Mustafa I

Mustafa I (1591 – January 20, 1639) (Ottoman Turkish: مصطفى اول‎), son of Mehmed III, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1617 to 1618 and from 1622 to 1623.

Biography

He was born in the Manisa Palace, as the younger brother of Ahmed I (1603–17). His mother was an Abkhazian women sultan. Her name was undetermined, but popularly known with name Halime or Alime.

Before 1603 it was customary for an Ottoman Sultan to have his brothers executed shortly after he gained the throne (Mustafa's father Mehmed III had executed 19 of his own brothers). But when the thirteen-year-old Ahmed I was enthroned in 1603, he spared the life of the twelve-year-old Mustafa.

Mustafa might have been left alive because Ahmed had not yet produced any sons, so at the time Mustafa was his only heir. Though Ahmed went on to father several sons, he did not execute Mustafa, perhaps because of his brother's apparent mental problems. Another factor in Mustafa's survival is the influence of Kösem Sultan (Ahmed's favorite concubine), who may have wished to preempt the succession of Osman, Ahmed’s first-born son from another concubine. If Osman became Sultan, he would likely try to execute his half-brothers, the sons of Ahmed and Kösem. This scenario later became a reality when Osman II executed his brother Mehmed in 1621.