Mehmed IV: nineteenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Mehmed IV was the nineteenth sultan of the Ottoman dynasty. Officially, he ruled for thirty-nine years. He is considered the last ruler in which the state was a real threat in Europe. The chain of defeats of the Turkish army in campaigns led to the overthrow of the unsuccessful ruler.

Parents

Mehmed IV, whose history is connected with the events in Europe, was the son of Ibrahim the First. The father became the sultan as a result of being the last living representative of his kind. Since childhood he was considered insane and kept in confinement. Saved from death and brought to power his Kesem Sultan, who was his mother.

The real power in the empire belonged to Kesem and the Vizier. And Ibrahim cared most of all for his own harem. Mehmed became his first child, but his father did not have any special feelings for the boy. This is confirmed by the case when the Sultan, in a fit of rage, snatched a small Mehmed from his mother's hands and threw him into the pond. The boy was dragged out of the water in time, but when he fell he cut his forehead. The scar on his forehead remained for the rest of his life. Sultan was deprived of power in 1648, forcibly abdicated in favor of his son, and in the same year he was executed by strangulation.

The mother of the nineteenth sultan was Turhan Khatija. It is believed that she was a native of the Slavic lands (the territory of modern Ukraine). Before the capture by the Turks at the age of twelve, she was called Nadia. She became a concubine of the Sultan at the age of fifteen. For a long time she was a validating regent with her young son. For this title she had to compete with Kesem Sultan.

Period of government

Mehmed IV Ahmed-ogly was born on January 2, 1642. Six years later he entered the throne. The period of his youth was full of intrigues, which his mother and grandmother wove. After the sultan, the nickname of Avzhi was firmly entrenched, which is translated from Turkish as "hunter". It was the favorite occupation of the ruler.

During his nearly forty years on the throne, Mehmed IV was implicated in many events that took place in world politics.

The main events in the history that were directly related to the Ottoman Empire:

• War with the Venetians;
• Unsuccessful war with Austria;
• War with Poland (the sultan personally commanded) and the conclusion of the Zhuravsky Peace of 1676;
• Unprofitable war with Russia;
• Siege of Vienna and the defeat of the Ottoman army.

After the defeat at Vienna in 1683, the Ottoman army was waiting for a number of no less significant catastrophes. The Ottomans lost the Ionian Islands, the Morea, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Hungary. Even Belgrade passed under the control of Christians. Thus, the Ottoman Empire significantly reduced its territory.

Attitude to the Ukrainian Cossacks

Mehmed IV was born the same year when he began his uprising, which grew into a national-liberation war, Bogdan Khmelnitsky. His mother was a Ukrainian by birth. There is even a version that the mother tried to teach her son her native language, but stopped her attempts after Ibrahim the First learned about it.

Sultan Mehmed IV ruled in his empire, when the Ukrainian lands were the period of the Ruins. With him concluded an alliance like Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and Yuri Khmelnitsky. His patronage was requested by such hetmans as Ivan Vygovsky, Pavel Teteria, Ivan Bryukhovetsky.

According to one of the versions, it was Mehmet the Fourth who wrote the famous letter of the Cossacks led by Ivan Sirk. Although the Ataman himself even swore an oath to the Turkish sultan.

A representative of the Osman dynasty personally visited the Ukrainian lands. He led the campaign to Podillia. Under his command on August 27, 1672, the fortress in Kamyanets fell. As a result of this campaign, Podillia and part of Galicia were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. But this was the last successful conquest of the Sultan.

End of the Board

Mehmed IV was not a strong ruler. A long time for him ruled Validida and Vizieri. Their activities led to a series of defeats in the world arena and the weakening of the Ottoman Empire. Like his father, the nineteenth sultan was removed from the throne with the help of the Janissary insurrection. It happened in 1687. Mehmed died in prison five years after that, namely 06.01.1693.

After the shift from the throne, the Sultan became Suleiman II, who was the younger brother of his predecessor. He did not deal with the affairs of the empire, entrusting everything to his viziers.