List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Osmanlı padişahı
Imperial
Last to reign
Mehmed VI
4 July 1918 – 1 November 1922
Details
StyleHis Imperial Majesty
First monarchOsman I (c. 1299–1323/4)
Last monarchMehmed VI (1918–1922)
Formationc. 1299
Abolition1 November 1922
ResidencePalaces in Istanbul:
AppointerHereditary
Ottoman Imperial Standard
Family tree
Ottoman Empire in 1683, at the height of its territorial expansion in Europe.

The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish: Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned an area from Hungary in the north to Yemen in the south and from Algeria in the west to Iraq in the east. Administered at first from the city of Söğüt since before 1280 and then from the city of Bursa since 1323 or 1324, the empire's capital was moved to Adrianople (now known as Edirne in English) in 1363 following its conquest by Murad I and then to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in 1453 following its conquest by Mehmed II.

The Ottoman Empire's early years have been the subject of varying narratives, due to the difficulty of discerning fact from legend. The empire came into existence at the end of the 13th century, and its first ruler (and the namesake of the Empire) was Osman I. According to later, often unreliable Ottoman tradition, Osman was a descendant of the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks. The eponymous Ottoman dynasty he founded endured for six centuries through the reigns of 36 sultans. The Ottoman Empire disappeared as a result of the defeat of the Central Powers, with whom it had allied itself during World War I. The partitioning of the Empire by the victorious Allies and the ensuing Turkish War of Independence led to the abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and the birth of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1922.

Names

The sultan was also referred to as the padishah (Ottoman Turkish: پادشاه, romanizedpâdişâh, French: Padichah). In Ottoman usage the word "Padisha" was usually used except "sultan" was used when he was directly named. In several European languages, he was referred to as the Grand Turk, as the ruler of the Turks, or simply the "Great Lord" (il Gran Signore, le grand seigneur) especially in the 16th century.

Names of the sultan in languages used by ethnic minorities:

  • Arabic: In some documents "padishah" was replaced by "malik" ("king")
  • Bulgarian: In earlier periods Bulgarian people called him the "tsar". The translation of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876 instead used direct translations of "sultan" (Sultan) and "padishah" (Padišax)
  • Greek: In earlier periods the Greeks used the Byzantine Empire-style name "basileus". The translation of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876 instead used a direct transliterations of "sultan" (Σουλτάνος Soultanos) and "padishah" (ΠΑΔΙΣΑΧ padisach).
  • Judaeo-Spanish: Especially in older documents, El Rey ("the king") was used. In addition some Ladino documents used sultan (in Hebrew characters: שולטן and סולטן).

State organisation of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was an absolute monarchy during much of its existence. By the second half of the fifteenth century, the sultan sat at the apex of a hierarchical system and acted in political, military, judicial, social, and religious capacities under a variety of titles. He was theoretically responsible only to God and God's law (the Islamic شریعت şeriat, known in Arabic as شريعة sharia), of which he was the chief executor. His heavenly mandate (Kut) was reflected in Islamic titles such as "shadow of God on Earth" (ظل الله في العالم ẓıll Allāh fī'l-ʿalem) and "caliph of the face of the earth" (خلیفه روی زمین Ḫalife-i rū-yi zemīn). All offices were filled by his authority, and every law was issued by him in the form of a decree called firman (فرمان). He was the supreme military commander and had the official title to all land. Osman (died 1323–4) son of Ertuğrul was the first ruler of the Ottoman state, which during his reign constituted a small principality (beylik) in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire.

After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II, Ottoman sultans came to regard themselves as the successors of the Roman Empire, hence their occasional use of the titles caesar (قیصر qayser) of Rûm, and emperor, as well as the caliph of Islam. Newly enthroned Ottoman rulers were girded with the Sword of Osman, an important ceremony that served as the equivalent of European monarchs' coronation. A non-girded sultan was not eligible to have his children included in the line of succession.

Although absolute in theory and in principle, the sultan's powers were limited in practice. Political decisions had to take into account the opinions and attitudes of important members of the dynasty, the bureaucratic and military establishments, as well as religious leaders. Beginning in the last decades of the sixteenth century, the role of the Ottoman sultans in the government of the empire began to decrease, in a period known as the Transformation of the Ottoman Empire. Despite being barred from inheriting the throne, women of the imperial harem—especially the reigning sultan's mother, known as the valide sultan—also played an important behind-the-scenes political role, effectively ruling the empire during the period known as the Sultanate of Women.

