Historedia
EuropeEvent

Selim III deposed in favour of Mustafa IV

When
1807
Where
Istanbul
Episodes
2

Ottoman Sultan Selim III, reigning since 1789, was deposed on 29 May 1807 by rebellious Janissaries who secured a fatwa against his reforms. The Janissaries imprisoned Selim and installed his cousin Mustafa IV, who pledged to preserve their privileges. This transition occurred in Istanbul, marking a violent reversal of Selim's modernizing policies.

Episodes

  1. 29 May 1807 · IstanbulJanissary Revolt and Deposition

    Janissaries rose in revolt, secured a fatwa, and deposed Selim III on 29 May 1807, installing Mustafa IV.

  2. 29 May 1807 · IstanbulMustafa IV Ascension

    Mustafa IV ascended to the throne following Selim III's deposition, pledging to preserve Janissary privileges.

Background and detail

Background. Selim succeeded Abdul Hamid on 7 April 1789, at the age of 27. During his reign he pursued reforms, abolishing the military tenure of fiefs, improving administration and fiscal management, extending education, and engaging foreign officers to drill a new corps of troops called the Nizam-i Cedid, collected in 1797. The Janissaries opposed these changes and rose in revolt, inducing the Sheikh ul-Islam to grant a fatwa against the reforms, which legitimized Selim III's removal from power.

Deposition. On 29 May 1807, the Janissaries dethroned and imprisoned Selim III. They selected his cousin Mustafa as the new sultan. Mustafa IV, who had been the last remaining male member of the House of Osman alongside his half-brother Mahmud II, ascended to the throne. Mustafa pledged not to interfere with the Janissaries' privileges, securing their support for his reign.

People involved

Sources

  1. Selim III Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-29
  2. Mustafa IV Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-07

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.