Sultan Ibrahim I (1615-1648) was not served the nickname "Crazy" on a platter - he did his best to deserve it. From 1640, when he ascended the Ottoman throne, until the moment he was sent to that world, he did everything in his power to push the glorious empire into anarchy.
The craziest Turkish sultan - he spent his youth in a cage, drowned the whole harem, and what he did to his son is still being talked about. Sultan Ibrahim Ludi was born on November 5, 1615, as the youngest son of Sultan Ahmed I and his favorite wife, Sultana Kosem.
His father passed away when Ibrahim was less than two years old. After this, there was a period of bloody clashes in the sultan's family, when no candidate for the throne managed to maintain power for a long time. Ibrahim's uncle Mustafa I, his half-brother Osman II, older brother Murat IV took turns on the throne. Murat eventually seized power, but the fact that the sultan became his own brother was even more dangerous for Ibrahim. In 1635, out of fear that they might try to seize power from him, Murat IV ordered the execution of his two brothers - Kasim and Bayazit. Ibrahim was spared since his brother did not see a threat in him, but that does not mean that he escaped a bitter fate.
Youth spent in a cage
Although his brother spared him, Ibrahim was imprisoned in a so-called cage from 1635. It was a fenced part of the harem, in which the younger brothers of the ruling sultan were sometimes held in a kind of captivity, isolated and under guard.
Ibrahim's captivity lasted until 1640, that is, until the death of Sultan Murat IV, when he became the only male member of the Ottoman lineage, since no male child of Murat IV survived his early childhood.
The stress that Ibrahim experienced at the time of the execution of his two brothers was so great that it left lasting consequences on his mental health. Captivity only added to the paranoia.
Ibrahim accepted the news of his brother's death with great distrust. When he was called to take the throne, he refused it for fear that it was a trap. Only when he was shown the lifeless body of Sultan Murat IV, did he agree to take power.
Years of improvement
During the first few years of his reign, Sultan Ibrahim I proved to be a very capable ruler. Much of the credit should be attributed to Kemankesh Mustafa Pasha, who became Grand Vizier after Ibrahim's accession to the throne. His firm hand maintained the strength and stability of the Ottoman Empire.
Nevertheless, Ibrahim followed and supported him in his footsteps. When Kemankesh Mustafa Pasha wrote a memorandum on public affairs, Sultan Ibrahim replied to him. Based on the Sultan's answer, it is clear that he was an extremely educated man.
Ibrahim, often disguised, inspected the squares in Constantinople and ordered the Grand Vizier to correct any irregularities he would notice.
Madman on the throne
Ibrahim never overcame the traumas experienced in childhood and youth. The consequences of the experienced stress began to manifest themselves through frequent and very strong headaches, as well as attacks of weakness.
The other extreme was terrible outbursts of rage. For a time, the sultan was very fond of the newborn of one of his concubines. Turhan Khadija Sultana - Ibrahim's main wife, jealous, objected to this.
Ibrahim, enraged by her behavior, took his son Mehmed from her hands and threw him into the pool. The little prince did not drown just because he was saved by a servant, but he was left with a scar on his forehead, which he wore for the rest of his life.
Turhan Khadija Sultana was considered the only one who managed to calm his, more and more frequent, outbursts of anger. In a moment of madness he had all 280 members of his harem drowned because he heard the story that another man had stepped into the harem.
There was also a rumor that he was obsessed with fuller women to the extent that he sent servants across the state to find the fattest possible women for his harem. One of his main concubines was called Seker Pare, literally a piece of sugar, and was rumored to weigh about 150 pounds.
Ibrahim made eight concubines haseki sultans (chief women) giving them great wealth and possessions. He even gave the palace of the Grand Vizier to one of them.
He went down in history for being - killed!
This behavior, combined with the war defeats in the war with Venice in the late years of his reign, infuriated his subjects, and especially the most dangerous ones - the Janissaries!
On August 8, 1648, the corrupt Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha was strangled and torn to pieces by a dissatisfied mass. On the same day, Ibrahim was captured and captured inside the Topkapi Palace.
Ibrahim was deprived of the title of sultan, and his seven-year-old son Mehmed IV came to power.
Ibrahim was strangled on August 18, 1648, in front of his palace. He thus became only the third sultan in the history of the Ottoman Empire to be assassinated.
