View source for Osman III

{{Short description|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1754 to 1757}}
{{Expand language|topic=Biography|langcode=ru|fa=yes|otherarticle=Осман III|date=March 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Osman III
| title        = [[Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques]]
| titletext    = 
| more         = 
| type         = 
| image        = III.Osman.webp
| alt          = Illustration of a bearded Turkish man
| caption      = Portrait by Rapayel Manas
| moretext     = 
| succession   = [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]] ([[Padishah]])
| reign        = 13 December 1754 – {{nowrap|30 October 1757}}
| coronation   = 
| cor-type     = 
| predecessor  = [[Mahmud I]]
| regent       = 
| reg-type     = 
| successor    = [[Mustafa III]]
| succession2  = [[Ottoman Caliph]] (''[[Amir al-Mu'minin]]'')
| predecessor2 = Mahmud I
| successor2   = Mustafa III
| spouse       = Leyla Kadın<br/>''Fülane'' Kadın<br/>Zevki Kadın<br/>Emine Ferhunde Kadın
| spouse-type  = Consorts
| issue        = 
| full name    = Osman bin Mustafa
| house        = [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Mustafa II]]
| mother       = [[Şehsuvar Sultan (mother of Osman III)|Şehsuvar Sultan]]
| birth_date   = 2 January 1699
| birth_place  = [[Edirne Palace]], [[Edirne]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1757|10|30|1699|01|02|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Topkapı Palace]], [[Istanbul|Constantinople]], Ottoman Empire
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Tomb of Turhan Sultan]], [[New Mosque (Istanbul)|New Mosque]], Istanbul
| signature_type = [[Tughra]]
| religion     = [[Sunni Islam]]
| signature    = Tughra of Osman III.JPG
}}
[[File:OsmanIII.jpg|alt=Sultan|thumb|''Sultan Osman III'']]
'''Osman III''' ({{langx|ota|عثمان ثالث}} ''O<u>s</u>mān-i <u>s</u>āli<u>s</u>'';&lrm; 2 January 1699 – 30 October 1757) was the [[sultan of the Ottoman Empire]] from 1754 to 1757.<ref Name="Constable">{{cite book
  | last =Upham
  | first =Edward
  | author-link =Edward Upham
  | series = ''[[Constable's Miscellany]]''
  | volume = XL
  | title = History of the Ottoman Empire from its Establishment till the Year 1828
  | chapter = Chapter XV: OTHMAN III Twenty Fifth Reign H 1168 A.D. 1754
  | publisher =Constable and Co.
  | year =1829
  | location =Original from Oxford University
  | pages =260
  | chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=fs8DAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA260
  }}</ref> He was succeeded by his cousin [[Mustafa III]].

==Early life==
Osman III was born on 2 January 1699 in the [[Edirne Palace]]. His father was [[Mustafa II]] and his mother was [[Şehsuvar Sultan (mother of Osman III)|Şehsuvar Sultan]]. He was the younger half-brother of [[Mahmud I]]. When his father was deposed from the throne in 1703, he was taken back to Istanbul and imprisoned in the [[Kafes]]. Osman III lived in the Kafes for 51 years.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=325}}

He was secretly circumcised on 17 April 1705 with the other princes here. He was among the princes in Ahmed's entourage. He also later made trips to the sultan inside and outside the city.  Together with his elder brother Mahmud's embassy on 1 October 1730, he became the biggest prince waiting for the throne.<ref name="Osman III">{{TDV Encyclopedia of Islam|title= Osman III|url= https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/osman-iii|last=Saricaoğlu|first=Fikret|volume=33|pages=456–459}}</ref>

==Reign==
Osman III lived most of his life as a prisoner in the palace, and as a consequence, he had some behavioural peculiarities when he took the throne. Unlike previous sultans, he hated music, and banished all musicians from the palace. According to [[François Baron de Tott|Baron de Tott]], Osman III was an angry and a modest type of ruler.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=332}}

Osman III's initial action in governance was to select officials to collaborate with. Throughout his reign, the alterations he implemented in high-level governmental positions, particularly that of the Grand Vizier, can be seen as efforts to diminish the overwhelming influence of the charitable authority{{Vague|date=January 2021}} prevalent during the previous sultan's era.<ref name="Osman III" />

[[File:Audience-of-Charles-Gravier-Comte-de-Vergennes-with-The-Sultan-Osman-III-in-Constantinople-1755.jpg|thumb|right|Audience of French ambassador [[Charles de Vergennes]] with Sultan Osman III in 1755.]]

