Twenty third Ottoman padishah (B. 1673,
Bulgaria – D. 1730, Istanbul). He was the son of Mehmed IV and Rabia Emetullah
Gülnûş Sultan, and the brother of Mustafa II and the father of Mustafa III and
Abdülhamid I. As a result of the uprising which is known as the Edirne Event,
he actually ascended to the throne in place of his brother Mustafa II (1703). After
he came to Istanbul from Edirne he tried to take control of the government
which was taken over by the rebels. He fiercely stood against the uprising
attempt of bostanjis (T.N. imperial guard of palace) and removed approximately
seven hundred bostanjis from the palace. Following this, with the help of Damat
(Enişte) Hasan Pasha he started to discharge the plotters of the Edirne Event.
He punished the ringleaders of the uprising.
Sultan Ahmed, who had to deal mostly
with internal problems in the first years of his sultanate, preferred to remain
neutral during the War of Spanish Succession and the wars between Russia and
Sweden, which were being fought in Europe in those years. Events following the
request of asylum of King of Sweden Charles XII (T. N. called Demirbaş Şarl in
Turkish, meaning Charles the Fixture), who was defeated by the Russians in
Poltava, in the Ottoman Empire triggered the Russo-Turkish war. After this war,
some part of the lands that were lost with the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) were
regained. With the Treaty of Passarowitz (July 21st, 1718) signed by
Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, who became the grand vizier in 1718, the
tension with the Russians was defused.
After the Treaty of Passarowitz, a
long-lasting period of peace was experienced apart from the Persian wars.
Second period of the sultanate of Sultan Ahmed III was the beginning of the
period that passed into the history as the Tulip Era. In this era, even if just
a tad, certain elements of Western lifestyle started to penetrate into the
country. Manor houses and gardens were constructed by taking the French gardens
as examples. Foreign painters were invited and Kağıthane was reorganized. The
first Turkish printing house was founded with the initiatives of İbrahim
Müteferrika (1727). The ceramics plant was opened in Istanbul and a paper
factory was opened in Yalova. Translations were made from Eastern and Western
languages by forming a science board. Libraries were constructed in the Palace
and in certain parts of Istanbul.
In the presence of the disorder that had
been going on in Iran since 1694 and Russia’s attempts to invade Iran and
because the Muslims in Şirvan and Dagestan region asked for the protection of
Ottoman Empire, a war was declared on Iran. Tbilisi was captured in 1723 and
Hoy was captured in 1724. In the meantime, Russia’s invasion of Derbent and
Baku fortresses made the Ottoman-Russian affairs tense. With the Treaty of
Constantinople signed through the medium of French ambassador, Ottoman Empire
and Russia agreed on sharing Iran (June 24th, 1724). Failures in
Iran and the flamboyant lifestyle of statesmen increased the disapproval of the
public. The Tulip Era came to an end with the Patrona Halil uprising in
Istanbul, which was a tradesmen and janissary uprising (September 28th,
1730) and Ahmed III had to abdicate the throne. After living in seclusion in
the palace for a while he died in 1736 and was buried to his mausoleum in the
garden of Yeni Mosque.
Ahmed III, who was a poet, a
calligraphist and an expert writer, was a patron and supporter of artists and
scientists during his twenty seven years of sultanate. He learned thuluth and
naskh from the famous calligraphist of the era, Hâfız Osman, and ta’liq from Veliyyüddin Efendi. The inscription on the
harem door of the palace in Sütlüce, the inscriptions of the famous fountain in
front of Bâb-ı Hümâyun in Sultanahmet and the fountain built in Üsküdar Square
and the basmala on the Arz Odası (T. N. Submission Room) in Sarây-ı Hümâyun are
the handwritings of Ahmed III himself. Together with his son-in-law Grand
Vizier İbrahim Pasha, Ahmed III patronized and gratified many poets of the era
such as Seyyid Vehbi, İzzet Ali, Neylî Ahmed, Vak'anüvis Râşid Mehmed, Küçük
Çelebizâde İsmâil Âsim, Nahîff, Sami and Nedim in particular. Also, he too
wrote poems under his pen name Necîb. As well as certain works that were
translated into Turkish from French for the first time in this era, there were
also literary books that were printed after being translated from Turkish into
French. Aside from these, he had Yeni Valide Mosque built in Üsküdar for his
mother Râbia Emetullah Gülnûş Sultan and next to it he had a public fountain, a
fountain, a primary school and an almshouse built as well. He had a second
library built next to Büyük Valide Turhan Hatice Sultan Mausoleum in Bahçekapı,
Istanbul and he had a four-faceted ornate fountain that is today known as III.
Ahmed Çeşmesi (T. N. Fountain of Ahmed III) built in Haghia Sophia Square, he had
the big fountain that is in İskele Square, Üsküdar, built and he also had a
third fountain built that was called by poet Nedim “Çeşme-i nev-peydâ" in
front of Çağlayan in Kağıthane. An album that consists of the tughras he had
used himself is in the Library of Topkapı Palace.