Ottoman Sultans in Order: All 36 Sultans and Their Reign Dates

There were 36 Ottoman sultans, from the founder Osman Bey to the last sultan, Mehmed VI Vahdeddin. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Osman Bey ruled from 1302 to 1324, while Vahdeddin’s reign ended in 1922. Below we give the order of the sultans with their reign dates and explain how the throne passed from one ruler to the next.

Quick Summary

There were 36 Ottoman sultans, from Osman Bey to Mehmed VI Vahdeddin.
Murad II, Mehmed II and Mustafa I each came to the throne twice but are counted once.
The longest reign was the 46 years of Suleiman the Magnificent; the shortest was the ninety-three days of Murad V.
Fratricide was written into the law code (kanunname) of Mehmed the Conqueror; after 1617 the throne passed to the eldest member of the dynasty.
The sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922; the last caliph, Abdülmecid Efendi, is not counted as a sultan.

How many Ottoman sultans were there?
The Ottoman sultans in order: the full list
The founding period (1302–1451)
The imperial age (1451–1603)
The age of transformation (1603–1774)
The late period (1774–1922)
How did the throne change hands?
Frequently asked questions

How Many Ottoman Sultans Were There? How Do We Count 36 Sultans?

To count the Ottoman sultans, one must first decide who belongs on the list. In this article we have counted the rulers whom the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam presents as “padishah”, together with the founder, Osman Bey. By this rule the list contains 36 names. The reign dates, too, are taken from each sultan’s own entry in the encyclopedia.

Osman Bey, who heads the list, is not called padishah in the early sources. According to the encyclopedia’s entry “Padişah”, these sources use only the titles “gazi” (warrior for the faith) and “bey” (lord) for him. The title sultan appears from Orhan Bey onward. The title padishah, which means “holder of power, ruler” in Persian, gradually took the place of hüdavendigar (“sovereign”) and became established. According to Halil İnalcık, the Ottoman sultans were perhaps the most centralist and absolutist rulers in Islamic history.

Two further details are decisive for the count. Murad II, Mehmed II and Mustafa I each came to the throne twice; they appear on the list only once. During the Interregnum, meanwhile, Bayezid I’s sons Süleyman Çelebi and Musa Çelebi ruled Rumelia from Edirne. The encyclopedia ends the reign of Bayezid I in 1402 and begins that of Mehmed I in 1413. We, too, have not counted the princes of the intervening years as Ottoman sultans.

Why Is the Last Caliph, Abdülmecid Efendi, Not on the List?

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey abolished the sultanate on 1 November 1922 but left the caliphate with the dynasty. According to the entry “Padişah”, this decision transferred the sultan’s sovereign rights to the nation. After Vahdeddin left the country, the Assembly elected Abdülmecid Efendi caliph on 19 November 1922. The caliphate itself was abolished on 3 March 1924.

Abdülmecid Efendi (1868–1944) was the son of Sultan Abdülaziz and never reigned as sultan. The encyclopedia presents him not as a sultan but as the last caliph. For this reason he is not added to the list as a 37th name. We explained how the caliphate came to the dynasty in our article on the historical process of the caliphate.

The Ottoman Sultans in Order: The Complete List with Reign Dates

We have divided the order of the sultans into four periods. The names and boundaries of these periods, however, are debated. The encyclopedia’s entry “Cülûs” (Accession to the Throne) dates the founding period to 1299–1453. The entry “Osmanlılar” (Ottomans), on the other hand, treats 1300–1774 as a single classical period and begins the imperial age with the accession of Mehmed II.

Feridun Emecen, who wrote the classical-period section of that entry, also notes that speaking of a “classical age” is an anachronistic discourse. Halil İnalcık uses the expression “period of decline” in the entry “Padişah”. Emecen, by contrast, describes the 17th century as a period in which the system changed through practical solutions. We have drawn the boundaries according to the reign dates of the Ottoman sultans.

