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List of Ottoman Sultans

A chronological list of the 36 Ottoman sultans from Osman I (c. 1299) to Mehmed VI (1918-1922), with reign dates and brief notes on each reign.

The Ottoman dynasty ruled a substantial empire from the late thirteenth century until the abolition of the sultanate in 1922. The dynasty produced 36 sultans in the male line, ruling in succession from Osman I, the founder, to Mehmed VI, the last. The list below gives the sultans in their order, with reign dates and a short note on the principal events of each reign. For the institutional framework in which these sultans ruled, see Ottoman government; for the principal residence in which most of them lived, see Topkapı Palace. The two most famous sultans of the dynasty — Mehmed II the Conqueror and Suleiman the Magnificent — are treated in dedicated articles.

Key dates

  • c. 1299 — Osman I founds the beylik at Söğüt.
  • 1453 — Mehmed II takes Constantinople; the empire becomes a Mediterranean power.
  • 1520–1566 — Suleiman, the high classical age.
  • 1571 — Lepanto; the empire remains a Mediterranean naval power.
  • 1683 — the second, failed siege of Vienna; the empire enters long retreat.
  • 1826 — Mahmud II destroys the Janissaries (Vaka-i Hayriye).
  • 1922 — the Grand National Assembly abolishes the sultanate; Mehmed VI leaves Istanbul on 17 November.

The Early Sultans (c. 1299–1453)

  1. Osman I (c. 1299–1326) — Founder of the dynasty; established the beylik that bears his name at Söğüt; expanded at the expense of the Byzantine frontier.
  2. Orhan (1326–1362) — Captured Bursa and made it the first Ottoman capital; expanded the beylik across the Dardanelles into Europe.
  3. Murad I (1362–1389) — Created the standing army of the yaya and müsellem; defeated the Serbs at Kosovo (1389); assassinated at the battle.
  4. Bayezid I “the Thunderbolt” (1389–1402) — Conquered much of the Balkans and Anatolia; defeated and captured by Timur at the Battle of Ankara (1402).
  5. Mehmed I (1413–1421) — Reunited the Ottoman state after the Interregnum; recovered the Anatolian emirates.
  6. Murad II (1421–1444, 1446–1451) — Reigned twice; consolidated Ottoman power in the Balkans; defeated the Hungarians at Varna (1444).
  7. Mehmed II “the Conqueror” (1444–1446, 1451–1481) — Captured Constantinople in 1453; transformed the empire into a major power; see the article on Mehmed II.
  8. Bayezid II (1481–1512) — Consolidated the conquests of his father; received the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain (1492); abdicated in favour of his son.
  9. Selim I “the Grim” (1512–1520) — Conquered the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, Syria, and the holy cities; established Ottoman control over the eastern Mediterranean.
  10. Suleiman I “the Magnificent” (1520–1566) — Reached the height of Ottoman power; conquered Belgrade, Rhodes, and most of Hungary; besieged Vienna (1529); see the article on Suleiman.
  11. Selim II “the Sot” (1566–1574) — Reigned during the ministry of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha; conquered Cyprus (1571); the Battle of Lepanto (1571).
  12. Murad III (1574–1595) — Long reign marked by the growing influence of the harem and the fiscal difficulties of the Celali rebellions.
  13. Mehmed III (1595–1603) — Reigned during the Long Turkish War with the Habsburgs; suppressed the Celali rebellions in Anatolia; strangled nineteen brothers on accession.
  14. Ahmed I (1603–1617) — Reigned as a minor; lost the Long War with the Habsburgs; ended the practice of fratricidal succession.

The Sultans of the Harem (1617–1703)

  1. Mustafa I (1617–1618, 1622–1623) — Reigned twice; deposed both times by palace and Janissary revolts.
  2. Osman II (1618–1622) — Attempted to reform the Janissaries; killed in a Janissary revolt; the only Ottoman sultan killed by a Janissary mutiny.
  3. Murad IV (1623–1640) — Re-established order; conquered Baghdad (1638); led a major campaign against the Celali rebels.
  4. Ibrahim (1640–1648) — Reigned during the influence of the valide Kösem; deposed and killed by the Janissaries.
  5. Mehmed IV (1648–1687) — Reign dominated by the Köprülü grand viziers; reconquered Crete and Podolia; deposed after the failed siege of Vienna.
  6. Suleiman II (1687–1691) — Reigned during the War of the Holy League; died on campaign.
  7. Ahmed II (1691–1695) — Reigned during the continuing wars; lost the Battle of Slankamen (1691).
  8. Mustafa II (1695–1703) — Reigned during the War of the Spanish Succession; lost the Battle of Zenta (1697); deposed by a Janissary revolt.

The Tulip Era and the Long Eighteenth Century (1703–1789)

  1. Ahmed III (1703–1730) — Reigned during the Tulip Era of cultural flowering; lost the war with Venice and Austria; deposed by the Patrona Halil revolt.
  2. Mahmud I (1730–1754) — Came to power after the Patrona Halil revolt brought down Ahmed I’s reign; reigned during the long peace after the Treaty of Belgrade.
  3. Osman III (1754–1757) — Short reign; the last of the eighteenth-century post-Tulip Era sultans.
  4. Mustafa III (1757–1774) — Reformed the army; suffered the disastrous war with Russia (1768–1774); the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca.
  5. Abdulhamid I (1774–1789) — Reigned during the Russian annexation of the Crimea; the first serious attempts at military reform.
  6. Selim III (1789–1807) — Attempted to create a modern army (Nizam-ı Cedid); deposed in 1807 by a Janissary revolt; killed in July 1808 during the counter-coup of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha.

The Reform Sultans (1807–1918)

  1. Mustafa IV (1807–1808) — Reigned briefly; deposed by the reformers led by Alemdar Mustafa Pasha.
  2. Mahmud II (1808–1839) — Abolished the Janissaries in 1826 (Auspicious Incident); re-established central control; prepared the way for the Tanzimat.
  3. Abdulmecid I (1839–1861) — Issued the Gülhane Decree of 1839; began the Tanzimat; the Crimean War.
  4. Abdulaziz (1861–1876) — Attempted to modernize the navy and the army; deposed and died shortly afterward, possibly by suicide.
  5. Murad V (1876) — Reigned ninety-three days; deposed on grounds of mental illness; the first Ottoman sultan to reign under a constitution.
  6. Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) — Promulgated the first Ottoman constitution in 1876; suspended it in 1878; ruled as an autocrat for thirty years; deposed by the Young Turk Revolution of 1908.
  7. Mehmed V (1909–1918) — Reigned during the Balkan Wars and the First World War; largely a constitutional figurehead.
  8. Mehmed VI (1918–1922) — The last Ottoman sultan; signed the Treaty of Sèvres (1920); the Grand National Assembly abolished the sultanate on 1 November 1922.

Notes on the Counting

The 36 sultans listed above are the standard count used in the overview of Ottoman government and in the official lists published by the Turkish state. Two sultans, Murad II and Mehmed II, reigned twice (each after being deposed in favor of a son), but each is counted once in the standard list; the same applies to Mustafa I, who also reigned twice. The Interregnum of 1402–1413, between Bayezid I and Mehmed I, is not a reign and is not counted in the 36.

Further reading

  • Caroline Finkel, Osman’s Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1923 (2005).
  • Halil İnalcık, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600 (1973).
  • Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700–1922 (2000).
  • Stanford J. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 2 vols. (1976–77).
  • Erhan Afyoncu and Ahmet Şimşek, Osmanlı’da Taht Kavgaları: Taht Değişikliklerinin Arka Perdesi (Struggles for the Ottoman Throne) (2018).