Editing Mehmed III

{{Short description|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 to 1603}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Mehmed III
| title        = [[Ottoman Caliphate|Ottoman Caliph]]<br/>[[Amir al-Mu'minin]]<br/>[[Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques]]
| titletext    = 
| more         = 
| image        = Sultan Mehmet III of the Ottoman Empire.jpg
| alt          = Mehmed III
| caption      = Portrait of Mehmed III
| succession   = [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]] ([[Padishah]])
| moretext     = 
| reign        = 16 January 1595 – {{nowrap|22 December 1603}}
| successor    = [[Ahmed I]]
| regent       = 
| predecessor  = [[Murad III]]
| reg-type     = 
| birth_date   = {{birth-date|26 May 1566}}
| birth_place  = Manisa Palace, [[Manisa]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1603|12|22|1566|05|26|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Topkapı Palace]], [[Istanbul]], Ottoman Empire
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Hagia Sophia]], Istanbul
| spouse       = [[Handan Sultan|Handan Hatun]]<br>[[Halime Sultan|Halime Hatun]]<br/>''Fülane'' Hatun
| spouse-type  = Consorts
| issue        = [[Şehzade Mahmud (son of Mehmed III)|Şehzade Mahmud]] <br> [[Ahmed I]] <br> [[Mustafa I]]
| issue-link   = #Sons
| issue-pipe   = Among others
| full name    = Mehmed bin Murad
| house        = [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Murad III]]
| mother       = [[Safiye Sultan (wife of Murad III)|Safiye Sultan]]
| signature_type = [[Tughra]]
| religion     = [[Sunni Islam]]
| type         = 
| signature    = Tughra_of_Mehmed_III.svg
}}
[[File:Mehmed III.jpg|alt=Sultan|thumb|''Sultan Mehmed III'']]
'''Mehmed III''' ({{Langx|ota| محمد ثالث}}, ''Meḥmed-i <u>s</u>āli<u>s</u>''; {{langx|tr|III. Mehmed}}; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was the [[sultan of the Ottoman Empire]] from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the [[Long Turkish War]], during which the Ottoman army was victorious at the decisive [[Battle of Keresztes]]. This victory was however undermined by some military losses such as in [[Győr]] and [[Nikopol, Bulgaria|Nikopol]]. He also ordered the successful quelling of the [[Celali rebellions|Jelali rebellions]]. The sultan also communicated with the court of [[Elizabeth I]] on the grounds of stronger commercial relations and in the hopes of England to ally with the Ottomans against the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]].

== Early life ==
Mehmed was born at the Manisa Palace on 26 May 1566, during the reign of his great-grandfather, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]]. He was the son of [[Murad III]], himself the son of [[Selim II]], who was the son of Sultan Suleiman and [[Hurrem Sultan]]. His mother was [[Safiye Sultan (wife of Murad III)|Safiye Sultan]], an [[Albanian people|Albanian]] from the [[Dukagjin Highlands]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire|last = Peirce|first = Leslie P.|publisher = Oxford University Press, Inc.|year = 1993|isbn = 0-19-507673-7|location = New York|page=94 |quote=Murad's favorite was Safiye, a concubine said to be of Albanian origin from the village of Rezi in the Ducagini mountains.}}</ref> His great-grandfather Suleiman I died the year he was born, and his grandfather became the new sultan, Selim II. His grandfather Selim II died when Mehmed was eight, and Mehmed's father, Murad III, became sultan in 1574. Murad died in 1595, when Mehmed was 28 years old.

Mehmed spent most of his time in Manisa with his parents and his teacher, Ibrahim Efendi. His circumcision took place on 29 May 1582 when he was 16 years old.<ref>{{cite web|title= MEHMED III محمد (ö. 1012/1603) Osmanlı padişahı (1595-1603).|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mehmed-iii|website=İslam Ansiklopedisi|access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref>

==Reign==

=== Fratricide ===
Upon ascending to the throne, Mehmed III ordered that all of his nineteen brothers be [[Fratricide#Ottoman Empire|executed]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Quataert|first1=Donald|title=The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922|date=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-63328-1|page=90}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=McCullagh|first1=Francis|title=The Fall of Abd-ul-Hamid|url=https://archive.org/details/fallofabdulhamid00mccuuoft|date=1910|publisher=Methuen & Co. Ltd.|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/fallofabdulhamid00mccuuoft/page/72 72]}}</ref> They were strangled by his royal executioners, many of whom were deaf, mute or 'half-witted' to ensure absolute loyalty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independentliving.org/miles200907.html|title=DEAF PEOPLE, SIGN LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION, IN OTTOMAN & MODERN TURKEY: Observations and Excerpts from 1300 to 2009. From sources in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin and Turkish, with introduction and some annotation {{!}} Independent Living Institute|website=www.independentliving.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-29}}</ref> Fratricidal successions were not unprecedented, as sultans would often have dozens of children with their concubines.

