SULTAN II. AHMED HAN

Father : Sultan İbrahim
Mother : Hatice Muazzez Sultan
Date of Birth : February 25, 1643
Accession to the Throne : June 22, 1691
Death : February 6, 1695

Sultan Ahmed was enthroned in Edirne. The state was preparing for a new mobilization against Austria in order to recover from the shock of the 2. Vienna rout. Grand Vezir Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Paşa started the war in vain. The second mobilization was made to the Hania Fortress in Crete against the Venetiansi efforts to siege the said Fortress. Victory was gained with the support of the Candia Commander. While the Ottoman fleet was busy at Crete, the Venetians landed on the Kastron Island.

During the same years, there occurred uprisings and rebellion against the state in the Iraq and Hedjaz region. Such rebellion had to be suppressed and the state had to make efforts to sustain peace in the eastern region.

The Imperiel Council of State where state affairs were discussed, had met twice a week until this period. With the reign of Sultan Ahmed II, these meetings increased to four times a week.

Sultan Ahmed II became sovereign in his fifties. He was under the influence of his surroundings because of his disinterest in state affairs and due to being raised in the palace in a restricted environment. This situation made him an il tempered person. Generally, he had a calm character. He sometimes left the palace for mingling with the public and listened to their problems. He especially dealt with tradesmen personally, who sold short-weight goods to the people and charged extra money, and ensured that such tradesmen were punished. At various times he ordered that bread is purchased from bakers and weighed. He severly punished those bakers who baked short-weight bread or bread with mixed flour. Sometimes he went around the market place and identified the prices of some foodstuff himself.

He was a middle-tall man with a circumferential beard and fair complexion. He did not like ostentation, wore double breasted, and plumes like his ancestors.