Constitutionalism was established during the reign Abdul Hamid II, who thus became the empire's last absolute ruler and its reluctant first constitutional monarch. Although Abdul Hamid II abolished the parliament and the constitution to return to personal rule in 1878, he was again forced in 1908 to reinstall constitutionalism and was deposed. Since 2021, the head of the House of Osman has been Harun Osman, a great-grandson of Abdul Hamid II.

List of sultans

Poster showing Sultans of the Ottoman Dynasty, from Osman I (upper left corner) to Mehmed V (large portrait in the center)

The table below lists Ottoman sultans, as well as the last Ottoman caliph, in chronological order. The tughras were the calligraphic seals or signatures used by Ottoman sultans. They were displayed on all official documents as well as on coins, and were far more important in identifying a sultan than his portrait. The "Notes" column contains information on each sultan's parentage and fate. Early Ottomans practiced what historian Quataert has described as "survival of the fittest, not eldest, son": when a sultan died, his sons had to fight each other for the throne until a victor emerged. Because of the infighting and numerous fratricides that occurred, there was often a time gap between a sultan's death date and the accession date of his successor. In 1617, the law of succession changed from survival of the fittest to a system based on agnatic seniority (اکبریت ekberiyet), whereby the throne went to the oldest male of the family. This in turn explains why from the 17th century onwards a deceased sultan was rarely succeeded by his own son, but usually by an uncle or brother. Agnatic seniority was retained until the abolition of the sultanate, despite unsuccessful attempts in the 19th century to replace it with primogeniture. Note that pretenders and co-claimants during the Ottoman Interregnum are also listed here, but they are not included in the formal numbering of sultans.

