Mahmud I
Mahmud I (August 2, 1696 – December 13, 1754) was the sultan of the Ottoman empire from 1730 to 1754.
Brought to the throne by the revolt of Halil Pasha, Mahmud swiftly asserted himself by winning over the Janissaries and having Halil Pasha murdered. The rest of Mahmud's reign was dominated by wars with Persia and Russia. The Persian wars saw Ottoman forces ranged against the military genius of Nadir Shah. The Turks managed to retain control of Baghdad, but Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia fell back within the Persian sphere of influence.
The Russian war was fought primarily in the Crimea and the Danubian Principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia). In this war, the Russian commander Von Munnich routed Mahmud's Crimean Tartar vassals and then led his forces across the Dniestr, bringing much of Bessarabia under Russian control. The Austrians, however, did not fare as well, as Ottoman forces brought Belgrade and northern Serbia back under their control.
Although no weakling, Mahmud entrusted government to his viziers and spent a large part of his time composing poetry.
The Osmanli Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1281 to 1923, beginning with Osman I (not counting his father, Ertuğrul), though the dynasty was not proclaimed until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan. Before that the tribe/dynasty might have been known as Söğüt but was renamed Osmanli in honour of Osman.
The sultan was the sole regent and government of the empire, at least officially. The sultan enjoyed many titles such as Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe. Note that the first rulers never called themselves sultans, but rather beys. See the article on state organisation of the Ottoman Empire for further information on the sultan and the structure of power.
Hereditiary heads of the House of Osman since 1926:
When Mehmed II (the Conquerer) took over Constantinople on May 29, 1453, he committed a coup d'état by replacing the
Emperor of the Roman empire (a.k.a. the Eastern Roman Empire a.k.a. Byzantine Empire) with himself. He took the title Emperor (imparator)and protector of Orthodox Christianity.
He let himself be crowned Emperor by the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose stature he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians.
So in addition to being Sultan of the Muslim citisens and Khan of the Turks, he was now also styled Emperor of the Romans.
As emperor of the Romans he laid claim to all the Roman territories and succesfully managed to put most of the Roman territories (except Rome and Italy) under his own control.
