Editing Ahmed III (section)

== Reign ==
===Accession===
{{Main|Edirne event}}
[[File:Ahmed III is problaimed Sultan and prepares to gird the sword of Osman Next to him, a religious leader, most probably Sh - La Mottraye Aubry De - 1727.jpg|left|thumb|Ahmed III is proclaimed sultan and prepares to gird the [[sword of Osman]]]]
The Edirne succession occurred between 19 August to 23 August. Under Mustafa, Istanbul had been out of control for a long time.  As arrests and executions mounted, theft and robbery incidents became common. The people were dissatisfied with the poor governing of the Empire.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=297}} Mustafa was deposed by the Janissaries and Ahmed, who succeeded him to the throne on 22 August 1703. The first Friday salute was held in Bayezid Mosque.<ref>Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2015) ''Bu mülkün sultanları''</ref>

Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa welcomed the new sultan at the Harem gate on the Hasoda side, entered the arm, brought him to the Cardigan-i Saadet Department and placed them on the throne, and were among the first to pay tribute to him.{{sfn|Türkal|2013|p=31}}

As part of the fief system, Ahmed reorganized the land law in 1705. Bringing order to land ownership reduced the crime wave and brought peace to the troubled Empire. Due to his ardent support of the new laws, Ahmed was given the title 'law-giver', a title given to only three sultans earlier, [[Bayezid II]] (r. 1481–1512), [[Selim I]] (r. 1512–1520) and [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]] (r. 1520–1566). In the first three years of his reign, Ahmed appointed four separate Grand Viziers. However, the government only gained some stability after the appointment of [[Çorlulu Ali Pasha]] in May 1706.{{sfn|Keskiner|2012|p=56}}

===Russo-Turkish War of 1710–1711===
{{Main|Pruth River Campaign}}
Ahmed III cultivated good relations with France, doubtless in view of [[Imperial Russia|Russia]]'s menacing attitude. He afforded refuge in Ottoman territory to [[Charles XII of Sweden]] (1682–1718) after the Swedish defeat at the hands of [[Peter I of Russia]] (1672–1725) in the [[Battle of Poltava]] of 1709.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In 1710 Charles XII convinced Sultan Ahmed III to declare war against Russia, and the Ottoman forces under [[Baltacı Mehmet Pasha]] won a major victory at the [[Pruth River Campaign|Battle of Prut]]. In the aftermath, Russia returned [[Azov]] back to the Ottomans, agreed to demolish the fortress of [[Taganrog]] and others in the area, and to stop interfering in the affairs of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].

Forced against his will into war with Russia, Ahmed III came nearer than any Ottoman sovereign before or since to breaking the power of his northern rival, whose armies his [[grand vizier]] [[Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha]] succeeded in completely surrounding at the Pruth River Campaign in 1711.<ref name="EB1911"/> The subsequent Ottoman victories against Russia enabled the Ottoman Empire to advance to Moscow, had the Sultan wished. However, this was halted as a report reached [[Istanbul]] that the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]] were invading the Ottoman Empire, causing a period of panic, turning the Sultan's attention away from Russia.

===Wars with Venice and Austria===
{{Main|Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)}}
[[File:Een ambassadeur op audiëntie bij sultan Ahmed III Rijksmuseum SK-A-4080.jpeg|thumb|220x220px|Ahmed III in the Imperial Darbar of Topkapi Palace.]]On 9 December 1714, war was declared on Venice, an army under [[Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha]]'s command{{sfn|Keskiner|2012|p=56}} managed to recover the whole [[Morea]] (Peloponnese) from Venice through coordinated operations of the army and navy.{{sfn|Ágoston|Masters|2009|p=25}}

This success alarmed [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]] and in April 1716, Emperor [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]] provoked the Porte into a declaration of war. The unsuccessful battle, also commanded by Silahdar Ali Pasha, ended with the [[Treaty of Passarowitz]], signed on 21 July 1718, according to which Belgrade, Banat, and Wallachia were ceded to Austria. This failure was a disappointment for Ahmed as the treaty led to Istanbul's economy suffering from increased inflation.{{sfn|Keskiner|2012|p=57}}

[[Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha]] who was the second leading figure of the empire after Ahmed had joined the Morea campaign in 1715, and was appointed as the city of Nish's minister of finance the following year. This post helped him realize the downturn of the state's finances, which led him to avoid war as much as possible during his vizierate. Ibrahim Pasha's policy of peace suited Ahmed well since he had no wish to lead any military campaigns, in addition to the fact that his interest in art and culture made him reluctant to leave his Istanbul.{{sfn|Keskiner|2012|p=57}}

===Character of Ahmed's rule===
[[File:Ahmet III 1720.jpg|thumb|Sultan Ahmed III at a reception, painted in 1720|left|298x298px]]
While shooting competitions were held in [[Okmeydanı]], Istanbul with the idea of increasing the morale of the soldiers and the people, a new warship was launched in [[Imperial Arsenal|Tersane-i Amire]].

