace, Constantinople.

Personal life

Consorts

• Fehmi Kadın (died 1561)
• Mihrişah Sultan (died 16 October 1805);
• Aynülhayat Kadın (died 21 July 1764);
• Adilşah Kadın (died 19 December 1803);
• Rifat Kadın (died January 1804).

Sons

• Selim III (24 December 1762 – 28 July 1808, buried in Mstafa III Mausoleum), son of Mihrişah.
• Şehzade Mehmed (10 January 1767 – 12 October 1772, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum), son of Mihrişah.

Daughters

• Hibetullah Sultan (17 March 1759 – June 1762, buried in Mistafa III Mausoleum), with Mihrişah;
• Şah Sultan (21 April 1761 – 11th March 1803), with Mihrişah, married firstly on 23 April 1764 to Damad Kosa Bahir Mustafa Pasha, Grand Vizier, married secondly on 1 January 1768 to Damad Muhammad Amin Pasha, Grand Vizier 1768-1769, married thirdly on 2 October 1778, Damad Seyyid Mustafa Pasha;
• Mihrimah Sultan (5 February 1762 – 6 October 1762, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum), with Aynülhayat;
• Mihrişah Sultan (9 January 1763 – 21 February 1769, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum);
• Beyhan Sultan (13 January 1765 – 7 November 1824, buried in Mihrişah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp), with Adilşah, married on 22 April 1784to Damad Celik Mustafa Pasha.
• Hatice Sultan (15 June 1766 – 17 July 1821, buried in Mihrişah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp), with Adilşah, married on 10 November 1786 to Damad Seyyid Ahmed Pasha;
• Fatma Sultan (9 January 1770 – 26 May 1772, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum), with Mihrişah.

Mustafa III in his royal robes.

See also

• Esma Sultan, sister of Mustafa III

References

1. Lord Kinross, Ottoman Centuries, (Perennial, 2002), 406.