The Ottoman palace coups of 1807–1808 refers to several coups and rebellions deposing or restoring to the throne three Ottoman

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

s, that took place as a result of the attempted reforms of

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

Causes

The Ottoman Empire was in decline by the early 19th century, and had lost much of the territory it had ruled over only a century earlier. However, the threat of the conservative, traditionalist

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

, the sultan's elite troops, prevented reforms from being enacted by more liberal rulers. In 1789, Sultan

Abdulhamid I Abdulhamid I or Abdul Hamid I (, ''`Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i evvel''; ; 20 March 1725 – 7 April 1789) was the 27th sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1774 to 1789. A devout and pacifist sultan, he inherited a bankrupt empire and sought military r ...

died, and his nephew

, the son of Abdulhamid's predecessor, ascended to the throne. Selim, a composer of some talent as well as an advocate of modernization, was inspired to a certain degree by the French Revolution, his efforts at

Westernization Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industr ...

culminating with a levy for new regular troops in 1805. The reforms, particularly the levy, angered the Janissaries and other conservative elements, who rose up and killed leading reform advocates.Selim III Facts, information, pictures – Encyclopedia.com
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First coup d'etat

On May 29, 1807, Selim was deposed by

led by the rebel leader

Kabakçı Mustafa Kabakçı Mustafa ( – 14 July 1808) was a rebel leader who caused the delay of Ottoman reformation in the early 19th century. Yamaks and Kabakçı Yamaks were a special class of soldiers who were responsible in defending Bosphorous against Co ...

and quickly replaced by his cousin

Mustafa IV Mustafa IV (; ; 8 September 1779 – 16 November 1808) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1807 to 1808. Early life Mustafa IV was born on 8 September 1779 in Constantinople. He was the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid I (1774–1789) and Si ...

, who incarcerated his predecessor in the relative comfort of the royal palace. Mustafa effectively pardoned the rebelsOttoman Persia wars : Seizure of Egypt : The Treaty of Tilsit : : Mustafa Iv
Ottoman Empire. Retrieved on 2010-11-26. and allied himself with the Janissaries, disbanding Selim's newly formed army.

Murder of Selim and second coup d'etat

However, the influential governor of

Ruscuk Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; ) is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of Bucharest, Ro ...

Mustafa Bayrakdar Alemdar Mustafa Pasha (also called Bayraktar Mustafa Pasha; 1755 – 15 November 1808) was an Ottoman military commander and grand vizier. He was born into the family of a janissary, possibly in Rusçuk (modern-day Ruse, Bulgaria), although v ...

, became disenchanted with Mustafa and plotted his downfall. His efforts led to a second revolt in 1808. The imprisoned Selim was murdered on Mustafa's command, but Selim's cousin and heir,

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood * Mahmood Ali (1928 ...

, escaped from his would-be assassins. Meanwhile, rebel troops surrounded the palace, to be mocked by Mustafa and his officials, who even showed the rebels the body of Selim, in the vain hope that it would deter them. The rebels entered the palace anyway, arresting Mustafa and declaring Mahmud sultan.

Attempted reforms and janissary unrest

While incarcerated in the palace, Selim had taught ideas of reform to Mahmud,
who continued the reforms that had been stopped by the Janissary coup in 1807. Mahmud had appointed as grand vizier

, leader of the rebellion that had installed him as sultan, and the reforms that the pair implemented angered the janissaries once again. In an attempt to cow Mahmud, the janissaries staged a brief uprising and killed the vizier, forcing the sultan to call off the reforms and disband the army, which had been based on Selim's model, yet again.

Effect on later events

Mahmud, although angering the Janissaries early on, managed to reign for several more decades. By 1826, he had become less afraid of the Janissaries and, in the

Auspicious Incident The Auspicious Incident or Auspicious EventGoodwin, pp. 296–299. ( in Constantinople; , "Event of Malignity" in the Balkans) was the forced disbandment of the centuries-old Janissary Corps by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II on 15 June 1826.Kinross, ...

, intentionally, some historians claim, caused the unit to rebel. He called out his regular troops and, using artillery to bombard the Janissary headquarters, destroyed the elite troops' capability to fight. He arrested the survivors, executing them shortly afterward. Now, without having to fear a coup, Mahmud pursued military and social reforms that, although modernizing the empire, did not stop its decline.

References