| Murad IV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottoman Caliph Amir al-Mu'minin Kayser-i Rûm Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques | |||||
 Murad by Abdulcelil Levni | |||||
| Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Padishah) | |||||
| Reign | 10 September 1623 – 8 February 1640 | ||||
| Predecessor | Mustafa I | ||||
| Successor | Ibrahim | ||||
| Regent | Kösem Sultan (1623–1632) | ||||
| Born | 27 July 1612 Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Died | 8 February 1640 (aged 27) Constantinople, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Burial | Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey | ||||
| Spouse | Ayşe Sultan Among others | ||||
| Issue Among others | Kaya Sultan | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Ottoman | ||||
| Father | Ahmed I | ||||
| Mother | Kösem Sultan | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Tughra |  | ||||
Murad IV (Ottoman Turkish: مراد رابع, Murād-ı Rābiʿ; Turkish: IV. Murad, 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Constantinople, the son of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–17) and Kösem Sultan.[2] He was brought to power by a palace conspiracy when he was just 11 years old, and he succeeded his uncle Mustafa I (r. 1617–18, 1622–23). Until he assumed absolute power on 18 May 1632, the empire was ruled by his mother, Kösem Sultan, as nāʾib-i salṭanat (regent). His reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War, of which the outcome would partition the Caucasus between the two Imperial powers for around two centuries, while it also roughly laid the foundation for the current Turkey–Iran–Iraq borders.
Murad IV was born on 27 July 1612 to Ahmed I (reign 1603 – 1617) and his consort and later wife Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek.[3] After his father's death when he was six years old, he was confined in the Kafes with his brothers, Suleiman, Kasim, Bayezid and Ibrahim.[4]
Grand Vizier Kemankeş Ali Pasha and Şeyhülislam Yahya Efendi were deposed from their position. The next day, the child of the age of 6 was taken to the Eyüp Sultan Mausoleum. The swords of Muhammad and Yavuz Sultan Selim were bequeathed to him. Five days later he was circumcised.[4]
Murad IV was for a long time under the control of his relatives and during his early years as Sultan; his mother, Kösem Sultan, essentially ruled through him. In this period, the Safavid Empire invaded Iraq, Northern Anatolia erupted in revolts, and in 1631 the Janissaries stormed the palace and killed the Grand Vizier, among others.
At the age of 16 in 1628, he had his brother-in-law (his sister Fatma Sultan's husband, who was also the former governor of Egypt), Kara Mustafa Pasha, executed for a claimed action "against the law of God".[5]
After the death of the Grand Vizier Çerkes Mehmed Pasha in the winter of Tokat, Diyarbekir Beylerbeyi Hafiz Ahmed Pasha became a vizier on 8 February 1625.[6]
An epidemic, which started in the summer of 1625 and called the plague of Bayrampaşa, spread to threaten the population of Istanbul. On average, a thousand people died every day. The people fled to the Okmeydanı to escape the plague. The situation was worse in the countryside outside of Istanbul.[6]
In 1632, Murad IV banned the smoking of tobacco and opium as well as closing coffeehouses as it was believed to be centers of sedition. Also in the same year as noted by Dimitrie Cantemir, he legalized the selling and drinking of alcohol even for Muslims, an act which had no precedent at the time. Previously known to be fond of drinking, in 1634 he realized the dangers of wine, and banned both the sale and drinking of alcohol and ordered taverns to close.[7][8][9] He ordered execution for breaking this ban[10] and restored the judicial regulations by very strict punishments, including execution; he once strangled a grand vizier for the reason that the official had beaten his mother-in-law.[11]
On 2 September 1633,[12] the Cibali fire broke out, burning a fifth of the city. The fire started during the day when a caulker burned the shrub and the ship caulked into the walls. The fire, which spread from three branches to the city. One arm lowered towards the sea.[12] He returned from Zeyrek and walked to Atpazan. The most beautiful districts of Istanbul were ruined, from the Yeniodas, Mollagürani districts, Fener gate to Sultanselim, Mesihpaşa, Bali Pasha and Lutfi Pasha mosques, Şahı buhan Palace, Unkapanı to Atpazarı, Bostanzade houses, and Sofular Bazaar. The fire that lasted for 30 hours was only extinguished after the wind stopped.[12]
Murad IV's reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39) against Persia (today Iran) in which Ottoman forces managed to conquer Azerbaijan, occupying Tabriz, Hamadan, and capturing Baghdad in 1638. The Treaty of Zuhab that followed the war generally reconfirmed the borders as agreed by the Peace of Amasya, with Eastern Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Dagestan staying Persian, Western Georgia stayed Ottoman.[13] Mesopotamia was irrevocably lost for the Persians.[14] The borders fixed as a result of the war, are more or less the same as the present border line between Iraq and Iran.
During the siege of Baghdad in 1638, the city held out for forty days but was compelled to surrender.
Murad IV himself commanded the Ottoman Army in the last years of the war.
While he was encamped in Baghdad, Murad IV is known to have met ambassadors of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Mir Zarif and Mir Baraka, who presented 1000 pieces of finely embroidered cloth and even armor. Murad IV gave them the finest weapons, saddles and Kaftans and ordered his forces to accompany the Mughals to the port of Basra, where they set sail to Thatta and finally Surat.[15]
Murad IV put emphasis on architecture and in his period many monuments were erected. The Baghdad Kiosk, built in 1635, and the Revan Kiosk, built in 1638 in Yerevan, were both built in the local styles.[16] Some of the others include the Kavak Sarayı pavilion;[17] the Meydanı Mosque; the Bayram Pasha Dervish Lodge, Tomb, Fountain, and Primary School; and the Şerafettin Mosque in Konya.
Murad IV wrote many poems. He used the "Muradi" penname for his poems. He also liked testing people with riddles. Once he wrote a poetic riddle and announced that whoever came with the correct answer would get a generous reward. Cihadi Bey, a poet from Enderun School, gave the correct answer and he was promoted.[18]
Murad IV was also a composer. He has a composition called "Uzzal Peshrev".[19]
Due to the prominence of his mother Kösem Sultan during his reign and the fact that all of his sons died in infancy, Murad IV's family is not well known.
Only few of his many concubines are known and of the thirty-two children that Evliya Çelebi said that Murad IV had, five have not yet been identified, and the name of some of others is still unknown.
Furthermore, no child had a certain nominated mother.
Murad IV had several consorts and concubine, but only few are known and some of them are disputed:[20][21][22][23][24][25]
Murad IV had at least fifteen sons, but none of them survived infancy and all of them died before their father (died in February 1640):[21][22][24][25][26][27][28][29]
Murad IV had at least thirteen daughters.[21][22][24][25][26]
Unlike their brothers, at least eight of them survived at least to the age of marriage:
Murad IV died from cirrhosis in Constantinople at the age of 27 in 1640.[38]
Rumours had circulated that on his deathbed, Murad IV ordered the execution of his mentally disabled brother, Ibrahim (reigned 1640–48), which would have meant the end of the Ottoman line. However, the order was not carried out.[39]
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