Four-row collage of portraits of Ottoman sultans wearing turbans and fezzes — A collage of portraits of Ottoman sultans

Ottoman Sultans of the Founding Period (1302–1451)

According to the encyclopedia, Osman Bey emerged as an independent bey after he defeated a Byzantine army in 1302. The tradition of the dynastic chronicles, however, counts 1299 as the year of the conquest of Bilecik and of independence. As Halil İnalcık points out, historians, too, long accepted this date as the founding year. We described Osman Gazi’s life and conquests in a separate article.

The principality took Bursa in 1326, and by taking Gallipoli in 1354 it secured a vital bridgehead in Rumelia. After the defeat at Ankara in 1402, Bayezid I’s sons fought over the throne for eleven years. This period, known as the Interregnum, ended in 1413 when Mehmed I eliminated his brothers.

Osman Bey (Osman Gazi): 1302–1324. The founder who gave his name to the state and the dynasty.
Orhan Bey: 1324–1362. He took over the principality by his father’s will; the title sultan began with him.
Murad I (Hüdavendigar): 1362–1389. The first fratricide known with certainty took place in his reign; he fell as a martyr at Kosovo.
Bayezid I (the Thunderbolt): 1389–1402. He was proclaimed sultan at Kosovo by the beys in the army; he was defeated by Timur at Ankara.
Mehmed I (Çelebi): 1413–1421. He ended the Interregnum by prevailing over his brothers.
Murad II: 1421–1444 and 1446–1451. He stepped down from the throne of his own will in 1444 and returned in 1446.

The Imperial Age: From Mehmed the Conqueror to Mehmed III (1451–1603)

According to the encyclopedia, the period of interregnum and recovery gave way to the “imperial age” with the accession of Mehmed II. Istanbul was taken in 1453 and made the capital. According to Halil İnalcık, the classical type of the sultan emerged in the person of Mehmed the Conqueror and gained its full power under Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent. Selim I defeated the Mamluks in 1516 and 1517 and took Egypt and Syria.

Toward the end of this age the sultan’s role changed as well. According to the encyclopedia, until Selim II the Ottoman sultans regarded leading campaigns in person as one of their chief duties. Selim II was the first sultan who did not go on campaign and died in Istanbul. We discussed why Suleiman was called “the Magnificent” in a separate article.

Mehmed II (the Conqueror): 1444–1446 and 1451–1481. He first came to the throne at the age of twelve; he took Istanbul in 1453.
Bayezid II: 1481–1512. He fought a struggle for the throne with his brother Cem Sultan.
Selim I (the Grim): 1512–1520. With the support of the Janissaries he brought about his father’s departure from the throne.
Suleiman I (the Magnificent): 1520–1566. He came to the throne without a rival; his reign was the longest of any sultan.
Selim II: 1566–1574. He was the first sultan born in Istanbul to come to the throne.
Murad III: 1574–1595. On the night he came to the throne, five princes were strangled.
Mehmed III: 1595–1603. Nineteen of his brothers were killed at his accession; in 1596 he took part in the Eger campaign in person.

The Age of Transformation: From Ahmed I to Mustafa III (1603–1774)

At the beginning of the 17th century both the understanding of succession and the type of ruler changed. According to the encyclopedia, with one or two exceptions the sultan’s authority shifted to the palace circle and the central bureaucracy. The valide sultans (the sultans’ mothers), the imperial sons-in-law (damads) and the viziers shared power. The title gazi borne by the Ottoman sultans also came to depend on the army’s success rather than on leading campaigns in person. Frequent changes on the throne drained the treasury as well: between 1617 and 1623 the accession bonus (cülus bahşişi) was distributed four times in five years.

In the military sphere, the failure of the siege of Vienna in 1683 set off heavy losses. With the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, border regions held since 1526 were lost. The years 1718–1730, later called the Tulip Era, were a relatively prosperous period. The Patrona Halil revolt of 1730 brought this period to a close.

