Mustafa III
Mustafa III (January 28, 1717 – January 21, 1774) was the sultan of the Ottoman empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of sultan Ahmed III and was succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid I in 1774.
An energetic and perceptive ruler, Mustafa sought to modernise the army and the internal state machinery to bring his empire in line with the Powers of Western Europe.
Unfortunately the Ottoman state had declined so far that any general attempts at modernisation were but a drop in the ocean, whilst any major plans to change the administrative status quo immediately roused the conservative Janissaries and imams to the point of rebellion. Mustafa did secure the services of foreign generals to initiate a reform of the infantry and artillery. The Sultan also ordered the founding of Academies for Mathematics, Navigation and the Sciences.
Well aware of his own military weakness, Mustafa assiduously avoided war and was powerless to prevent Catherine the Great's annexation of the Crimea. However this action, combined with further Russian aggression in Poland compelled Mustafa to declare war on St. Petersburg shortly before his death.
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.
