Sultan III. Mustafa (1717-1774) was the son of III. Ahmed and mothered by Mihrişah Sultan. He was the 105th Islamic Caliph and the 26th Ottoman Sultan.
Sultan III. Mustafa ascended to the throne at the age of 40, after spending 27 years in seclusion. The first decade of his reign was relatively peaceful. The pacifist foreign policy of Grand Vizier Koca Ragıp Pasha prevented a potential war with Russia. Embracing reformist movements, Sultan Mustafa initiated significant changes in the Artillery Corps based on the system imported from France, and established schools for both land and naval engineers.
After the passing of Ragıp Pasha, the pacifist foreign policy was abandoned, and war with the Russians resumed upon the request of the Poles. However, this war led to consecutive defeats, including losses along the Danube and the destruction of our navy in the port of Çeşme during the reign of Empress Catherine II of Russia. This situation vindicated the stance of Koca Ragıp Pasha.
Upon witnessing the Russian incursion from Dobrich into Bulgaria, Sultan III. Mustafa sadly realized that the situation was deteriorating. It was at this very moment that he suffered a stroke and passed away (January 21, 1774). He was laid to rest in the tomb adjacent to the Laleli Mosque in Istanbul, which he had commissioned.
Sultan III. Mustafa advocated for European-style military reforms and was known to be involved in the profession of minting coins. He was recognized for his eloquence, and it was during his reign that the tradition of giving lessons in the presence of the Sultan during Ramadan at the Ottoman Palace began.
In 1766, following a major earthquake in Istanbul, Sultan Mustafa oversaw the reconstruction of the Fatih Mosque, which was deemed irreparable. One of his ambitious projects of the era was to connect Lake Sapanca to the Gulf of İzmit. The opening of the Suez Canal was first considered during his reign.
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