28 Facts About Murad III

Murad III's rule saw battles with the Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavids.

Murad III's reign saw the empire's expanding influence on the eastern coast of Africa.

Murad III was a great patron of the arts, commissioning the Siyer-i-Nebi and other illustrated manuscripts.

Murad III received a good education and learned the Arabic and Persian languages.

Suleiman died in 1566 when Murad III was 20, and his father became the new sultan, Selim II.

Selim died in 1574 and was succeeded by Murad III, who began his reign by having his five younger brothers strangled.

The reign of Murad III was marked by exhausting wars on the empire's western and eastern fronts.

Murad III made the proposition of making Morocco an Ottoman vassal in exchange for the support of Murad III in helping him gain the Saadi throne.

Murad III's name was recited in the Friday prayer and stamped on coinage marking the two traditional signs of sovereignty in the Islamic world.

Murad III stopped minting coins in Murad's name, dropped his name from the Khutba and declared his full independence in 1582.

Murad III fought the Safavids which would drag on for 12 years, ending with the Treaty of Constantinople, which resulted in temporary significant territorial gains for the Ottomans.

Murad III's reign was a time of financial stress for the Ottoman state.

In one correspondence, Murad III entertained the notion that Islam and Protestantism had "much more in common than either did with Roman Catholicism, as both rejected the worship of idols", and argued for an alliance between England and the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman historian Mustafa Selaniki wrote that whenever Murad III planned to go out to Friday prayer, he changed his mind after hearing of alleged plots by the Janissaries to dethrone him once he left the palace.

Murad III withdrew from his subjects and spent the majority of his reign keeping to the company of few people and abiding by a daily routine structured by the five daily Islamic prayers.

Murad III stays at table only half an hour, and rises into the garden for as long as he pleases.

Murad III's monogamy was disapproved of by Nurbanu Sultan, who worried that Murad needed more sons to succeed him in case Mehmed died young.

Five or six years after his accession to the throne, Murad III was given a pair of concubines by his sister Ismihan.

Murad III took great interest in the arts, particularly miniatures and books.

Murad III actively supported the court of Society of Miniaturists, commissioning several volumes including the Siyer-i Nebi, the most heavily illustrated biographical work on the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Book of Skills, the Book of Festivities and the Book of Victories.

Murad III had two large alabaster urns transported from Pergamon and placed on two sides of the nave in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and a large wax candle dressed in tin which was donated by him to the Rila monastery in Bulgaria is on display in the monastery museum.

Murad III furnished the content of Kitabu'l-Menamat, addressed to Murad III's spiritual advisor, Suca Dede.

Murad III is responsible for changing the burial customs of the sultans' mothers.

Murad III had his mother Nurbanu buried next to her husband Selim II, making her the first consort to share a sultan's tomb.

Murad III is believed to have had Safiye Sultan as his only concubine for circa fifteen years.

At time of his death in 1595, Murad III had at least thirty-five concubines, amongs others:.

Murad III's claims were never proven and appear dubious to say the least.

Murad III had more than thirty daughters still alive at his death in 1595, of whom nineteen died of plague in 1598.