Sultan Murad IV

Seventeenth of Ottoman Sultans, a poet. (B. July 9^th or 27^th, 1612, Istanbul- D. February 8^th, 1640). He was the son of Ahmed I and Mahpeyker (Kösem) Sultan. He ascended to the throne when he was 11 years old by the help of Grand Vizier Kemankeş Ali and Shayk Al-Islam on 10^th Spetember 1623, instead of Sultan Mustafa II, who did not have a stable mental condition. In the first nine years of his reign, his mother Kösem Sultan and statesman had the influence on the government. In that period the trust of the public for the central administration decreased day by day by the reasons of some domestic issues such as the riots of janissaries and cavalrymen, the loss of Baghdad and the defeat of the Ottoman forces to the Safavids.

Murad IV, who was uncomfortable with those circumstances and the influence of his mother over him and the state affairs, seized the control in 1631 and displaced Hüsrev Pasha, who had failed in the siege of Baghdad and charged Müezzinzâde Hafız Pasha for the duty. The statesmen, who were uneasy with Sultan Murad’s grab of power, tried to put a stop to this situation. The Janissaries and the cavalrymen, who had been provoked by Receb Pasha, killed Müezzinzâde Hafız Pasha and Receb Pasha became the Grand Vizier. Sultan Murad, who wasn’t able to prevent these riots, couldn’t have resisted the demands of the rebellious. But after a while, he gained the control utterly and had Receb Pasha executed. He forced Janissaries and cavalrymen to take an oath of allegiance by intimidating them. He banned tobacco and drinks, closed the coffee houses and pubs, had the people executed who had violated the rules.

Murad IV set out for the Polish campaign in 1634. Upon the acceptance of Ottoman provisions, he signed a peace treaty with Poland and returned to Istanbul. He set out for the Iran campaign in order to take back the lost lands with the army he led personally. He returned to Istanbul after having captured the Castle of Revan (Erivan) and Hoy (1635). But the next year the Revan Castle was lost. The Ottomans were defeated in Erdalan by the Safavids, in Szalonta by the Transylvanians; the Castle of Azov was captured by the Russians.  Then Sultan Murad IV set out for the Iran campaign again and entered Baghdad after a 40 days of siege (1638). Later, the border between Ottoman - Iran was saved except small changes until present days by the treaty of Kasr-ı Şirin (May 17^th, 1639). Murad IV, who had been dealing with the uproars created by the Crimean Khans, who cut loose from the Ottoman Empire, had Crimean Khan İnayet Giray executed in 1637. He tried to suppress the riots in Albania and Bosnia. He failed in attempt to achieve the superiority over Venice, Malta and Napoli; but against the pillages of Venetian pirates, he imposed an embargo on Venetian trade vessels. In 1639, he agreed with Venice by signing a contract regarding not to damage each other.

Murad IV had a brave, hard and decisive character and was known as the last Ottoman Sultan who led an army personally. He managed to restore the order and increasing the public revenues. The reign of Sultan Murad IV might be divided into two eras as youth, in which his mother and the statesman had influences, and as acumen, in which he seized the control by ending the domination of the rebels.

During his reign, he placed emphasis on development of science, art and literature. He also wrote poems using pseudonym “Muradî”. He backed Shayk Al-Islam Yahya, Nef’î, Ganizâde Nadiri, Azmizâde Hâleti, Nevizâde Atai, who were distinguished poets of that era. However, he had Nef’î executed upon finding out that Nef’î continued to write satires although he had warned him against doing so. Koçi Bey presented Murad IV his famous booklet in which he explained the malfunctions in the state organization and offered necessary measures and precautions to correct them.

The musical activities, which halted to take part in the palace because of the politic and economic problems that Ottoman Empire faced by the end of the XVI Century, were revived, became widespread and made progress in the era of Murad IV. During his reign, he had Enderun gain new artists by bringing twelve musical authorities Istanbul, among whom Şeştârî Murad Agha was the most famous after he conquered Tebriz, and those contributed to the musical activities of that era. Murad IV personally was a musician and poet. He used the pseudonym of “Muradî” in his poems. The lyric of the hymn that starts with the line "Uyan ey gözlerim gafletten uyan" belongs to Murad IV.

In the era of Murad IV there were significant discoveries in science and technical inventions. Hazerfan Ahmed Çelebi succeeded to fly from Galata tower to Üsküdar in 1631 after having made a few flight tests and the sultan watched the attempt. Firstly, Sultan rewarded him, but he sent him to exile to Algeria saying “it is not right to leave such people around”. Evliya Çelebi noted that Hazerfen had died there.

In that period, Lagari Hasan Çelebi showed a similar success. In 1633 during the festivals held for the birth of daughter of Murad IV Kaya Sultan, Lagari executed a flight similar to Hezarfen’s attempt and was rewarded by the Sultan.

Sultan Murad IV was mentioned in the theater play written by Turan Oflazoğlu (IV. Murad, 1970, 1981) and a TV series directed by Yücel Çakmaklı (IV. Murat, 1980).