Editing Osman II (section)

==Attempted reforms==
After the death of [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]] the empire, a period of hugely increased power of the [[Janissary]] corps, local leaders and [[jurists]] over the internal and external affairs of the empire had persisted, paired with a great decline in the power of the sultan, who by this point was little more than a figurehead. This was showcased in 1618, by the deposition of sultan [[Mustafa I]] after only three months in power by the chief harem [[eunuch]], Mustafa Agha, showing another example of the vastly weakened sultanate.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/118/1/291/46234?login=false | doi=10.1093/ahr/118.1.291 | title=BAKI TEZCAN. The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World | date=2013 | last1=Meeker | first1=M. E. | journal=The American Historical Review | volume=118 | pages=291–292 }}</ref> According to one Ottoman chronicler, the 'weak-mindedness and deranged nature' of the sultan was clear. In public he reportedly would gesture repeatedly as if throwing coins onto the ground, possibly meaning he was traumatized by throwing coins to the Janissaries. Sultans had become empty shells of power, whose deposition and execution had become legal, at least according to many scholars of the time.

Upon Osman's return to the Ottoman capital of [[Istanbul]], the young sultan hoped to retake power over the empire from the hands of the Janissaries and jurists, recentralising power in the sultan. He was aiming to dissolve the Janissary corps and replace it with a new, more loyal army equipped with [[muskets]] and recruited from peasants and nomads of [[Anatolia]] and [[Syria (region)|Syria]], as well as [[Arab]], [[Kurdish population|Kurdish]] and [[Druze]] [[Sekban|mercenaries]]. He also wished to relocate the Ottoman capital to [[Damascus]], and planned to take the [[Hajj]] to [[Mecca]], which no other sultan had ever done. The Janissaries and jurists strongly opposed his 'turn to the East', and the Janissaries feared the threat of a new army replacing them. Osman's ideas had made him many enemies in the empire.

===Great winter of 1621===
Following the murder of [[Şehzade Mehmed (son of Ahmed I)|Şehzade Mehmed]] on 12 January 1621, a heavy snow started falling in Istanbul. The people of Istanbul were drastically affected by the cold, which increased local violence on 24 January, more so than the palace murder. This is the biggest natural disaster that concerns the capital in Osman's four-year short reign. Bostanzade Yahya Efendi, one of those who lived through this cold, remarked that the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus were covered with ice from the end of January to beginning of February: "Between Üsküdar and Beşiktaş, the men walk around and go to Üsküdar.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=213}} They came from Istanbul on foot. And the year became a gala (famine).{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=213}}

It was snowing for 15 days, that the frosts were frozen from the severity of the cold, but the river was open between Sarayburnu and Üsküdar.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=213}} For this natural disaster, thirty thousand froze between Üsküdar and Istanbul from the cold," said Haşimi Çelebi, "The road became Üsküdar, the Mediterranean froze a thousand thirty".  As a result of the inconvenience of the Zahire ships, there was a complete famine in [[Istanbul]], and 75 [[dirhams]] of bread jumped to one [[akche]], and the oak of the meat to 15 akches.{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=213}}