Mustafa II

Mustafa II
Ottoman Sultan
Caliph
Reign	February 6, 1695–December 8, 1703
Period	Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire
Full Name	Mustafa II
Predecessor	Ahmed II
Successor	Ahmed III
Royal House	House of Osman
Dynasty	Ottoman Dynasty

Mustafa II Ghazi (Ottoman Turkish: مصطفى ثانى Muṣṭafā-yi sānī) (February 6/June 5, 1664 – December 28/30, 1703) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703.

Life

He was born at Edirne Palace a son of sultan Mehmed IV (1648–87) and Valide Sultan Mah-Para Ummatullah Rabia Gül-Nush, originally named Evemia,^[1] who was of Greek Cretan descent.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Mustafa II abdicated in favor of his brother Ahmed III (1703–30) in 1703.

The most traumatic event of his reign was the loss of Hungary by the Treaty of Karlowitz 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 timars, 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 Palace, Constantinople.

He married twice, to Valide Sultan Saliha Sabkati, mother of Mahmud I, and to Valide Sultan Shehsuvar, mother of Osman III.

References

1. ^ Baker, Anthony E (1993). The Bosphorus. Redhouse Press. p. 146. ISBN 9754130620. "The Valide Sultan was born Evmania Voria, daughter of a Greek priest in a village near Rethymnon on Crete. She was captured by the Turks when they took Rethymnon in 1645." 
2. ^ Freely, John (2001). The lost Messiah. Viking. p. 132. ISBN 0670886750. "He set up his harem there, his favourite being Rabia Giilniis Ummetiillah, a Greek girl from Rethymnon on Crete" 
3. ^ Palmer, Alan (2009). The decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. Barnes & Noble. p. 27. ISBN 156619847X. "Unusually, the twenty-nine year old Ahmed III was a brother, rather than a half- brother, of his predecessor; their Cretan mother, Rabia" 
4. ^ Bromley, J. S. (1957). The New Cambridge Modern History. University of California: University Press. p. 554. ISBN 0521221285. "the mother of Mustafa II and Ahmed III was a Cretan" 
5. ^ Sardo, Eugenio Lo (1999). Tra greci e turchi: fonti diplomatiche italiane sul Settecento ottomano. Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche. p. 82. ISBN 88-8080-014-0. "Their mother, a Cretan, lady named Rabia Gulnus, continued to wield influence as the Walide Sultan - mother of the reigning sultan" 
6. ^ Library Information and Research Service (2005). The Middle East. Library Information and Research Service. p. 91. "She was the daughter of a Cretan (Greek) family and she was the mother of Mustafa II (1664-1703), and Ahmed III (1673-1736)." 

Sources

• Abou-El-Haj, R. A. (1974). "The Narcissism of Mustafa II (1695-1703): A Psychohistorical Study". Studia Islamica (40): pp. 115–131. 

Mustafa II House of Osman Born: February 6, 1664 Died: December 28, 1703[aged 39]
Regnal titles
Preceded by Ahmed II	Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Feb 6, 1695 - Dec 28, 1703	Succeeded by Ahmed III
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Ahmed II	Caliph of Islam Feb 6, 1695 - Dec 28, 1703	Succeeded by Ahmed III

Persondata
Name	Mustafa 02
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 5, 1664
Place of birth
Date of death	1703
Place of death