Mahmud II
Mahmud II (July 20, 1785–July 1, 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death.
In 1808, Mahmud's brother and predecessor, Mustafa IV ordered his execution along with that of his brother, the deposed Sultan Selim III, in order to defuse a rebellion. Selim was killed, but Mahmud safely hid and was placed on the throne after the rebels deposed Mustafa. The leader of this rebellion, Mustafa Bayrakdar, then became Mahmud's vizier and took the initiative in resuming reforms that had been terminated by the conservative coup of 1807 that had brought Mustafa IV to power. It was not long before the vezir was killed by rebellious Janissaries in a fire, however, and Mahmud was forced to temporarily abandon the reforms.
Later in his reign, Mahmud's efforts at reform were more successful. His most notable achievement was the massacre of the Janissary corps in 1826. Most of his reforms were not so successful, however, and he was confronted in 1821 with a major rebellion in Greece. Following the Great Powers' intervention which resulted in the Battle of Navarino in 1827 and a Russo-Turkish War in 1828–9, Mahmud was forced to grant Greece its independence in 1832.
Mahmud appears to have been unable to effect the reforms he desired in the mode of educating his children, so that his son received no better education than that given to Turkish princes in the harem. His son Abd-ul-Mejid succeeded him.
Late in his reign, Mahmud became involved in disputes with his ambitious vassal Mehemet Ali, Wali (Governor) of Egypt. Mahmud had enlisted Mehemet Ali's help in suppressing the rebellion in Greece, but had not paid the promised price for his services. In 1831, the Wali declared war, and managed to take control of Syria and Arabia by war's end in 1833. In 1839, Mahmud resumed the war, hoping to recover his losses, but at the very time he died, the news was on its way to Constantinople that the empire's army had been signally defeated at Nezib by an Egyptian army led by Mehemet Ali's son, Ibrahim Pasha.
When he died from tuberculosis in 1839, his funeral was crowded by throngs of people who came to bid the sultan farewell.
See also
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.
