Mustafa I

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Mustafa I
Ottoman Sultan
Caliph
Reign	1622–23
Period	Growth of the Ottoman Empire
Full Name	Mustafa I
Predecessor	Ahmed I
Successor	Murad IV
Royal House	House of Osman
Dynasty	Ottoman Dynasty
Religious beliefs	Sunni Islam

Mustafa I Deli (born 1591/1592 in Manisa Palace – died January 20, 1639 at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul) (Ottoman Turkish: مصطفى اول), son of Mehmed III, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1617 to 1618 and from 1622 to 1623. His mother was Valide Sultan Handan Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Helena.

The brother of Ahmed I (1603–17), who died because of typhus at a young age, Mustafa I was reported to be mentally retarded or at least neurotic and was never more than a tool of court cliques at the Topkapı Palace. During the reign of his brother, he was confined to his room in virtual imprisonment, a system called Kafes, for fourteen years.

In 1618, after a short rule, he was deposed in favour of his young nephew Osman II (1618–22) and was sent back to Kafes. The conflict between the Janissaries and Osman II presented him with a second chance. After the assassination of Osman II in 1622 by Janisaries, he was placed back on the throne and held it for another year. He had the participants in the coup against Osman II executed and believed that Osman II was still alive. He was seen searching for him throughout the palace, knocking on doors and crying out to his nephew to relieve him from the burden of sovereignty. His inability to rule led to deposition and confinement by Osman II's younger half-brother, Murad IV (1623–40). He died sixteen years later.

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