Osman II
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Sultan Osman II Ottoman Period |
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| Preceded by Mustafa I |
Ottoman Sultan 1618–22 |
Succeeded by Mustafa I |
Osman II (also known as Genç Osman – meaning Young Osman – in Turkish) (Ottoman Turkish عثمان ثانى ‘Osmān-i sānī) (November 3, 1604 – May 20, 1622) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1618 until his death on 20 May 1622.
Osman II was the son of Sultan Ahmed I (1603–17) and his wife Mâhfirûze Sultan. At a young age his mother paid a lot of attention to his education, as a result of this Osman II was a known poet and had mastered many languages, including Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin and Italian. He ascended the throne at the early age of 14 as the result of a coup d'état against his uncle Mustafa I (1617–18, 1622–23). Despite his youth, Osman II soon sought to assert himself as a ruler, and after securing the empire's eastern border by signing a peace treaty with Safavid Iran, he personally led the Ottoman invasion of Poland during the Moldavian Magnate Wars. Forced to sign a peace treaty with the Polish after the Battle of Chotin (Chocim) (which was, in fact, a siege of Chotin led by the Polish hetman Jan Chodkiewicz) in September-October, 1621, Osman II returned home to Istanbul in shame, blaming the cowardice of the Janissaries and the insufficiency of his statesmen for his humiliation.
Probably the first Sultan to identify and attempt to tackle the Janissaries as a praetorian institution doing more harm than good to the modern empire, Osman II closed their coffee shops (the gathering points for conspiracies against the throne) and started planning to create a new, loyal and ethnic Turkic army consisting of Anatolian, Syrian and Egyptian Turks and Turkmens. The result was a palace uprising by the Janissaries. Osman II was promptly imprisoned by the Janissaries. When an executioner was sent to strangle him Osman II refused to give in and started fighting the man and was only subdued when he was hit on his back with the rear end of an axe by one of his imprisoners. After that he was strangled with a bowstring. Alternatively, Turkish traveller Evliya Celebi recorded that after a putting up a desperate struggle, Osman II was executed by a rope by the order of Grand Vizier Davut Pasha after being made inactive by a cavalry soldier by 'compressing of his testicles'.
Osman II was a very progressive Sultan, but the lack of a professional and willing cadre to aid him in his reforms caused his downfall. As a ruler he was perceptive and energetic. In contrast to most of his successors he compares favourably. His worst fault as a politician was probably that he tried too much too soon.
[edit] Notes
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| Rise (1299–1453) | Osman I - Orhan I - Murad I - Bayezid I - Mehmed I - Murad II - Mehmed II |
| Growth (1453–1683) | Bayezid II - Selim I - Suleiman I - Selim II - Murad III - Mehmed III - Ahmed I - Mustafa I - Osman II - Murad IV - Ibrahim I - Mehmed IV |
| Stagnation (1683–1827) | Suleiman II - Ahmed II - Mustafa II - Ahmed III - Mahmud I - Osman III - Mustafa III - Abdul Hamid I - Selim III - Mustafa IV - Mahmud II |
| Decline (1828–1908) | Abdülmecid - Abdülâziz - Murad V - Abdul Hamid II |
| Dissolution (1908–1923) | Mehmed V - Mehmed VI |
