Sultan Ahmed III

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 21^st, 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 24^th, 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 28^th, 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.