=== Power struggle in Constantinople ===
Mehmed III was an idle ruler, leaving government to his mother [[Safiye Sultan (wife of Murad III)|Safiye Sultan]], the [[valide sultan]].<ref>Kinross, John Patrick. ''Ottoman Centuries'', p.288. William Morrow & Co., 1977. {{ISBN|0-688-03093-9}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|certain=yes|reason=Very outdated pop-history, not written by a professional historian.|date=October 2016}} His first major problem was the rivalry between two of his viziers, [[Serdar Ferhad Pasha]] and [[Koca Sinan Pasha]], and their supporters. His mother and her son-in-law [[Damat Ibrahim Pasha]] supported Koca Sinan Pasha and prevented Mehmed III from taking control of the issue himself. The issue grew to cause major disturbances by [[janissaries]]. On 7 July 1595, Mehmed III finally sacked Serdar Ferhad Pasha from the position of Grand Vizier due to his failure in [[Wallachia]] and replaced him with Sinan.<ref name=islamans/>

=== Austro-Hungarian War ===
[[File:Surrender of Eger, 1596, A.jpg|thumb|Mehmed III accepting the surrender of Eger, 1596]]

The major event of his reign was the [[Long Turkish War|Austro-Ottoman War]] in [[Hungary]] (1593–1606). Ottoman defeats in the war caused Mehmed III to take personal command of the army, the first sultan to do so since Suleiman I in 1566. Accompanied by the Sultan, the Ottomans conquered [[Eger]] in 1596. Upon hearing of the Habsburg army's approach, Mehmed wanted to dismiss the army and return to Istanbul.<ref>Karateke, Hakan T. "On the Tranquility and Repose of the Sultan." The Ottoman World. Ed. Christine Woodhead. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2011. p. 120.</ref> However, the Ottomans eventually decided to face the enemy and defeated the [[Habsburg]] and [[Transylvania]]n forces at the [[Battle of Mezőkeresztes|Battle of Keresztes]]<ref>Finkel, Caroline. ''Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire'', p.175. Basic Books, 2005. {{ISBN|0-465-02396-7}}</ref> (known in [[Ottoman Turkish]] as the Battle of Haçova), during which the Sultan had to be dissuaded from fleeing the field halfway through the battle. Upon returning to Istanbul in victory, Mehmed told his viziers that he would campaign again.<ref>Karateke, p. 122.</ref> The next year the Venetian Bailo in Istanbul noted, "the doctors declared that the Sultan cannot leave for a war on account of his bad health, produced by excesses of eating and drinking".<ref>Goodwin, Jason. ''Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire'', p.166. New York: Henry Holt & Company.</ref>{{unreliable source?|reason=This is a pop history book, not a real history book |date=September 2016}}

In reward for his services at the war, [[Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha]] was made Grand Vizier in 1596. However, with pressure from the court and his mother, Mehmed reinstated Damat Ibrahim Pasha to this position shortly afterward.<ref name=islamans>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.islamansiklopedisi.info/| title=Mehmed III |encyclopedia=İslam Ansiklopedisi |publisher=Türk Diyanet Vakfı |pages=407–413 |year=2003 | volume=28}}</ref>

However, the victory at the Battle of Keresztes was soon set back by some important losses, including the loss of [[Győr]] ({{langx|tr|Yanıkkale}}) to the Austrians and the defeat of the Ottoman forces led by [[Hafız Ahmet Pasha]] by the [[Wallachian military forces|Wallachian forces]] under [[Michael the Brave]] in [[Nikopol, Bulgaria|Nikopol]] in 1599. In 1600, Ottoman forces under [[Tiryaki Hasan Pasha]] captured [[Nagykanizsa]] after a 40-day siege and later successfully held it against a much greater attacking force in the [[Siege of Nagykanizsa]].<ref name=larousse>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Mehmed III |encyclopedia=Büyük Larousse |publisher=Milliyet Newspaper Press |pages=7927–8 | volume=15}}</ref>

