SULTAN III. AHMED HAN

Father : Sultan IV. Mehmed
Mother : Emetullah Gülnûş Sultan
Date of Birth : December 30/31, 1673
Accession to the Throne : August 22, 1703
Date of Dethronement : October 1/2, 1730
Death : July 1, 1736

Sultan II. Ahmed was enthroned in August 1703 as the 23rd Sovereign. He received a good education with the support of his mother. He was an intelligent prince. Since he had an easy childnood, he was able to follow up state affairs closely, and be informed about state administration.

He had studied political developments in Europe, and sent residential envoys to some states with the purpose of receiving more detailed information. He had studied the cultural developments in Europe from the books he ordered to be brought into the country. He conceived the importance of the printing press and ordered İbrahim Müteferrika to install the first printing press which marked the transfer from handwritten works to printed books. He assigned İbrahim Paşa as the Grand Vezir and made him his son in law by letting him marry his daughter.

Sultan Ahmed III had an inborn subtlety. He was interested in fine arts. He also was a good calligrapher like his ancestors. The calligraphy on the inscripton of the fountain which he ordered to be constructed in his name across the Topkapı Palace, evidencing the construction date, is written by him. He was also a good poet and wrote his poetry under the pseudonym of Necib. It is known that he wrote four different Korans during his reign. He believed in reforms at the state institutions and claimed that the state remained behind Europe because such reforms had been overlooked for years, thus leading to calamities.

The period in our history between 1718-1730 is called the “Tulip Era”. This period is also expressed as an era of peace and enjoyment.

Sultan Ahmed was a thin man of a slender structure. He had fair complexion, light green eyes and a dense beard. He instituted two libraries, one at the Topkapı Palace and the other inside the Yeni Cami. He had ordered the construction of the grand dike in İstanbul where there was water shortage.