Deposition and Execution of Sultan Osman II (1622)

Timeline

1. 1618–1621Khotyn · Eastern EuropeThe young sultan, who acceded in 1618, was dissatisfied with Janissary inaction at the Battle of Khotyn in 1621; on returning he began cutting military pay, closing Janissary coffeehouses, and planned to leave the city under guise of a Hajj to Mecca to recruit a loyal new army to replace the old corps.
2. 1622Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) · MarmaraOn May 18, as the sultan prepared to depart, Janissaries and some ulama gathered at the Blue Mosque, demanding the pilgrimage be cancelled and favorites executed; on the 19th a mob stormed Topkapi Palace, killing Grand Vizier Osman Pasha and other senior officials, forcing the sultan to abdicate.
3. 1622Yedikule Fortress · MarmaraThe deposed sultan was bound and taken to Yedikule; that night the new Grand Vizier Kara Davud Pasha ordered the execution, and Osman II was strangled in prison—the first Ottoman sultan directly executed by the guard. His ear (or nose) was cut off and presented to Mustafa I and Valide Halime to confirm his death.