Mustafa IV

Mustafa IV
Ottoman Sultan
Caliph
Reign	1807–08
Period	Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire
Full Name	Mustafa IV
Predecessor	Selim III
Successor	Mahmud II
Royal House	House of Osman
Dynasty	Ottoman Dynasty
Religious beliefs	Islam

Mustafa IV (Ottoman Turkish: مصطفى رابع Muṣṭafā-yi rābi‘) (September 8, 1779  – November 15/16, 1808), son of Abdülhamid I (1774 – 1789), reigned briefly as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1807 to 1808. He was born in Istanbul. His mother was Valide Sultan Ayse Seniyeperver.

Both he and his brother, later Mahmud II, were the last remaining male members of the house of Osman I after their cousin, the reformist Sultan Selim III (1789 – 1807). They alone were therefore eligible to inherit the throne from Selim, by whom they were treated favorably. Since Mustafa was the eldest, he took precedence over his brother to the throne.^[1] During his short reign, Mustafa would both save his cousin's life, and order him murdered.

Mustafa came to the throne in the wake of the turbulent events that led to the fatwa against Selim for "introduce[ing] among the Moslems the manners of infidels and show[ing] an intention to suppress the Janissaries."^[2] Selim fled to the palace, where he swore fealty to his cousin as the new sultan, and attempted to commit suicide. Mustafa spared his life by smashing the cup of poison that his cousin attempted to drink.^[3]

Mustafa's brief reign was turbulent. Immediately upon ascending to the throne, the janissaries rioted throughout Constantinople, looting and murdering anyone who appeared to support Selim.^[4] More threatening, however, was a truce signed with the Russians, which freed Mustafa Bayrakdar, a pro-reformist commander stationed on the Danube to march his army back to Constantinople in an effort to restore Selim. With the aid of the Grand Vizier of Adrianople, the army marched on the capital and seized the palace.^[2]

Attempting to secure his position by positing himself as the only surviving heir of Osman, Mustafa ordered both Selim and his brother Mahmud murdered at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. He then ordered his guards to show the rebels Selim's body,^[4] and they promptly tossed it into the inner courtyard of the palace. Mustafa then ascended his throne, assuming that Mahmud was also dead, but the prince had been hiding in the furnace of a bath.^[5] Just as the rebels demanded that Mustafa "yield his place to a worthier," Mahmud revealed himself, and Mustafa was deposed. The failure of his short reign prevented the efforts to undo the reforms, which continued under Mahmud. Mustafa was later killed on Mahhud's orders.

Notes

1. ^ Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Perennial, 1977, p. 437. ISBN 0688030939.
2. ^ ^{a b} Kinross, p. 433.
3. ^ Ibid.
4. ^ ^{a b} Goodwin, p. 291.
5. ^ Kinross, p. 434.