Mehmed III

Mehmed III محمد ثالث
Caliph of Islam Amir al-Mu'minin Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
The portrait of Sultan Mehmet III by Italian painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo, 16th century.
13th Ottoman Sultan (Emperor)
Reign	January 15, 1595 – December 22, 1603
Predecessor	Murad III
Successor	Ahmed I
Born	May 26, 1566 Manisa Palace, Manisa, Ottoman Empire
Died	December 21/22, 1603 (aged 37) Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Consorts	Handan Sultan Halime Sultan Haseki Sultan
Full name Mehmed bin Murad
Dynasty	House of Osman
Father	Murad III
Mother	Safiye Sultan
Tughra

Mehmed III (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثالث‎, Meḥmed-i sālis; Turkish: III. Mehmet; May 26, 1566 – December 21/22, 1603) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603.

He was born at the Manisa Palace, during the reign of his great-grandfather, Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1566. He was the son of Şehzade Murad (later Murad III), himself the son of Şehzade Selim (later Selim II), who was the son of Sultan Suleiman and Hürrem Sultan. His mother was Safiye Sultan, an Albanian from the Dukagjin highlands. His great-grandfather died the year he was born and his grandfather became the new Sultan, Selim II. His grandfather Sultan Selim II died when Mehmed was 8 and Mehmed's father, Murad III, became Sultan in 1574. Mehmed thus became Crown Prince until his father's death in 1595, when he was 28 years old.

Mehmed III remains notorious even in Ottoman history for having nineteen of his brothers and half-brothers executed to secure power. They were all strangled by his deaf-mutes.

Mehmed III was an idle ruler, leaving government to his mother Safiye Sultan, the valide sultan. His first major problem was the rivalry between two of his viziers, Serdar Ferhad Pasha and Koca Sinan Pasha, and their supporters. His mother and her son-in-law Damat Ibrahim Pasha supported Koca Sinan Pasha, and prevented Mehmed III from taking control of the issue himself. The issue grew to cause major disturbances by janissaries. On 7 July 1595, Mehmed III finally sacked Serdar Ferhad Pasha from the position of Grand Vizier due to his failure in Wallachia and replaced him with Sinan.