=== Jelali revolts ===
Another major event of his reign was the [[Jelali revolts]] in Anatolia. [[Karayazıcı Abdülhalim]], a former Ottoman official, captured the city of [[Urfa]] and declared himself a sultan in 1600. The rumors of his claim to the throne spread to Constantinople and Mehmed ordered the rebels to be treated harshly to dispel the rumors, among these, was the execution of [[Hüseyin Pasha (Celali rebel)|Hüseyin Pasha]], whom Karayazıcı Abdülhalim styled as Grand Vizier. In 1601, Abdülhalim fled to the vicinity of [[Samsun]] after being defeated by the forces under [[Sokulluzade Hasan Pasha]], the governor of [[Baghdad]]. However, his brother, [[Deli Hasan]], killed Sokulluzade Hasan Pasha and defeated troops under the command of [[Hadım Hüsrev Pasha]]. He then marched on to [[Kütahya]], captured and burned the city.<ref name=islamans/><ref name=larousse/>

==Relationship with England==
In 1599, the fourth year of Mehmed III's reign, [[Queen Elizabeth I]] sent a convoy of gifts to the Ottoman court. These gifts were originally intended for the sultan's predecessor, [[Murad III]], who had died before they had arrived. Included in these gifts was a large jewel-studded clockwork organ that was assembled on the slope of the [[Topkapı Palace#Third Courtyard|Royal Private Garden]] by a team of engineers including [[Thomas Dallam]]. The organ took many weeks to complete and featured dancing sculptures such as a flock of blackbirds that sung and shook their wings at the end of the music.<ref name="Malcolm">{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3616223/How-fear-turned-to-fascination.html | title=How fear turned to fascination | access-date=31 October 2013 | last=Malcolm | first=Noel | date=2004-05-02 | publisher= telegraph.co.uk
| location=London}}</ref><ref>Jean Giullou: ''Die Orgel. Erinnerung und Vision.''Christoph Glatter-Götz 1984 p. 35 with image</ref> Also among the English gifts was a ceremonial coach, accompanied by a letter from the Queen to Mehmed's mother, [[Safiye Sultan (wife of Murad III)|Safiye Sultan]]. These gifts were intended to cement relations between the two countries, building on the trade agreement signed in 1581 that gave English merchants priority in the Ottoman region.<ref name="Jardine">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7155903.stm | work=BBC News | title=An eye for detail | date=December 21, 2007}}</ref> Under the looming threat of Spanish military presence, England was eager to secure an alliance with the Ottomans, the two nations together having the capability to divide the power. [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]]'s gifts arrived in a large 27-gun merchantman ship that Mehmed personally inspected, a clear display of English maritime strength that would prompt him to build up his fleet over the following years of his reign. The Anglo-Ottoman alliance would never be consummated, however, as relations between the nations grew stagnant due to anti-European sentiments reaped from the worsening Austro-Ottoman War and the deaths of Safiye Sultan's interpreter and the pro-English chief Hasan Pasha.<ref name="Jardine"/><ref name="Woodhead">{{cite web|url=http://gale.cengage.co.uk/images/WoodheadOttomans1.pdf|date=28 April 2011|title=ENGLAND, THE OTTOMANS AND THE BARBARY COAST|author=Christine Woodhead|access-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314080131/http://gale.cengage.co.uk/images/WoodheadOttomans1.pdf|archive-date=14 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Death==
Mehmed died on 22 December 1603 at the age of 37. According to one source, the cause of his death was the distress caused by the death of his son, [[Şehzade Mahmud (son of Mehmed III)|Şehzade Mahmud]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Hasan Celâl|last1=Güzel|first2=Cem|last2=Oğuz|first3=Osman|last3=Karatay|title=The Turks: Ottomans (2 v. )|year=2002}}</ref> According to another source, he died either of a plague or a stroke.<ref>{{cite book|first=Günhan|last=Börekçi|title=Factions And Favorites At The Courts Of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) And His Immediate Predexessors|year=2010|pages=89, n. 25}}</ref> He was buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque. He was succeeded by his 13 year old son [[Ahmed I]] as the new sultan.