In the severe storm of March 1756, an Egyptian galleon ran ashore in [[Kumkapı]] 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 the [[Ahırkapı Feneri|Ahırkapı Lighthouse]] in [[Istanbul]] to prevent such incidents.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=330}}

The first procession of his enthronement was held on 14 December 1754. Contemporary historians stopped writing on political events due to the severe and freezing cold of January 1755.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=327}} Osman was responsible for a [[firman]] in 1757 that preserved the [[Status quo (Holy Land sites)|Status Quo]] of various sites for Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the [[Holy Land]].<ref name="DumperStanley2007">{{cite book|author1=Michael R. T. Dumper|author2=Bruce E. Stanley|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA209|access-date=29 November 2012|year=2007|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-919-5|pages=209}}</ref>

In the second year of his reign, Osman lost his mother Şehsuvar Sultan, afterward, the oldest prince Mehmed, died of illness on 22 December 1756. According to various sources, the funeral of the prince, controlled by the [[List of Ottoman grand viziers|grand vizier]] and the [[List of Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire|sheikh al-Islam]]. It was attended by 5,000 people and contemporary sources mentioned that the prince was poisoned and killed on the initiative of [[Köse Bahir Mustafa Pasha|Köse Mustafa Pasha]].<ref name="Osman III" />

The sultan was notified of provisions sent to oppose banditry in [[Anatolia Eyalet|Anatolia]] and [[Rumelia Eyalet|Rumelia]]. Measures were taken against the tribes of [[Bozulus]] and Cihanbeyli, the Armenians (due to the turmoil in Iran), the bandits around [[Erzurum]] and [[Sivas]], and the famous leader [[Karaosmanoğlu family|Karaosmanoğlu]] Hacı Mustafa Ağa. The latter was captured and executed, and his head was brought to Istanbul on 5 December 1755.<ref name="Osman III" />

===Architecture===
Osman is famous for building the [[Nuruosmaniye Mosque]], whose construction started during the reign of Mahmud I. Nuruosmaniye Complex, also known as Osmaniye for a while, consisted of three schools, madrasahs, a factory, a library, a mausoleum, a temporary room, a mesh house, a fountain, an inn, and shops. Osman built a new neighborhood in 1755-56 where Üsküdar Palace and Garden was located, along with houses and shops. He also built the Ihsaniye Mosque and its masajid ( plural of masjid ), both of which stand today as İhsaniye.<ref name="Osman III"/>

Osman III built a fountain in his name in 1755–56; it was destroyed 122 years after its construction.{{sfn|Haskan|2001|p=1160}}

==Death==
Osman III died on the night of 30 October 1757.  In the early morning, a 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.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=331}}

==Legacy==
Osman III's life, specifically his prisoner life in the palace, is the lyrical theme of [[Mezarkabul|Pentagram]] song ''Lions in a Cage''.

== Family == 
Osman III had four known consorts but no children, as did his elder half-brother [[Mahmud I]]. Sakaoğlu, a Turkish historian, speculates that the two may have suffered castration while imprisoned in the [[Kafes]], but other historians point out that Osman III was 55 at the time of his rise and, unlike his brother, who had a long reign, he was on the throne for only three years before he died, and that both of these factors may have influenced the fact of not having children.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sakaoğlu |first=Necdet |title=Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: valide sultanlar, hatunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler |date=2008 |publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık |isbn=978-975-329-623-6 |series=Oğlak bilimsel kitaplar |location=İstanbul |pages=454}}</ref>

The known consorts of Osman III are:<ref name="ulucay">{{cite book|first=Mustafa Çağatay|last=Uluçay|title=Padişahların kadınları ve kızları|publisher=Ankara, Ötüken|year=2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Tarih ve toplum: aylık ansiklopedik dergi – Volume 24|publisher=İletişim Yayınları/Perka A. Ş.|pages=59}}</ref><ref> Yılmaz Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar Cilt 2 </ref><ref> Necdet Sakaoğlu - Sultan Mülkıünlu </ref>
* Leyla Kadın. [[Kadın (title)|BaşKadin]] (First Consort) of Osman throughout his reign. In 1757, a few months after Osman's death, she was married to Hacı Mehmed Emin Bey (d. 16 July 1785) with whom she had a son, Feyzullah Bey (d. 12 August 1792). She died in 1794 and was buried in [[Üsküdar]].
* ''Fülane'' Kadın. Second Kadın. No information about her is known except her rank.
* Zevki Kadın. Third Kadın. She sponsored several building renovations and built a fountain in Fındıklı, in the Turkish-Baroque style.
* Emine Ferhunde Kadın. Fourth Kadin. She died in August 1791.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first=Mehmet Nermi|last=Haskan|title=Yüzyıllar boyunca Üsküdar – Volume 3|publisher=Üsküdar Belediyesi|year=2001|pages=1332|isbn=978-9-759-76063-2}}
*{{cite book|first=Necdet|last=Sakaoğlu|title=Bu Mülkün Sultanları|publisher=Alfa Yayıncılık|year=2015|isbn=978-6-051-71080-8}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Osman III}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Ottoman Dynasty|House of Osman]]||2 January 1699||30 October 1757}}[aged 58]
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Mahmud I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]]|years=13 Dec 1754 – 30 Oct 1757}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mustafa III]]}}
{{s-rel|su}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Mahmud I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of caliphs|Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate]]|years=13 Dec 1754 – 30 Oct 1757}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mustafa III]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sultans of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Sons of the Ottoman Sultans}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osman 03}}
[[Category:1699 births]]
[[Category:1757 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Edirne]]
[[Category:18th-century sultans of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Turks from the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Sons of sultans]]