The war party was supported by the ulema, who viewed the Shia Safavids as heretics deserving of death and destruction. The military campaign in the east, which began in 1578, was promoted by the pro-Venetian faction inside the sultan’s harem, who preferred wars against Iran to military actions against Venice in the west. As in the past, the Ottoman army was initially successful. The Iranian forces withdrew into the interior of their territory, while the Georgian princes who had accepted the suzerainty of the shah defected to the Ottoman camp. Georgia, Armenia, Karabagh, Daghistan, and Shirvan fell to the sultan’s troops. The initial victories against the Safavids in the Caucasus sealed the fate of Sokullu Mehmed, who had opposed another futile and costly campaign in the east. In October 1579 the grand vizier was assassinated (Imber: 63; Shaw: 1:182).
The war against the Safavids continued for over a decade. With support from the Uzbeks, who attacked the Iranian province of Khorasan from the northeast, the Ottomans forced the new Safavid monarch, Shah Abbas, to sue for peace in March 1590. The victory over the Safavids and the conquest of the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Kurdistan were celebrated in Istanbul. The empire had expanded in size, and booty and taxes from the newly conquered territories had revived the treasury. The conquests in the east, however, were short-lived. Defeat at the hands of the Ottomans awakened the Iranians to the need for reform of their army. For the next decade Shah Abbas worked tirelessly to reorganize the Safavid forces.
The conclusion of the military campaigns against Iran freed the Ottoman armies to confront the looming threat posed by the Habsburgs. As long as the Ottomans were fighting the Safavids, the sultan and his advisers had maintained peace with the Habsburg Empire. But Ottoman raiders carried out attacks into Habsburg territory, while the Habsburgs attacked Ottoman possessions in Bosnia and Transylvania. The ferocity of the Ottoman raids forced the Habsburg emperor to declare war on the sultan in 1592. The Habsburg army invaded Ottoman territory and scored an impressive victory over the sultan’s forces at Sissek (Sisak) on June 20, 1593 (Naima: 14; Shaw: 1:184). The war with the Habsburgs lasted for nearly 13 years and brought the pope and Venice into an alliance with the emperor. The most important ally of the Habsburgs, however, proved to be Prince Michael of Wallachia, who revolted in protest against excessive taxation by the sultan in 1594 (Naima: 37–38; Shaw: 1:184–185). As the bread basket of the empire, Wallachia and Moldavia supplied Istanbul with meat and grain and commanded the important commercial routes of the Black Sea and the Danube River, which were used by the Ottomans to transport their armies against the Habsburgs (Shaw: 1:184). Murad III died in 1595 and was succeeded by his son, Mehmed III (r. 1595–1603).
See also: Sultans: Mehmed III; Selim II
Further Reading
Alderson, A. D. The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.
Cook, M. A., ed. A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973.
McCarthy, Justin. The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923. London and New York: Wesley Longman Limited, 1997.
Naima, Mustafa (Mustafa Naim). Annals of the Turkish Empire from 1591 to 1659 of the Christian Era. Translated by Charles Fraser. New York: Arno Press, 1973.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Sugar, Peter. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1805. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Murad IV (1612–1640)
A sultan of the Ottoman Empire who ruled from 1623 to 1640. Murad was born on July 27, 1612, in Istanbul. His father was Sultan Ahmed I, who ruled from 1603 to 1617. His mother was Kösem Sultan, who had arrived at the palace as a female slave from either Bosnia or Greece. Murad ascended the Ottoman throne at the age of 11. With his accession, the Ottoman Empire entered a new period of rejuvenation. During the first few years of his reign the young sultan remained under the influence of Kösem Sultan and the officials who had supported his accession to the throne (Parry: 137). Once he had assumed the reins of the state and established firm control over the army, the chaos and internal rivalries subsided, and he restored the authority of the central government. In the beginning of Murad’s reign, the anarchy in the capital and the rebellion of Abaza Mehmed Pasha in eastern Anatolia encouraged the Safavid dynasty of Iran to embark on a campaign to expand Iranian territorial possessions in the Arab world and regain the provinces it had lost to Selim I (r. 1512–1520) and Süleyman I (r. 1520–1566). A Safavid army led by Shah Abbas invaded Iraq, occupied Baghdad on January 12, 1624, and massacred the Sunni population of the city. Emboldened by their victory, the Iranians moved north toward southeastern Anatolia, reaching Mardin in Kurdistan.