He tried three grand viziers at short intervals. Instead of Hasan Pasha, he appointed Kalaylikoz Ahmed Pasha on 24 September 1704, and Baltacı Mehmed Pasha on 25 December 1704.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=297}}

In 1707, a conspiracy led by Eyüplü Ali Ağa was unearthed to bring the sultan off the throne. What resulted were that necks were ordered to be cut in front of the Bab-I-Hümayun.

Ahmed III left the finances of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in a flourishing condition, which had remarkably been obtained without excessive taxation or extortionate procedures. He was a cultivated [[Patronage|patron]] of literature and art, and it was in his time that the first [[printing press]] was authorized to use either the Arabic or Turkish languages; it was set up in Istanbul, and operated by [[Ibrahim Muteferrika]] (while the printing press had been introduced to Constantinople in 1480, all published works before 1729 were in Greek, Armenian, or Hebrew).

It was in his reign that an important change in the government of the [[Danubian Principalities]] was introduced: previously, the [[Ottoman Porte|Porte]] had appointed [[Hospodar]]s, usually native [[Moldavia]]n and [[Wallachia]]n [[boyar]]s, to administer those provinces; after the [[Pruth River Campaign|Russian campaign]] of 1711, during which [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] found an ally in [[Moldavia]] [[List of rulers of Moldavia|Prince]] [[Dimitrie Cantemir]], the Porte began overtly deputizing [[Phanariotes|Phanariote]] [[Greeks]] in that region, and extended the system to Wallachia after [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Prince]] [[Stefan Cantacuzino]] established links with Prince [[Prince Eugene of Savoy|Eugene of Savoy]]. The Phanariotes constituted a kind of ''[[Dhimmi]]'' nobility, which supplied the Porte with functionaries in many important departments of the state.

===Foreign relations===
[[File:Jean-Baptiste van Mour 006.jpg|thumb|Sultan Ahmed III receives French ambassador Vicomte d'Andrezel at [[Topkapı Palace]].]]
[[File:Marquis de Bonnac being received by Sultan Ahmed III.jpg|thumb|French ambassador [[Marquis de Bonnac]] being received by Sultan Ahmed III.]]
The ambassadors of [[Safavid Iran]] and the [[Archduchy of Austria]] were well received when they came from 1706 to 1707.

In the year 1712, the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Jahandar Shah]], a grandson of [[Aurangzeb]], sent gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III and referred to himself as the Ottoman Sultan's devoted admirer.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Mughal-Ottoman relations: a study of political & diplomatic relations between Mughal India and the Ottoman Empire, 1556-1748|author =Farooqi, N.R.|date=1989|publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uB1uAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

The [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Farrukhsiyar]], another grandson of [[Aurangzeb]], is also known to have sent a letter to the Ottomans but this time it was received by the [[Grand Vizier]] [[Nevşehirli Damad Ibrahim Pasha]]. The letter provided a graphic description of the efforts of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] commander [[Sayyid Brothers|Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha]] fighting against the [[Rajput]] and [[Maratha]] rebellion.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uB1uAAAAMAAJ&q=Farrukhsiyar |title=Mughal-Ottoman relations: a study of political & diplomatic relations ... - Naimur Rahman Farooqi |access-date=2012-04-29|year=1989 |last1=Farooqi |first1=Naimur Rahman }}</ref>

===Deposition===
{{Main|Patrona Halil}}
Sultan Ahmed III had become unpopular by reason of the excessive pomp and costly luxury in which he and his principal officers indulged; on 20 September 1730, a mutinous riot of seventeen [[Janissaries]], led by the [[Albanians|Albanian]] [[Patrona Halil]], was aided by the citizens as well as the military until it swelled into an insurrection, this consequently led the Sultan to give up his throne.

Ahmed voluntarily led his nephew [[Mahmud I]] (1730–1754) to the seat of sovereignty and paid allegiance to him as Sultan of the Empire. He then retired to the [[Kafes]] previously occupied by Mahmud and died at [[Topkapı Palace]] after six years of confinement.