==Family==
===Consorts===
Mehmed III had three known consorts, none of whom, according to the harem records, held the title of [[Haseki Sultan]]:<ref>Peirce (1993) p.104 and n.53 p.311</ref>
* [[Handan Sultan|Handan Hatun]] (died 9 November 1605, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople; buried in Mehmed III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque<ref>A Queen Mother at Work: On Handan Sultan and Her Regency During the Early Reign of Ahmed I". Faal Bir Valide Sultan: Handan Sultan ve I. Ahmed’in Hükümdarlığının Başlarındaki Naibeliği Üzerine. Günhan Börekçi. 2020. 1 Mayıs 2021 tarihinde kaynağından arşivlendi. Erişim tarihi: 1 Mayıs 2021</ref>). She was mother and [[Valide sultan|Valide Sultan]] of Ahmed I. 
* [[Halime Sultan|Halime Hatun]] (dead after 1623, Old Palace, Constantinople; buried in Mustafa I Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque, Constantinople). She was mother and Valide Sultan of Mustafa I.
* ''Fülane'' Hatun (dead in 1598, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople). She died in 1598 with her infant son during the outbreak of plague or smallpox.<ref>{{cite book|title=Disease and Empire: A History of Plague Epidemics in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire (1453--1600)|year=2008|pages=145|isbn=978-0-549-74445-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Mehmet|last=Ipşırlı|title=Mustafa Selaniki's history of the Ottomans|date=June 1976|pages=172}}</ref>

===Sons===
Mehmed III had at least eight sons:<ref name="baki">{{cite book|first=Baki|last=Tezcan|title=Searchimg For Osman: A Reassessment Of The Deposition Of Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618-1622)|pages=330 and n. 29}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Günhan|last=Börekçi|title=İnkırâzın Eşiğinde Bir Hanedan: III. Mehmed, I. Ahmed, I. Mustafa ve 17. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Siyasî Krizi - A Dynasty at the Threshold of Extinction: Mehmed III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I and the 17th-Century Ottoman Political Crisis|pages=78}}</ref>
*Şehzade Selim (1585, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 20 April 1597, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople; buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Handan. He died of scarlet fever.
* Şehzade Süleyman ({{circa}} 1586, Manisa Palace, Manisa, - 1597, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople; buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Handan. He died of scarlet fever.
*[[Şehzade Mahmud (son of Mehmed III)|Şehzade Mahmud]] (1587, Manisa Palace, Manisa – executed by Mehmed III, 7 June 1603, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople; buried in Şehzade Mahmud Mausoleum, Şehzade Mosque) - with Halime.
* [[Ahmed I]] (18 April 1590, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 22 November 1617, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople; buried in Ahmed I Mausoleum, Sultan Ahmed Mosque) - with Handan. 14th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
*Şehzade Osman ({{circa}} 1597, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople – {{circa}} 1601, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople; buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Handan.
*Şehzade ''Fülan'' ({{circa}} 1597/1598, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople - 1598, Topkapi Palace, Constantinople; buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with ''Fülane''. He died with his mother of plague or smallpox. 
*Şehzade Cihangir (1599, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople – 1602, Topkapı Palace, Constantinople, buried in Hagia Sophia Mosque);
* [[Mustafa I]] ({{circa}} 1600/1602,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tezcan |first=Baki |date=2008 |title=The Debut of Kösem Sultan's Political Career |url=https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?url=article&id=2037143&journal_code=TURC&download=yes |journal=Turcica |volume=40 |pages=347–359 |doi=10.2143/TURC.40.0.2037143}}</ref><ref>Günhan Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors (2010), p.64</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Studies |first=Dîvân: Di̇si̇pli̇nlerarasi Çalişmalar Dergi̇si̇ / Dîvân: Journal of Interdisciplinary |title=İnkırâzın Eşiğinde Bir Hanedan: III. Mehmed, I. Ahmed, I. Mustafa ve 17. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Siyasî Krizi - A Dynasty at the Threshold of Extinction: Mehmed III, Ahmed I, Mustafa I and the 17th-Century Ottoman Political Crisis - Günhan BÖREKÇİ |url=https://www.academia.edu/4449293 |journal=Disiplinlerarasi Çalışmalar Dergis |pages=73–74}}</ref> Topkapi Palace, Constantinople – 20 January 1639, Eski Palace, Constantinople, buried in Mustafa I Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque) - with Halime. 15th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

