Ibrahim

Sultan İbrahim I was born in Istanbul on 5 November 1615. His father was Ahmed I, his mother Mahpeyker Kösem Sultan. He was tall and strongly built, with a light brown beard. His mother had taken great pains over his upbringing. The sudden death of his elder brother Murad IV badly shook Prince İbrahim, whose mind was already worn down by thoughts of death; he did not even want to believe he had become sultan. Only after the insistence of his mother and the men of state, and after seeing his brother's body, did he accept that Murad IV was truly dead. The grand vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha placed on his head the Turban of Omar, brought from the Chamber of the Holy Mantle, as İbrahim entered the Throne Room. Sultan İbrahim sat upon the throne and, opening his hands, prayed:

"Praise be to God. O Lord! Thou hast seen a weak servant such as I worthy of this place. In the days of my reign make my people content, and make us pleased with one another."

In the first years of his reign İbrahim frequently suffered attacks from a nervous illness. In later years, however, he began to concern himself personally with affairs of state. When he came to the throne he was the only surviving prince of his line, and so when his first son Prince Mehmed (Mehmed IV) was born, festivities were held throughout the country (2 January 1642). İbrahim was a very generous and gracious sultan who greatly loved to help the poor and the friendless. Through the decrees he issued he worked to prevent hunger and famine. During his reign he remained much under the influence of his mother Kösem Sultan. After eight years and nine months as sultan he was strangled to death on 18 August 1648.

In the Ottoman sources reaching down to his own time there is nothing whatever about İbrahim being mentally unbalanced. Those sources speak with praise of his qualities and of what he did. Only recently have some writers called him "the Mad". It is said that some of those who called him "Mad" and "Cruel" and worked to spread that name were men of the Persian Shia Emirgûneoğlu, whom İbrahim had executed.

İbrahim was twenty-five when he came to the throne. As a prince his nerves had been badly shaken by the fear of being killed. The grand vizier of the time, Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha, conducted affairs of state in the best possible way. After signing the Treaty of Zuhab with the Safavids and returning to Istanbul, he also succeeded in the financial measures he undertook. He reduced the number of troops on the payroll and ensured their wages were paid regularly, and as a result of these positive efforts the state budget was balanced. Concerning himself with the navy as well, Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha saw to it that a set number of galleys were built and fitted out each year.

• Sons: Mehmed IV, Süleyman II, Ahmed II, Orhan, Bayezid, Cihangir, Selim, Murad
• Daughters: Ümmü Gülsüm Sultan, Peykan Sultan, Atike Sultan, Ayşe Sultan, Gevherhan Sultan

Source: Osmanlı Tarihi Interaktif CD-ROM (Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları XXXI. Dizi-Sa.2)