200px|thumb|right|Reception ceremony of the Comte de Saint Priest at the Ottoman Porte Antoine de Favray, 1767.
Mustafa III (;  Muṣṭafā-yi sālis; 28 January 1717 – 21 January 1774) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774.
He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30), and his consort Mihrişah Kadın.
He was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89).
Early life
Mustafa was born at the Edirne Palace on 28 January 1717.
His father was Sultan Ahmed III, and his mother was Mihrişah Kadın.
He had a full brother named, Şehzade Süleyman.
In 1720, a large fifteen day circumcision ceremony took place for Mustafa, and his brothers, princes Süleyman, Mehmed, and Bayezid.
In 1730, after the Patrona Halil revolt, led to the deposition of his father Sultan Ahmed III, and the succession of his cousin Sultan Mahmud I, Mustafa, his father, and brothers were all locked up in the Topkapı Palace.
In 1756, after the death of his elder half-brother Mehmed, he became heir to the throne.
Reign
Accession
Mustafa ascended the throne on 30 October 1757, after the death of his cousin Osman III, the son of Sultan Mustafa II.
Character of Mustafa's rule
Soon after his accession to the throne, Mustafa demonstrated a special care for justice.
He took a number of measures to increase prosperity in Istanbul.
He regulated coinage, built large grain stores, maintained aqueducts, and established a strict fiscal policy.
He traveled frequently and checked whether the laws he had enforced were followed.
Treaty with Prussia
Mustafa much admired Frederick the Great's generalship, and in 1761 established a peace treaty with Prussia.
Frederick wanted an alliance against the Habsburgs, and Mustafa wanted to modernize his state and army.
Mustafa preferred recruiting his officers in Berlin, rather than in Paris and London, to re-organize his army.
In 1763, the two countries exchanged their diplomats for the first time.
Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
Koca Ragıp Pasha, who remained grand vizier until 1763, pursued a peace policy towards neighboring countries.
But the increasing influence of Russia over the Caucasus and its intention to control Poland created tension between the Ottomans and Russia.
Ragıp Pasha's successor Muhsinzade Mehmed Pasha also preferred to remain at peace, and Mustafa's insistence on war ( "I will find some means of humbling those infidels" Lord Kinross Ottoman centuries)with Russia led to his resignation in 1768.
The Sultan expected to gain an easy victory over the Russians, but in fact the Ottomans were unprepared for a long war.
During the war, military reforms were undertaken, with the assistance of French officer François Baron de Tott.
They included the modernization of artillery corps and the foundation of the Naval Engineering School in 1773.
The war was disastrous for the Ottoman Empire.
The Russian armies occupied the Crimea, Romania and parts of Bulgaria.
File:Kagula.jpg|Russian forces charge against the Turk, Battle of Kagul, southern Bessarabia, 1770.
File:Hackert, Die Zerstörung der türkischen Flotte in der Schlacht von Tschesme, 1771.jpg|The destruction of the Ottoman Turk fleet in the Battle of Chesme, 1770.
Architecture
Many monumental buildings including the Fatih Mosque, which was built by Mehmed the Conqueror was rebuilt from the ground during his reign.
In addition, he had built Laleli Mosque complex, and the shore along the Yenikapı filled to set up a new neighborhood.
Apart from these, he undertook other construction projects after the earthquakes of 1766, and 1767.
Personal life
Poetry
He was a poet, his poetry being written under the pseudonym of Cihangir.Lord Kinross, Ottoman Centuries, (Perennial, 2002), 406.
(Ottoman Turkish)
"Yıkılupdur bu cihan sanma ki bizde düzele Devleti çarh-ı deni verdi kamu müptezele Şimdi erbab-ı saadette gezen hep hazele İşimiz kaldı hemen merhamet-i lem yezele."
Yıkılupdur bu cihan sanma ki biz de düzele
(Translation)
"This world has ruined, don't even think with us it recovers, It was the lousy fate that has delivered the power to vulgars, Now the perfidious ones have populated the Imperial Palace, It's now the mercy of the everlasting God that runs our business.
Family
thumb|250px|right|Mustafa III ;Consorts Mustafa had married all of his consorts.
He had made marriage of conscience because there were grounds for believing that the women in question had been born Muslims.
In each case the sultan declared the girl to be free and repeated the marriage vow in her behalf before the Şeyhülislam, but did this without pomp.
His six wives were:
Unnamed Senior Kadın, married on 19 July 1760 to Ali Bey, secretary to the Darüssade Agha;
Mihrişah Sultan (died 16 October 1805, buried in Mihrişah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp, Istanbul), Senior Kadın;
Mihrişah Kadın (died 1799, buried in Şah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp, Istanbul), Second Kadın;
Aynülhayat Kadın (died 21 July 1764, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul), Third Kadın;
Adilşah Kadın (died 19 December 1803, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul), Third Kadın;
Rif’at Kadın (died 25 December 1804, buried in Haydarpaşa Cemetery, Istanbul), Fourth Kadın;
;Sons Mustafa had two sons:
Selim III (24 December 1761 – 28 July 1808, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum), with Mihrişah;
Şehzade Sultan Mehmed (10 January 1767 – 12 October 1772, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque Istanbul);
;Daughters Mustafa had seven daughters:
Hibetullah Sultan (14 March 1759 – 7 June 1762, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul), with Mihrişah, betrothed on 2 June 1759 to Mahir Hamza Pasha;
Şah Sultan (20 April 1761 – 11 March 1803, buried in Şah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp, Istanbul), with Mihrişah, married on 6 November 1778, Damad Seyyid Mustafa Pasha;
Mihrimah Sultan (4 November 1762 – 16 March 1764, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul), with Aynülhayat;
Mihrişah Sultan (9 December 1762 – 21 February 1769, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul);
Beyhan Sultan (15 December 1765 – 7 November 1824, buried in Mihrişah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp, Istanbul), with Adilşah, married on 22 April 1784 to Damad Celik Mustafa Pasha;
Hatice Sultan (14 June 1768 – 17 July 1822, buried in Mihrişah Sultan Mausoleum, Eyüp, Istanbul), with Adilşah, married on 9 November 1786 to Damad Seyyid Ahmed Pasha;
Fatma Sultan (9 January 1770 – 26 May 1772, buried in Mustafa III Mausoleum, Laleli Mosque, Istanbul), with Mihrişah;
Death
Mustafa died of heart attack on Friday, 21 January 1774, at the Topkapı Palace, and was buried in his own mausoleum located at Laleli Mosque, Istanbul.
He was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I.
His death left the empire struggling with economic and administrative problems.
File:Laleli Mosque 6584.jpg|Laleli Mosque tomb Sultan Mustafa III and son Selim III References
Bibliography
External links
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