===Daughters===
Mehmed III had at least ten daughters:<ref name="tezcan">{{cite book|first=Baki|last=Tezcan|title=The Debut Of Kösem Sultan's Political Career|pages=357}}</ref><ref>Doğanay, Aziz (2009). Osmanlı tezyinatı: klasik devir İstanbul hanedan türbeleri, 1522-1604, p. 444.</ref><ref name="Sakaoğlu">{{cite book|title=Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler|last=Sakaoğlu|first=Necdet|publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık|year=2008|isbn=978-9-753-29623-6|pages=303}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis | first = Baki | last = Tezcan | title=Searching for Osman : a reassessment of the deposition of the Ottoman sultan Osman II (1618-1622) unpublished PhD. thesis | publisher=Princeton University | date=2001 | url= https://www.scribd.com/document/643480933/Tezcan-Searching-for-Osman-pdf | page=331 n. 37}}</ref><ref name="Sarınay">{{cite book | last1=Sarınay | first1=Y. | last2=Yıldırım | first2=O. | author3=Turkey. Divan-i Hümayun | author4=Turkey. Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı | title=82 numaralı Mühimme Defteri, 1026-1027/1617-1618: özet, transkripsiyon, indeks ve tıpkıbasım | publisher=T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü | series=Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn sicilleri dizisi | year=2000 | isbn=978-975-19-2649-4 | page=77}}</ref>
*Fatma Sultan (1584?, Manisa - ?) - with Handan. She married firstly in 1600 with Mahmud Pasha, [[Sanjak-bey|sanjakbey]] of Cairo, secondly in 1604 to Damat [[Tiryaki Hasan Pasha]] (d. 1611) and had a son and two daughters, finally in 1616 to [[Güzelce Ali Pasha]], Grand Vizier, until his death in 1621.
*Ayşe Sultan ({{circa}} 1587?, Manisa - after 1614) - with Handan. She married to Destari Mustafa Pasha, with whom she had a son and two daughters died in infancy. Some sources also suggest that she remarried to [[Gazi Hüsrev Pasha]]. She was buried in Destari's [[türbe]] ([[Şehzade Mosque]]) with their children. 
*Beyhan Sultan (born before 1590, Manisa). She married in 1612 to [[Damat Halil Pasha]]. They had two sons, Sultanzade Mahmud Bey and Sultanzade Ebubekir Bey. 
*Hatice Sultan (1590, Manisa - 1613, Constantinople) - with Halime. She married firstly in 1604 to Mirahur Mustafa Pasha, married secondly on 10 February 1612 to Cağaloğlu Mahmud Pasha (d.1643), son of [[Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha|Cigalazade Sinan Pasha]] and Saliha Hanimsultan (daughter of [[Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan]], granddaughter of Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleyman I]]). She died soon after her second marriage and was buried in her own [[türbe]] in the [[Şehzade Mosque]]. 
*Şah Sultan (1592?, Manisa - after 1623, Constantinople) - with Halime. She married in 1604 (consummated in March 1606) to Damat [[Kara Davud Pasha]], [[Grand vizier|Grand Vizier]]. She had a son, Sultanzade Süleyman Bey, and a daughter. During Mustafa I's second reign, she was suspected, together with her husband, of wanting to install her son on the throne.
*Hümaşah Sultan (? - ?). She married in October 1613 Cağaloğlu Mahmud Pasha, after her half-sister Hatice's death. 
* Esra Sultan (? - ?). She married Ali Pasha (d.1617).
* Ümmügülsüm Sultan (? - after 1622). She was among the unmarried princesses in 1622.<ref name="978-0-493-33076-1" />
* Halime Sultan (? - after 1622). She was among the unmarried princesses in 1622.<ref name="978-0-493-33076-1">Baki Tezcan, Searching for Osman: A Reassessment of the Deposition of the Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618-1622), PhD thesis, Princeton University, 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-493-33076-1}}: "''A privy purse register from 1622 gives the names of five unmarried princesses, who some may be daughters of Mehmed III: Umm-i Külsum, Hanzade, Halime, Fatma, and Akile''.”</ref>
* Akile Sultan (? - after 1622). She was among the unmarried princesses in 1622.<ref name="978-0-493-33076-1"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Mehmed III}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Ottoman Dynasty|House of Osman]]||May 26, 1566||December 22, 1603}}[aged 37]
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Murad III]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]]|years=January 15, 1595 – December 22, 1603}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ahmed I]]}}
{{s-rel|su}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Murad III]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of caliphs|Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate]]|years=January 15, 1595 – December 22, 1603}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ahmed I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Ottoman Dynasty}}
{{Ottoman princes}}
{{Caliphs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmed Iii}}
[[Category:1566 births]]
[[Category:1603 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century sultans of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:17th-century sultans of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Turks from the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:People of the Long Turkish War]]
[[Category:Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques]]
[[Category:Burials at Hagia Sophia]]
[[Category:Ottoman caliphs]]
[[Category:Sons of sultans]]