Ahmed I: 1603–1617. He came to the throne at fourteen; he did not have his brother Mustafa killed.
Mustafa I: 1617–1618 and 1622–1623. He was placed on the throne instead of his elder brother’s son; he was deposed twice.
Osman II (Young Osman): 1618–1622. He was deposed and killed in the Janissary revolt of 1622.
Murad IV: 1623–1640. He led the Yerevan and Baghdad campaigns in person.
İbrahim: 1640–1648. When he came to the throne he was the only prince left in the dynasty.
Mehmed IV (the Hunter): 1648–1687. He was placed on the throne at the age of seven; the siege of Vienna in 1683 took place in his reign.
Suleiman II: 1687–1691. He did not have his deposed elder brother Mehmed IV killed.
Ahmed II: 1691–1695. He came to the throne in Edirne at the age of forty-nine.
Mustafa II: 1695–1703. He was deposed in the Edirne Incident of 1703.
Ahmed III: 1703–1730. The Tulip Era falls in his reign; he gave up the throne in the Patrona Halil revolt.
Mahmud I: 1730–1754. His uncle Ahmed III, on giving up the throne, was the first to pledge allegiance to him.
Osman III: 1754–1757. Like Mahmud I, he was a son of Mustafa II.
Mustafa III: 1757–1774. The war with Russia that began in 1768 turned into heavy defeats during his reign.

Ottoman Sultans of the Late Period (1774–1922)

The encyclopedia treats the years from 1774 to the abolition of the sultanate separately, under the heading “recent periods”. In this age Western models came to be seen as virtually the only remedy for military reform. The Gülhane Rescript was proclaimed in 1839, and the first constitution, the Kanun-i Esasi, in 1876. With the constitutional amendment after 1908, the sultan became a constitutional monarch.

The last sultan, Vahdeddin, came to the throne on the death of Mehmed Reşad on 3 July 1918. After the abolition of the sultanate, Vahdeddin left the country aboard a British battleship on the night of 16–17 November 1922. We discussed the reign of Abdülhamid II in a separate article.

Abdülhamid I: 1774–1789. He came to the throne on 21 January 1774, at the age of forty-nine, on the death of his elder brother Mustafa III.
Selim III: 1789–1807. In the Kabakçı Mustafa revolt he left the throne to his cousin Mustafa IV.
Mustafa IV: 1807–1808. He was deposed by Alemdar Mustafa Pasha.
Mahmud II: 1808–1839. He became sultan on 28 July 1808; the Janissary corps was abolished in his reign, in 1826.
Abdülmecid: 1839–1861. He came to the throne at sixteen; the Gülhane Rescript was proclaimed in the first year of his reign.
Abdülaziz: 1861–1876. He was deposed in a coup in 1876.
Murad V: 1876. He came to the throne through a coup; his reign lasted ninety-three days.
Abdülhamid II: 1876–1909. The Kanun-i Esasi was proclaimed in his reign; he was deposed on 27 April 1909.
Mehmed V Reşad: 1909–1918. He came to the throne at sixty-five; parliament gave him the title “Mehmed the Fifth”.
Mehmed VI Vahdeddin: 1918–1922. The last sultan; the sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922.

How Did the Ottoman Sultans Come to the Throne? Succession and Seniority (Ekberiyet)

The order of the sultans did not always run from father to son. The list of Ottoman sultans also includes brothers, cousins and rulers who came to the throne twice. The reason is that the rules of succession changed several times over six centuries.

No Rule at First: A Shared Dynasty and Fratricide

According to the entry “Cülûs”, in the Turkic state tradition the members of the dynasty had an equal right to the throne. The country, too, was regarded as the common property of the dynasty. At first there was no established system of accession; the throne usually passed when the leading men of the state agreed on one prince. In some cases this prince was also designated by testament.

