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Enthronement of Ahmed I (1603)

Type Event Region West Asia Time 1603

In December 1603, thirteen-year-old Ahmed I succeeded Mehmed III as the fourteenth Ottoman sultan, breaking the tradition of executing brothers upon …

Timeline

  1. 1603Topkapi Palace · IstanbulSultan Mehmed III died of illness at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. Though the empire won some victories in Hungary during his reign, eastern pressure from Persia remained unresolved, and the court immediately entered a succession crisis.
  2. 1603–1604Istanbul · IstanbulThirteen-year-old Ahmed I acceded on 22 December 1603, with the sword-girding ceremony held the next day, acclaimed as new sultan by ministers and ulama. Owing to his youth, his mother Handan Sultan (d. 1605) exercised regent influence in the early reign.
  3. 1603–1604Topkapi Palace · IstanbulAhmed I did not execute his half-brother Mustafa (son of Halime Sultan) as custom dictated, but moved him to the Old Palace in confinement, setting an important precedent of ending fratricide in Ottoman succession.

Sources