Mustafa II Ghazi (February 6/June 5, 1664 – December 28/30, 1703) was the
SultanSultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
from 1695 to 1703.
Life
He was born at
EdirneEdirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
Palace a son of sultan
Mehmed IVMehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...
(1648–87) and
Valide SultanValide Sultan was the title held by the mother of a ruling Sultan in the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish pronunciation of the word Valide is . The title is sometimes translated as Queen Mother, although the position of Valide Sultan was quite different.The position was perhaps the most important...
Mah-Para Ummatullah Rabia Gül-Nush, originally named Evemia, who was of
GreekThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
Cretan descent. Mustafa II abdicated in favor of his brother
Ahmed IIIAhmed III was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV . His mother was Mâh-Pâre Ummatullah Râbi'a Gül-Nûş Valide Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hajioglupazari, in Dobruja...
(1703–30) in 1703.
The most traumatic event of his reign was the loss of
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
by the
Treaty of KarlowitzThe Treaty of Karlowitz was signed on 26 January 1699 in Sremski Karlovci , concluding the Austro-Ottoman War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman side had been defeated at the Battle of Zenta...
in 1699. This event marked the beginning of the long decline of the Ottoman Empire.
At the end of his reign, Mustafa II sought to restore power to the Sultanate, which had been an increasingly symbolic position since the middle of the 17th century, when Mehmed IV had signed over his executive powers to the Grand Vizier. Mustafa II's strategy was to create an alternative base of power for himself by making the position of
timarsA timariot was another name given to the Timarli Sipahi cavalry that served the Ottoman sultan and in return was granted a fief called a timar. The timariots had to assemble with the army when at war, and had to take care of the land entrusted to him in times of peace...
, the Ottoman cavalrymen, hereditary and thus loyal to him. The timars, however, were at this point increasingly an obsolete part of the Ottoman military machine.
The strategem (called the "Edirne event" by historians) failed, and Mustafa II was deposed in the same year, 1703. He died at
Topkapı PalaceThe Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign....
,
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
He married twice, to
Valide SultanValide Sultan was the title held by the mother of a ruling Sultan in the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish pronunciation of the word Valide is . The title is sometimes translated as Queen Mother, although the position of Valide Sultan was quite different.The position was perhaps the most important...
Saliha Sabkati, mother of
Mahmud IMahmud I , called the Hunchback was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754.-Biography:...
, and to Valide Sultan Shehsuvar, mother of
Osman IIIOsman III or Othman IIIText not available was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1754 to 1757.-Biography:...
.
Sources
[aged 39]