Historical Reference

. Sultan 'Osmam II. (1031=1622). When the imbecile Mustafa I. (one of whose amusements consisted of throwing gold coins into the Bosporus for the fish) was removed from the throne, his young nephew Prince 'Osman, then in the fourteenth year of his age, was named Sultan in his stead (1027 — 1618). This monarch formed a plan, bold enough in design, but which he lacked vigor to carry out, for destroying the Janissaries and Sipahis, whose insolence had grown beyond all bounds. These fierce Praetorians got word of the Sultan's scheme, and dashing into the Seraglio, seized 'Osman and dragged him off to the famous prison of the Seven Towers. There they slew their sovereign with circumstances of insolent cruelty; and thus were the Ottoman annals for the first time stained with the crime of regicide." 1

Mustafa I. was restored to the Sultanate and reigned from1622 to 1623.

1. Ottoman Literature By Elias John Wilkinson Gibb, Copyright, 1901, NewYork London U.K. M. WALTER DUNNE,

Mustafa I. succeeded Ahmed in 1617, but his short reign was uneventful; he proved to be an imbecile, and was succeeded by his brother, Osman II. (1618-1622), the next year. The latter had an inconsequential war with Poland and an unsuccessful war with Persia, which resulted in the loss of all the Persian territory acquired during the previous half- century. The Janissaries mutinied; and, in his efforts to discipline them, they deposed and murdered him and placed Murad IV. (1623-1640), a child of eleven years, on the throne in 1623. In spite of his youth, Murad proved the most courageous and efficient sultan since the days of Suleiman, the Magnificent. He disciplined the rebellious Janissaries by decapitating the ringleader; he recaptured Bagdad and other Persian provinces lost during the reign of his predecessor; and he reformed provincial administration by executing every official whom he suspected of dishonesty.

Monroe,  W. S. Turkey And The Turks The Lands, The Peoples, And The
Institutions Of The Ottoman Empire . London U.K. G. Bell and Sons. MDCCCCVIII

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