Mustafa IV


Mustafa IV,

1778–1808, Ottoman sultan (1807–8), son of Abd al-Hamid I. He was raised to the throne by the reactionary JanissariesJanissaries
[Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the recruits were converted to Islam and trained under the strictest discipline.
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 who had deposed Mustafa's cousin, Selim IIISelim III,
1761–1808, Ottoman sultan (1789–1807), nephew and successor of Abd al-Hamid I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He suffered severe defeats in the second of the Russo-Turkish Wars with Catherine II, but suffered no major territorial losses when
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, because they opposed his attempted reforms. When a Turkish army marched on the capital to restore Selim, Mustafa had him murdered, but the rebels killed Mustafa and placed his brother, Mahmud II, on the throne.