Editing Murad III (section)

==Reign==
Selim died in 1574 and was succeeded by Murad, who began his reign by having his five younger brothers strangled.<ref>Marriott, John Arthur. ''The Eastern Question'' (Clarendon Press, 1917), 96.</ref> His authority was undermined by [[harem (Ottoman)|harem]] influences – more specifically, those of his mother and later of his favorite concubine [[Safiye Sultan (mother of Mehmed III)|Safiye Sultan]], often to the detriment of [[Sokollu Mehmed Pasha]]'s influence on the court.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Murad-III#ref16049|title=Murad III {{!}} Ottoman sultan|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-11-13|language=en}}</ref> Selim's power had only been maintained by the effective leadership of the powerful [[Grand Vizier]] Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, who remained in office until his assassination in October 1579. During Murad's reign, the northern borders with the [[Habsburg monarchy]] were defended by the [[Bosnians|Bosnian]] governor [[Hasan Predojević]]. The reign of Murad III was marked by exhausting wars on the empire's western and eastern fronts. The Ottomans also suffered defeats in battles such as the [[Battle of Sisak]].

===Expedition to Morocco===
{{See also|Capture of Fez (1576)}} {{See also|Ottoman expeditions to Morocco}}
[[Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi|Abd al-Malik]] became a trusted member of the Ottoman establishment during his exile. He made the proposition of making Morocco an Ottoman vassal in exchange for the support of Murad III in helping him gain the Saadi throne.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|title=Dictionary of African Biography|first1=Emmanuel Kwaku|last1=Akyeampong|first2=Henry Louis|last2=Gates (Jr.)|date=2 February 2012|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-538207-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

With an army of 10,000 men, most of whom were Turks, Ramazan Pasha and Abd al-Malik left from Algiers to install Abd al-Malik as an Ottoman vassal ruler of Morocco.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=V7qpKqM2Ji8C&pg=PA408 The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3] - J. D. Fage: Pg 408</ref> Ramazan Pasha conquered Fez which caused the Saadi Sultan to flee to Marrakesh which was also conquered. Abd al-Malik then assumed rule over Morocco as a client of the Ottomans.<ref>‎هيسبريس تمودا‫ Volume 29, [https://books.google.com/books?id=u-8PAQAAMAAJ&q=ramadan+pasha Issue 1] Editions techniques nord-africaines, 1991</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref>Hess, Andrew (1978). [https://books.google.com/books?id=4DTOTrXcazMC&pg=PA96 The Forgotten Frontier : A History of the Sixteenth-Century Ibero-African Frontier]. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-33031-0}}</ref>

Abd al-Malik made a deal with the Ottoman troops by paying them a large amount of gold and sending them back to Algiers, suggesting a looser concept of vassalage than Murad III may have thought.<ref name="auto"/> Murad's name was recited in the Friday prayer and stamped on coinage marking the two traditional signs of sovereignty in the Islamic world.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D1TMc1aQNskC|title=Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition|first=Norman|last=Itzkowitz|date=15 March 1980|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226388069 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The reign of Abd al-Malik is understood to be a period of Moroccan vassalage to the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barletta|first=Vincent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49rmZ7_kessC&pg=PA82|title=Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim Orient: Pages 82 and 104|date=2010-05-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-03739-4|pages=82|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DjBZAAAAMAAJ&q=abd+al+malik+%22vassal%22|title=Langues et littératures|date=9 September 1981|publisher=Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines|via=Google Books}}</ref> Abd al-Malik died in 1578 and was succeeded by his brother [[Ahmad al-Mansur]] who formally recognised the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan at the start of his reign while remaining ''de facto'' independent. He stopped minting coins in Murad's name, dropped his name from the Khutba and declared his full independence in 1582.<ref>Rivet, Daniel (2012). Histoire du Maroc: de Moulay Idrîs à Mohammed VI. Fayard</ref><ref>[https://www.academia.edu/16116909/A_struggle_for_Sahara_Idrīs_ibn_Alī_s_embassy_to_Aḥmad_al_Manṣūr_in_the_context_of_Borno_Morocco_Ottoman_relations_1577_1583 A Struggle for the Sahara:Idrīs ibn ‘Alī’s Embassy toAḥmad al-Manṣūr in the Context ofBorno-Morocco-Ottoman Relations], 1577-1583 Rémi Dewière Université de Paris Panthéon Sorbonne</ref>