This equality bred a bloody rivalry. The first fratricide known with certainty dates from the reign of Murad I. Likewise, when Bayezid I was proclaimed sultan at Kosovo, his brother Yakub was killed. Mehmed the Conqueror then wrote the rule into his law code: “Whichever of my sons is granted the sultanate, it is fitting that he put his brothers to death for the order of the world.”

From the Sanjak to the Cage: The Seniority System

Until the late 16th century the princes gained administrative experience in the provinces as sanjak beys (district governors). According to the entry “Şehzade” (Prince), of the thirteen rulers who came to the throne from Orhan to Ahmed I, eleven were the eldest surviving son. The exceptions were Mehmed I and Selim I. In other words, although not officially, the eldest son was regarded as the natural heir to the throne.

According to the encyclopedia, the first sultan not to follow the law of fratricide was Ahmed I. His brother Mustafa was the only remaining male member of the dynasty, and the sultan did not yet have a son. When Ahmed I died young in 1617, his brother Mustafa was placed on the throne instead of his son Osman. The contemporary historian Mehmed b. Mehmed Edirnevi criticized this decision, writing that the throne belonged to the son, not to the brother.

Thus the ekberiyet (seniority) system, under which the eldest male member of the dynasty succeeded to the throne, became established. The encyclopedia notes that this system was also known as “seniorate”. The other princes were confined in the palace to a closed life known as the kafes (“cage”) and waited their turn in the Şimşirlik (“boxwood grove”) apartment next to the Harem. After the accession of Mehmed IV, fratricide, too, was no longer resorted to, apart from a few exceptions.

The Kanun-i Esasi and the Deposed Sultans

The rule was put in writing only in 1876. Article 3 of the Kanun-i Esasi assigned the sultanate to the eldest member of the dynasty “in accordance with ancient custom” (usul-i kadime vechile). According to the encyclopedia, Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz had wanted to pass the throne back to the eldest son but had not succeeded. Mehmed Reşad and Vahdeddin, too, came to the throne under this article.

According to the entry “Padişah”, from the 17th century onward some Ottoman sultans were deposed by a fatwa of the shaykh al-Islam. A fatwa of deposition (hal‘ fetvası) was also issued for Selim III, Abdülaziz and Murad V. At the accession ceremony, the grand vizier and the shaykh al-Islam were the first to pledge allegiance to the new sultan. Then the sword-girding ceremony (kılıç kuşanma) was held at Eyüp, a tradition that lasted until the end of the state.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Ottoman sultans were there?

By the counting rule used in this article, there were 36 Ottoman sultans. Those who came to the throne twice are counted once; the last caliph, Abdülmecid Efendi, is not on the list.

Who were the first and the last Ottoman sultans?

The list begins with the founder, Osman Bey (1302–1324), and ends with Mehmed VI Vahdeddin (1918–1922).

Who had the longest and the shortest reigns?

According to the dates in the encyclopedia, the longest reign, at 46 years, was that of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566). The shortest was the reign of Murad V, which lasted ninety-three days (1876).

Which Ottoman sultans came to the throne twice?

Murad II (1421–1444, 1446–1451), Mehmed II (1444–1446, 1451–1481) and Mustafa I (1617–1618, 1622–1623) came to the throne twice.

Were the Ottoman sultans also caliphs?

According to Halil İnalcık, the title caliph was already in use before Selim I. The story that the caliphate was handed over to Selim in a ceremony in Hagia Sophia, however, does not appear in the sources of the period. The view that the sultan was the sole legitimate caliph of all Muslims came to the fore in the 18th century. In 1922 the sultanate and the caliphate were separated from each other.

Conclusion

The Ottoman sultans form a chain of 36 rulers stretching from 1302 to 1922. Along this chain the throne passed at first mostly to the eldest son, and after 1617 to the eldest male member of the dynasty. Fratricide, the kafes system and depositions directly shaped the order of the sultans. That is why, when reading the list, it is worth looking at how each of them came to the throne.