No. Sultan Portrait Reign Tughra Notes Coinage
Rise of the Ottoman Empire
(1299 – 1453)
1 Osman I c. 1299 – c. 1324
(25 years~)
  • Son of Ertuğrul Bey and an unknown woman.
  • Reigned until his death.
2 Orhan c. 1324 – March 1362
(38 years~)
Tughra of Orhan
  • Son of Osman I and Malhun Hatun (unclear).
  • Reigned until his death.
3 Murad I March 1362 – 15 June 1389
(27 years, 3 months)
Tughra of Murad I
4 Bayezid I 15 June 138920 July 1402
(13 years, 35 days)
Tughra of Bayezid I
Ottoman Interregnum
(20 July 14025 July 1413)
İsa Çelebi January – March/May 1403
(3–5 months)
Süleyman Çelebi 20 July 1402
17 February 1411
(8 years, 212 days)
  • Acquired the title of The Sultan of Rumelia for the European portion of the empire, a short period after the Ottoman defeat at Ankara.
  • Murdered on 17 February 1411.
Musa Çelebi 18 February 1411 –
5 July 1413
(2 years, 137 days)
Mehmed Çelebi 1403 – 5 July 1413
(10 years)
Sultanate resumed
5 Mehmed I 5 July 1413 – 26 May 1421
(7 years, 325 days)
Tughra of Mehmed I
Mustafa Çelebi January 1419 – May 1422
(3 years, 4 months)
6 Murad II 25 June 1421 –
August 1444
(23 years, 2 months)
Tughra of Murad II
7 Mehmed II August 1444 –
September 1446
(2 years, 1 month)
Tughra of Mehmed II
  • First reign
  • Son of Murad II and Hüma Hatun.
  • Surrendered the throne to his father after having asked him to return to power, along with rising threats from Janissaries.
(6) Murad II September 1446 –
3 February 1451
(4 years, 5 months)
Tughra of Murad II
  • Second reign
  • Forced to return to the throne following a Janissary insurgence.
  • Reigned until his death.
Growth of the Ottoman Empire
(1453–1550)
(7) Mehmed II 3 February 1451 –
3 May 1481
(30 years, 89 days)
Tughra of Mehmed II
8 Bayezid II 19 May 1481 –
25 April 1512
(30 years, 342 days)
Tughra of Bayezid II
Cem Sultan 28 May – 20 June 1481
(23 days)
Tughra of Cem
  • Son of Mehmed II
  • Acquired the title Cem bin Mehmed Han.
  • Died in exile
9 Selim I 25 April 1512 –
21 September 1520
(8 years, 149 days)
Tughra of Selim I
10 Suleiman I 30 September 1520 –
6 September 1566
(45 years, 341 days)
Tughra of Suleiman I
Transformation of the Ottoman Empire
(1550–1700)
11 Selim II 29 September 1566 –
15 December 1574
(8 years, 77 days)
Tughra of Selim II
12 Murad III 27 December 1574 –
16 January 1595
(20 years, 20 days)
Tughra of Murad III
13 Mehmed III 16 January 1595 –
22 December 1603
(8 years, 340 days)
Tughra of Mehmed III
14 Ahmed I 22 December 1603 –
22 November 1617
(13 years, 335 days)
Tughra of Ahmed I
15 Mustafa I 22 November 1617 –
26 February 1618
(96 days)
Tughra of Mustafa I
16 Osman II 26 February 1618 –
19 May 1622
(4 years, 82 days)
Tughra of Osman II
(15) Mustafa I 20 May 1622 –
10 September 1623
(1 year, 113 days)
Tughra of Mustafa I
  • Second reign.
  • Returned to the throne after the assassination of his nephew Osman II.
  • Deposed due to his poor mental health and confined until his death in Istanbul on 20 January 1639.
17 Murad IV 10 September 1623 –
8 February 1640
(16 years, 151 days)
Tughra of Murad IV
18 Ibrahim 9 February 1640 –
8 August 1648
(8 years, 181 days)
Tughra of Ibrahim
19 Mehmed IV 8 August 1648 –
8 November 1687
(39 years, 92 days)
Tughra of Mehmed IV
20 Suleiman II 8 November 1687 –
22 June 1691
(3 years, 226 days)
Tughra of Suleiman II
21 Ahmed II 22 June 1691 –
6 February 1695
(3 years, 229 days)
Tughra of Ahmed II
22 Mustafa II 6 February 1695 –
22 August 1703
(8 years, 197 days)
Tughra of Mustafa II
Stagnation and reform of the Ottoman Empire
(1700–1827)
23 Ahmed III 22 August 1703 –
1 October 1730
(27 years, 40 days)
Tughra of Ahmed III
24 Mahmud I 2 October 1730 –
13 December 1754
(24 years, 72 days)
Tughra of Mahmud I
25 Osman III 13 December 1754 –
30 October 1757
(2 years, 321 days)
Tughra of Osman III
26 Mustafa III 30 October 1757 –
21 January 1774
(16 years, 83 days)
Tughra of Mustafa III
27 Abdul Hamid I 21 January 1774 –
7 April 1789
(15 years, 76 days)
Tughra of Abdul Hamid I
28 Selim III 7 April 1789 –
29 May 1807
(18 years, 52 days)
Tughra of Selim III
29 Mustafa IV 29 May 1807 –
28 July 1808
(1 year, 60 days)
Tughra of Mustafa IV
Modernization of the Ottoman Empire
(1827–1908)
30 Mahmud II 28 July 1808 –
1 July 1839
(30 years, 338 days)
Tughra of Mahmud II
31 Abdulmejid I Abdulmejid portrait 1 July 1839 –
25 June 1861
(21 years, 359 days)
Tughra of Abdulmejid I
32 Abdulaziz 25 June 1861 –
30 May 1876
(14 years, 340 days)
Tughra of Abdulaziz
  • Son of Mahmud II and Pertevniyal Sultan.
  • Deposed by his ministers.
  • Found dead (suicide or murder) five days later.
33 Murad V 30 May – 31 August 1876
(93 days)
Tughra of Murad V
34 Abdul Hamid II 31 August 1876 –
27 April 1909
(32 years, 239 days)
Tughra of Abdul Hamid II
35 Mehmed V 27 April 1909 –
3 July 1918
(9 years, 67 days)
Tughra of Mehmed V
36 Mehmed VI 4 July 1918 –
1 November 1922
(4 years, 120 days)
Tughra of Mehmed VI
Caliph under the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
(1 November 1922 – 3 March 1924)
Abdulmejid II 19 November 1922 –
3 March 1924
(1 year, 106 days)

See also


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