===War with the Safavids===
[[File:OttomanEmpire1590.png|thumb|right|300px|link=Treaty of Constantinople (1590)|The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest extent in the Middle East under Murad III.]]
The Ottomans had been at peace with the neighbouring rivaling Safavid Empire since 1555, per the [[Treaty of Amasya]], that for some time had settled border disputes. But in 1577 Murad declared war, starting the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–90)|Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590)]], seeking to take advantage of the chaos in the Safavid court after the death of Shah [[Tahmasp I]]. Murad was influenced by viziers [[Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha]] and [[Sinan Pasha]] and disregarded the opposing counsel of Grand Vizier Sokollu. Murad also fought the Safavids which would drag on for 12 years, ending with the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1590)]], which resulted in temporary significant territorial gains for the Ottomans.<ref name=felek />{{rp|198–199}}

===Ottoman activity in the Horn of Africa===

During his reign, an Ottoman Admiral by the name of [[Mir Ali Beg]] was successful in establishing Ottoman supremacy in numerous cities in the [[Swahili coast]] between Mogadishu and Kilwa.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhwOAQAAMAAJ|title=The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700: A Political and Economic History|first=Sanjay|last=Subrahmanyam|date=9 September 1993|publisher=Longman|isbn=9780582050693 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Ottoman suzerainty was recognised in Mogadishu in 1585 and Ottoman supremacy was also established in other cities such as [[Barawa]], [[Mombasa]], Kilifi, Pate, Lamu, and Faza.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cVGZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA224|title=Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology|first=Roman|last=Loimeier|date=17 July 2013|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253027320 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgawCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA407|title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World|first=C. Edmund|last=Bosworth|date=31 August 2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789047423836 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

===Financial affairs===
Murad's reign was a time of financial stress for the Ottoman state. To keep up with changing military techniques, the Ottomans trained infantrymen in the use of firearms, paying them directly from the treasury. By 1580 an influx of silver from the [[New World]] had caused high inflation and social unrest, especially among Janissaries and government officials who were paid in debased currency. Deprivation from the resulting rebellions, coupled with the pressure of over-population, was especially felt in Anatolia.<ref name=felek />{{rp|24}} Competition for positions within the government grew fierce, leading to bribery and corruption. Ottoman and Habsburg sources accuse Murad himself of accepting enormous bribes, including 20,000 ducats from a statesman in exchange for the governorship of Tripoli and Tunisia, thus outbidding a rival who had tried bribing the Grand Vizier.<ref name=felek />{{rp|35}}

During his period, excessive inflation was experienced, the value of silver money was constantly played, [[food prices]] increased. 400 dirhams should be cut from 600 dirhams of silver, while 800 was cut, which meant 100 percent inflation.  For the same reason, the purchasing power of wage earners was halved, and the consequence was an uprising.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2008|p=172}}

===English pact===
Numerous envoys and letters were exchanged between [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] and Sultan Murad III.<ref name=kupperman>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/jamestownproject00kupp |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/jamestownproject00kupp/page/39 39] |title=The Jamestown project |year=2007 |publisher=Harvard University Press |author=Karen Ordahl Kupperman |isbn=9780674024748 |author-link=Karen Ordahl Kupperman }}</ref>{{rp|39}} In one correspondence, Murad entertained the notion that Islam and [[Protestantism]] had "much more in common than either did with [[Roman Catholicism]], as both rejected the worship of idols", and argued for an alliance between England and the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=kupperman />{{rp|40}} To the dismay of Catholic Europe, England exported tin and lead (for cannon-casting) and ammunition to the Ottoman Empire, and Elizabeth seriously discussed joint military operations with Murad III during the outbreak of war with Spain in 1585, as [[Francis Walsingham]] was lobbying for a direct Ottoman military involvement against the common Spanish enemy.<ref name=kupperman />{{rp|41}}  This diplomacy would be continued under Murad's successor [[Mehmed III]], by both the sultan and [[Safiye Sultan (mother of Mehmed III)|Safiye Sultan]] alike.