The brutality displayed by the shah and his troops in Baghdad caused a popular anti-Shia outcry in Istanbul and a demand for action against the Iranian heretics, who had once again dared to threaten the territorial and religious integrity of the Ottoman state. The Iranian advance toward southeastern Anatolia encouraged Abaza Mehmed Pasha to raise the flag of rebellion for a second time. The sultan blamed the fall of Baghdad on the grand vizier, Kemankeş (Kemankesh) Kara Ali Pasha, who was dismissed and replaced by Çerkes (Cherkes) Mehmed. The new grand vizier assumed command of the Ottoman army and immediately marched against Abaza Mehmed, who was defeated in September 1624. Despite this victory, the grand vizier retained Abaza Mehmed as the governor of Erzurum and proceeded with the invasion of Iraq. Ottoman attempts to recapture Baghdad in May 1625 and April 1626 failed. Iranian resistance and the arrival of a Safavid force led by Shah Abbas forced the Ottoman troops to withdraw. Encouraged by the Ottoman failure to conquer Iraq, Abaza Mehmed staged a third revolt in July 1627, which was once again crushed by the Ottomans, in September 1628. To the shock of many who expected the sultan to order his execution, Murad extended a pardon to Abaza Mehmed and his men and ordered them to join the Ottoman army.
Portrait of the Ottoman sultan Murad IV (r. 1623–1640), who conquered Baghdad in 1638. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
With the death of the energetic and charismatic Shah Abbas in 1629, a new monarch ascended the Safavid throne as Shah Safi. Viewing the death of Abbas as an opportunity, the Ottomans invaded western Iran and captured the city of Hamadan in June 1630. The population of the ancient city was put to the sword by order of the sultan, who then turned toward Baghdad (Sykes: 2:210). As they began their assault, the walls of Baghdad were leveled by Ottoman artillery, but the sultan’s forces sustained heavy casualties when they failed to capture the city. The tactical defeat of the Ottoman army at the gates of Baghdad in November 1630 inspired anti-Ottoman rebellions in the Arab provinces of the empire, including Egypt, Lebanon, and Yemen. Worse, in 1631 the dismissal of the grand vizier Husrev Pasha, who had failed to capture Baghdad, ignited massive rebellion by janissary and sipāhi corps in Istanbul that spread to Anatolia (Imber: 80; Shaw: 1:196). Remarkably, the sultan then invited the rebellious troops to travel to Istanbul so they could express their grievances in person.
Armed, angry, and determined, the rebellious army units returned to disrupt life in the capital; under pressure from the troops, the sultan executed a number of high officials, including the grand vizier (Imber: 81). However, the anarchy did not subside. With the arrival of new army units from Anatolia, the violence in Istanbul intensified as gangs of bandits joined the rebellious troops in looting homes, shops, and businesses. As the anarchy spread, the janissary and sipāhi corps fought for control of Istanbul even while
the sultan used the situation in the capital and the exhaustion of the warring factions to consolidate his rule. With support from his advisers, Murad demanded that all army units sign an oath of loyalty to his person, promising that they would join forces to suppress the rebellious troops and bandits roaming through the capital and disturbing the peace in Anatolia. Shortly after peace and order were restored, Murad IV appealed to his people and loyal troops to eliminate the individuals who were responsible for the recent disturbances. In the name of eliminating banditry, corruption, and bribery, thousands of government officials, officers, and individuals who had played a prominent role in the recent disturbances were removed from their posts and subsequently executed. When on September 2, 1633, a devastating fire burned thousands of shops in the capital, the sultan interpreted it as a sign of God’s wrath and demanded the restoration of the moral order (Imber: 81). The usage of coffee and tobacco were prohibited, and coffeehouses that had been used as centers of political and social mobilization were closed (Imber: 81; Shaw: 1:198). A network of spies and informants organized by the palace identified the troublemakers who had criticized the sultan and his high officials. Members of the ulema, elements of the educated class, and prominent poets and writers were punished with death when they failed to toe the line.
OTTOMAN MILITARY PARADES
When an Ottoman army returned from a victorious campaign, military parades were organized to display the power and glory of the Ottoman sultan and his mighty army. To demonstrate the awe-inspiring and intimidating dominance of the sultan’s armed forces, the Ottomans paraded the bound and chained enemy captives and the decapitated heads of their troops. These were often flayed and salted, then stuffed with hay to be carried on poles, pikes, and lances. In the following excerpt from Evliya Çelebi’s Book of Travels, the Ottoman traveler and author recounts the return of Sultan Murad IV from a successful campaign against the Safavid dynasty, based in Iran:
The sultan was dressed in steel armour, and had a threefold aigrette in his turban, stuck obliquely on one side in the Persian manner: he was mounted on a Noghai steed, followed by seven led horses of the Arab breed, decked out in embroidered trappings set with jewels. … The conqueror looked with dignity on both sides of him, like a lion who seized his prey, and saluted the people as he went on, followed by three thousand pages clad in armour. The people shouted “God be praised!” as he passed, and threw themselves on their faces to the ground. … During this triumphant procession to the saray all the ships … fired salutes, so that the sea seemed in a blaze. The public criers announced that seven days and seven nights were to be devoted to festivity and rejoicing.
Source: Evliya Efendi (Çelebi), Narratives of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the Seventeenth Century, trans. Ritter Joseph Von Hammer (London: Parbury, Allen, & Co., 1834), 1:131.
