Biography
Osman III |
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The younger brother of Mahmud I (1730–54) and son of Mustafa II (1695–1703) and Valide Şehsuvar Sultan, he was born at Edirne Palace.
His brief reign saw rising intolerance of non-Muslims (Christians and Jews being required to wear distinctive clothes or badges) and is also notable for a fire in Constantinople. His mother was Şehsuvar Sultan, a Serbian valide sultan.
Osman III lived most of his life as a prisoner in the palace, and as a consequence on becoming Sultan he had some behavioural peculiarities. Unlike previous Sultans, he hated music, and banished all musicians from the palace.
In the severe storm of March 1756, an Egyptian galleon ran ashore in Kumkapi at dusk. Due to the storm, 600 passengers could not be evacuated. The sultan, who came to the shore, took all the passengers by bringing barges from the shipyard. He ordered the construction of a lighthouse in Ahırkapı to prevent such incidents. According to Baron de Tott, Osman III was an angry and modest type of ruler.
The first procession of his enthronement was held on 14 December 1754. The historians of that time didn’t wrote the events happened in the empire because of severe and freezing cold of January 1755. Osman was responsible for a firman in 1757, that preserved the Status Quo of various Holy Land sites for Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
Architecture
Osman III's main works brought to Istanbul; Ahırkapı Fen, additions to the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, the fountain at the exit of the Grand Bazaar of the mosque, Hünkar Sofrası and Hünkar Daire. The Paşakapısı, Defterdarkapısı, Old Rooms and the Novice Barracks were built during his reign.
Hocapaşa fire
Hocapaşa fire, which was one of the most frightening of Istanbul fires on the night of 27-28 September 1755, spread from four houses to the city. One of its branches extended to Bahçekapı, from there, and the Yeşilkiremitli mosque, the second branch, Paşakapısı, the Defterdar gate, Çadır Mehterhane, the third arm close to the Grand Bazaar, the Çuhacılar Inn and the whole Mahmudpaşa Bazaar, and the fourth arm ashed the Ayasofya Bazaar and Sogukcesme.
Death
He died on the night of 30 October 1757. In the early morning, his cousin ceremony was held and his cousin Mustafa III was placed on the throne. The new sultan ordered Osman to be buried in the New Mosque Mausoleum, not in Nuruosmaniye.
Audience of French ambassador Charles de Vergennes with Sultan Osman III in 1755 in Constantinople. |
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