Having established control over the government and the army, Murad began to focus on securing the northern borders of his empire against the raids carried out by the Cossacks, who were supported by Poland. In 1634 the Ottomans raised a large army, which failed to neutralize the threat. The sultan eventually agreed to a peace offer from Poland. In exchange for an Ottoman promise to prevent the Tatars from attacking Polish territory, the Poles agreed to put an end to Cossack raids. The peace with Poland allowed Murad to return to the Iranian front. Five years after the failure to capture Baghdad, the Ottoman forces struck again. This time the targets were Yerevan and Tabriz, which were occupied without resistance in August and September 1635. But the Ottoman ruler knew full well that the temporary glory could not be sustained. Following the established pattern, the Safavids followed the Ottoman main army until it left Iranian territory and then laid siege to the cities captured by the Ottoman troops, quickly retaking Yerevan in April 1636. But Murad was not to be denied. In October 1638 Ottoman forces returned to Mesopotamia, stormed Baghdad, and captured the city in December despite sustaining heavy casualties. These included the grand vizier, who “was killed leading the assault” (Sykes: 2:211). The Safavids were forced to sue for peace. On May 17, 1639, the Ottoman Empire and Iran signed a treaty on the plain of Zohab (Zuhab) near the town of Qasr-i Shirin (in present-day western Iran), which ended nearly 140 years of hostility and warfare between the two Islamic states. The Treaty of Qasr-i Shirin (Kasr-i Şirin) established the Ottoman sultan as the master of Iraq, while Safavid Iran maintained control over Azerbaijan and the southern Caucasus, including Yerevan (Hurewitz: 1:21–23). The Safavids promised to end their Shia missionary activities and military raids in Ottoman territory. As a symbolic gesture, the Iranians also agreed to cease the practice of publicly cursing the Sunni caliphs, which had become widespread among the Shia population in Iran. The charismatic Sultan Murad IV died on February 9, 1640.
See also: Sultans: Ahmed I; Ibrahim; Kösem Sultan
Further Reading
Alderson, A. D. The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.
Börekçi, Günhan. “Murad IV.” In Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Gábor Ágoston and Bruce Masters, 403. New York: Facts On File, 2009.
Evliya Çelebi. The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman: Melek Ahmed Pasha, 1588–1662. Translated by Robert Dankoff. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Freely, John. Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul. London: Penguin Books, 1999.
Hurewitz, J. C. Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A Documentary Record. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1956.
Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
McCarthy, Justin. The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923. London and New York: Wesley Longman Limited, 1997.
Parry, V. J. “The Period of Murad IV, 1617–1648.” In A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730, edited by M. A. Cook, 133–156. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Roemer, H. R. “The Safavid Period.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, edited by Peter Jackson and Lawrence Lockhart, 6:189–350. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Somel, Selçuk Akșin. Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Sugar, Peter. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1805. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Sykes, Sir Percy. History of Persia. 2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1951.
Murad V (1840–1904)
An Ottoman sultan who ruled for a short period in 1876. Murad was the son of the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid (Abdülmejid), who ruled from 1839 to 1861. After the death of Āli Pasha in September 1871 the reigning sultan, Abdülaziz (r. 1861–1876), became increasingly involved in running the everyday affairs of the empire, introducing an element of chaos. Then, in the early hours of May 30, 1876, a small group of officials and army commanders led by the reform-minded statesman Midhat Pasha carried out a peaceful military coup (Davison: 335–338). Midhat Pasha had served as governor of Nish from 1861 to 1868 and as governor of Baghdad from 1869 to 1872. Midhat Pasha and other coup leaders brought a son of Sultan Abdülmecid and a nephew of Sultan Abdülaziz, Prince Murad, out of his residence to the ministry of war and declared him the new sultan.
On June 4, a few days after the accession of Murad V, the body of the deposed sultan Abdülaziz was discovered in his private bedroom, his wrists slashed with a pair of scissors. The rumor quickly spread that Abdülaziz had been murdered. To defuse the rumors of assassination, the government called on doctors from several foreign embassies in Istanbul to examine the body and offer their medical opinion on the cause of death, which was officially declared a suicide. The death of Abdülaziz deeply affected Murad V, who suffered a nervous breakdown. Murad’s mental condition for
ced Midhat Pasha to depose him in favor of his brother, who ascended the Ottoman throne on August 31 as Abdülhamid II. Midhat Pasha was appointed grand vizier on December 19 and four days later introduced the first Ottoman constitution (McCarthy: 304).
See also: Beys and Pashas: Āli Pasha, Mehmed Emin; Fuad Pasha; Midhat Pasha; Mustafa Reșid Pasha; Sultans: Abdülmecid; Mahmud II; Murad V
Further Reading
Davison, Roderic H. Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–1876. New York: Gordian Press, 1973.
Findley, Carter V. Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire: The Sublime Porte, 1789–1922. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Jelavich, Charles, and Barbara Jelavich. The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 1804–1920. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Mardin, Şerif. The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought: A Study in the Modernization of Turkish Political Ideas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
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